120 km from Lomé lies one of Togo’s most picturesque regions. The town of Kpalimé opens up to green hills, cocoa and coffee plantations, unspoilt mountain landscapes, breathtaking views and small traditional villages where time seems to stand still.
The surroundings of Mount Kloto and Mount Agou, Togo’s highest peak at 986 metres above sea level, provide a habitat for an infinite number of butterflies of all species, some of them very rare. They are the kingdom of marvellous waterfalls that form natural paradisiacal basins, and the natural treasure chest of an infinite number of endemic plants with multiple properties. The hike to the top of Mount Agou is the most demanding, but the landscape from the top is wonderful, with rocky courtyards, coffee and cocoa plantations, dense forests and breathtaking views.
Another interesting circuit is the one on Mount Kloto, which passes through small traditional villages, such as Kouma Konda, famous for its houses with painted doors and windows, beautiful coffee, cocoa and banana plantations, large farms and pig farms, in close contact with the life of the local people.
A short walk towards the Danyi Plateau takes you to the site of a Benedictine monastery and convent, famous for its crops and handicrafts. On a guided tour you will learn more about the many plants grown here and in the small shop you can buy excellent jams, biscuits, coffee and various types of potions and plant-based therapeutic preparations, all strictly organic.
Kpalimé is enlivened by a beautiful and busy market that deserves a visit for the incredible quality and quantity of products, generated by such a generous land, but also for the typical handcrafted fabrics, dyed with the batik technique, in which natural pigments extracted from endemic plants are used.
