Togo

West Africa doesn’t suit the familiar ‘Out of Africa’ colonial fantasies promoted by Hollywood or indeed sold by some upmarket safari companies. The region surging, febrile, uncontrollable energy and intensity doesn’t make for a neat package. Voodoo ceremonies, encompassing trance-like possession, further emphasise that this ain’t Kansas…

The south of the country is lush and tropical, and home to most of the population. It also where Lome, the lively capital is sited - the only capital to be on the border with another country. Further north the landscapes dry out, the population becomes sparser, and it a little more relaxed.