Togo - Grotto Caves of Nok and Mamproug

"High cliffs, whose walls are oriented to the north, dominate their sheer Savannah this northern part of Togo. They are the latest high relief before this vast expanse of savannah that extends Burkina. This sandstone formation commonly called Boumbouaka this scarps cliffs of Upper Proterozoic of rare beauty with the basic alternating pellites (argillites) and psammites, all based on a crystalline basement dated Birrimian. Horizontal crevices opened in the last quarter than their height, difficult access, they served a very long time, shelter and refuge for indigenous peoples at different periods of insecurities that have plagued the region the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. These caves contain attics hundred and thirty-four? Dk, one hundred and thirteen Mamproug seventy Bopak caves and other devices. Cylindrical, oblong or semi-spherical, they open up, their height is usually two and a half meters, diameter of three meters. Before these caves have been looted, traditional weapons such as bows, arrows and quivers were found there. Attics, cut from the same traditional architectural style from local materials (stone, clay and straw) contained crops and caves offered refuge to endangered populations. There they had food, water and their fetishes. They could therefore be a real support seat. In this area of ​​migration and various confrontations, the Konkomba, Moba, the Mamprussi be fought and settled. They are still the locals and were, it seems, the builders of barns. The path of a large commercial axis of the said Route cola, the people of northern Togo were subject to the dominant ethnic groups such Anufom which they paid tribute. To the increase in costs and the repetition of abuses, they organized their resistance and took refuge in the caves? Dk and Mamproug. At least in the story are the current inhabitants." Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

A hard to get country - Togo with the tentative site for nomination of UNESCO World Heritage - Grottoes of Nok. Thanks so much to Madeleine who visited Togo and mailed me this wonderful postcard.