The Tatas

So on the more positive side -- it's not all garbage piles -- here is one of Togo's few major tourist attractions (and a UNESCO World Heritage site), an area filled with these traditional houses known as Tatas. They're located in northern Togo in an area known as the Tambermas (named for the mountains surrounding the region). The house is made of mud and contains the sleeping areas, areas for holding the family's animals , areas for animist worship and food storage areas. Even tho it was extremely hot when I visited, the inside of the house was remarkably cool, much more so than my allegedly nicer modern house (tho it does not have the indoor plumbing and electricity I do, obviously).

The structure in front of the house is a sort of shrine where I believe animals are sacrificed as part of the tribe's animist traditions.

Each family has a tata compound, and when sons leave their parents' house to get married, traditionally they throw a spear to determine where they should build the new tata for their new family.