Marvels of The Land of Origines

You are in Warengo, a genuine village of the Tamberma tribe, located in a beautiful valley with giant baobab trees, in northern Togo, along the border of neighbouring Benin. You will see two large houses that look like little castles, with their turreted granaries and their high walls. These Tamberma constructions have a unique architecture.

In the Tamberma ethnic tribe (they are called Somba in neighbouring Benin), every young man getting married must build his traditional house, with the help of the whole village. A suitable location, approved by the spirits, is agreed and construction begins, lasting around two months. The walls are made of banco, a mixture of earth, gravel, clay and water which is shaped into large overlapping sections, reinforced with poles, with a large slab forming the roof of the ground floor areas. There is only one entrance, which is quite narrow and which protects from outside dangers. Inside, it is dark. It is the abode of the spirits, it is where sacrifices are made, and it is also where the older members of the family live and…where the animals spend the night.

Half-way up, a room serving as a “kitchen” and upstairs, which is accessed by ladders in the shape of a Y, the large slab where the parents and their children live. When it rains or when the cold harmattan wind blows, they sleep in rooms that are cramped like cells and whose entrance is so narrow that you have to enter facing backwards. It is also from this slab that the granaries are accessed, where the grain is protected from the weather and from rodents.