Lake Togo and Togoville

Lake Togo is a shallow lagoon behind the coast where the whole capital comes out to swim and paddle at the weekend, and Togoville on its far shore gave the whole country its name at a treaty signed there in 1884. The village itself is still a working centre of vodun, with shrines and a royal compound that are best visited with a guide rather than photographed freely. A basilica stands over the lake in that same village, built after a reported apparition many years ago. Dugout canoes cross the lake now much as they always have.