In Togo we hung around in the mountains near the border with Ghana for a while. Really nice there, even if we still didn't have the best view.
We visited completely different places and each one was a joy in itself:
We spent the night at a monastery and had a quiet dinner (without talking to each other). We camped with a German who runs a permaculture farm and cooked and ate together there. At another farm we had a wonderful dinner made from their own products at a table that was set especially for us by our car. We were invited by two French people to spend an evening and a night in their beautiful house on the coast near Lac Togo.
It's wonderful when a small pool with a water temperature of 31 degrees cools you down! We really enjoyed their hospitality.
We met Domi and Lio from our “travel family” as well as Ian and Catherine in both Togo and Benin. Always wonderful!
What both countries have in common is that they could be crossed from west to east almost comfortably in one day. In both countries, the north is not safe due to conflicts caused by Boko Haram, among others. Togo is probably more present militarily and takes tougher action against opponents of the regime than Benin. Unfortunately, in Benin, for example, a national park in the north no longer seems to exist.