Kpalime, Togo part II

After our hike in the rainforest we took a much needed break. After a cold soda and water, we hiked up to the Chateau Viale. Built in 1944 by a french lawyer who was colonial France's lawyer for all of west Africa. It's this medieval style castle and as Raphael our guide told us, he was riding his horse one day and on this spot he said, "this is a perfect spot to build a castle." Okay, sure! Well, it's now starting to erode with time. It was used by Togo's government after this lawyer died as a place to have meetings with the president, but hasn't been used since 1989? I think, that's right. I can't remember everything! You can go inside if you're willing to pay some money. We were told by our tour guide that Togo's new president recently viewed the castle and saw how much renovation it was needing and has proclaimed that he is in fact going to renovate it and put it to use again. It was a very beautiful spot and a beautiful castle and will regain it's former glory hopefully sooner than later.

This view is just the side of course. The main entrance is the side on the right. You can see the stairs. There is also an entrance in the back to the master bedroom (obviously for the owner only!)

The guard/watch tower. (rachel was looking for the princess who had been locked in the tower and also for any lurking dragons nearby!)
A view down into Kpalime the city.
This view overlooking the mountains also overlooks the mountains of Ghana and on a clear day you can see all the way to Lake Volta in Ghana, the largest man made lake in the world. Unfortunately it was a little hazy and we couldn't see the lake.
This was our dreadlocked hair guide, Raphael and our friend Ana the interpreter. She is an excellent writer and y'all should check out her blog to if ya have time.