Koutammakou

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura

Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.6 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 May 2023

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A race is on to save this world heritage site that straddles the border of Togo and Benin. It’s home to remarkable earth tower homes called Takienta, and the Batammariba people, whose existence is threatened by climate change and migration. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/koutammakou-batammariba

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Kudamaku is the name of a semi-mountainous region about the size of Rhode Island that sits
0:05.6	in between the borders of Togo and Benin.
0:08.3	In 2011, Ibrahim Chan set out on a road trip to see it.
0:12.3	I started my journey from Paraku where I was born.
0:15.8	I used not a car, but a motorcycle, you know, drive by myself.
0:23.0	Paraku Benin, where Ibrahim started his journey, is a four-hour drive to Kudamaku.
0:27.6	This wasn't a trip to a local museum.
0:29.8	It was a pretty big commitment.
0:31.4	But Ibrahim had been told by one of his friends
0:33.4	that the trip to see Kudamaku was more than worth the effort.
0:36.8	He needed to see it.
0:38.4	The first thing that I realized when I was entering the Kudamaku is
0:43.2	the landscape.
0:44.1	It was very beautiful.
0:45.5	And I say, wow, what is that thing?
0:48.0	That is my country.
0:49.0	I never realized that that part of my country is like this.
0:54.0	It's so beautiful.
0:55.6	The Kudamaku region, referred to by UNESCO as a living cultural landscape,
0:59.8	is home to the batamari by people in their stunning Takianta or Earth Tower Houses.
1:05.8	And the plan was to visit this town, especially to visit the Takianta,
1:11.7	one of fabulous houses on this site.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.