Fazao-Malfakassa is the largest national park in Togo, covering nearly 2,000 square kilometres of forested hills, savanna and wetland along the border with Ghana between the Kara and Centrale regions. Created in 1975 by merging two older reserves, it protects a section of the West African forest-savanna mosaic that has all but disappeared elsewhere in the country, and represents Togo's best chance of seeing larger wildlife.
The park's history has been turbulent. After years of decline through poaching and neglect, it was leased in the 1990s to a Swiss conservation foundation that rebuilt the infrastructure and began rehabilitating the wildlife populations. Civil unrest and management disputes have since cycled the park through periods of activity and abandonment. Today it is open but underfunded, with a small ranger force and a single basic camp at the entrance near the village of Fazao. Visitor numbers are very small.
For travellers prepared for genuinely rough conditions, the park is a fine destination. The landscape is the main attraction: rocky escarpments, miombo woodland, gallery forest along the rivers, and the Malfakassa range rising steeply on the southern side. Wildlife is present but skittish — elephants, buffalo, hippos, several primates, antelope, and over 200 bird species — and serious sightings require luck, time, and a knowledgeable local guide. Most visitors come for a day or two on a circuit between Kara and the south; a longer stay rewards those who don't mind the spartan facilities.