My Time in Accra: To Togo We Go!

I woke up early on Friday morning and walked down the stairs at 6:00 am ready to go. I met up with the rest of the crew that was heading to Togo, and after a quick stop at the night market we were on our way.

There were about 9 of us going, but we all split up into smaller groups so we could easily take trotros. The guys were going to try catching one out of Madina, so they went the opposite direction. Myself, Jenny and Logan headed straight for Tema station in down town Accra. After asking multiple people we were finally directed to a nearby station and immediately put on a tro heading for the border. Easy enough.

The ride, though crammed, was fairly straightforward. I’m finally getting comfortable with being uncomfortable here. I remember my psychology teacher senior year telling us to do that, but I don’t think he meant physically.

We were dropped off at the border and swarmed with people asking to exchange our money. We followed one guy only to run into the guys exchanging their money. Relieved we headed for the building where we could get our visas.

I must have filled out at least 5 papers with the same information. Name, Nationality, passport no., reason for visit…

When we finally stepped onto Togolese soil we found that there was really no difference. Obviously. However they did speak an entirely different language. Thank goodness we did meet up with they guys because they were the only ones who spoke any French. I don’t know what we were thinking we would do when we got here, because I’m sure we would have been in bad shape!

The hotel we were planning to stay at was walking distance and even though it was hot, the breeze from the ocean made it much more enjoyable. We reached the Hotel D’ Galleon (very French) and were greeted by some of our friends who had arrived the day before.

After putting our stuff down in our tiny rooms, we headed back downstairs to the restaurant. Now I have never been to Europe, but I imagine it’s a little bit like this restaurant (aside from the heat and the awesome beach). This was the classiest place I had been to in a very long time. I ordered basically a ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top. I was just so very happy to have a sandwich that isn’t mostly mayonnaise, with bread that I’m used to and real cheddar cheese.

We walked around town for a bit before settling down at the beach to play in the waves and watch the sunset. Everyone was staying at the same hotel, so we met up with everyone for dinner at a real pizzeria down the street.

We checked out early and headed for the grand marche. There were 12 of us wondering around the huge market packed with cars, motorcycles, hawkers, vendors, locals and foreigners. I was happy I got in a cup of coffee before coming because it was certainly draining! Not to mention it was much hotter here than back in Accra (which is really saying something).

We split up and planned on meeting around lunchtime, but after an hour of waiting, we decided to head out just the 4 guys and 3 girls. This is normally a much bigger group than I would ever travel in, but I was amazed that we were able to stay together the whole time!

We grabbed motorcycles and hopped on the back to see the local voodoo market (which is apparently really big in Togo and Benin). We looked like the lamest biker gang around with all 7 white people stopping at stoplights together on the back of our bikes. I can only imagine what we looked like to the locals.

The voodoo market was a very small lot filled with various skeletons, skulls or full on animal heads (fur and everything). It was all very disgusting, so when they asked for 3000 CFA for a tour and pictures, we said no thanks and turned around.

Next stop Lake Togo! We took a cab there, paid for our rooms at the resort and headed for a swim. More of a bath really. The water wasn’t too deep, but the mud was, so we sort of had to sit and crawl around the water. It was very amusing and DON’T WORRY DAD I haven’t gotten a parasite that I know of!

The resort restaurant was very expensive, so we took our chances walking down the road to see if we could find a food stand for dinner. We walked for about 20 and were getting very hungry when we finally saw a stand. Theo (our spokesman for the weekend) tried to ask the lady if she sold food. The conversation went as such (in French):

Theo- “Hey, do you have any food?”

Lady- “What?”

Theo- “sorry, I speak English”

Lady- “well I speak French”

Right… It seems we have reached an impasse. So we all made motions showing we were looking for food and she pointed us down the road a bit. We reach a bar next to a kitchen with a sign that read “cafetaria le bon gout” and figure it must be the place!

An older man comes out and Theo asks him about food. A huge grin spreads across his face as he motions for us to come. He runs behind the kitchen and starts bringing out 3 benches and a table. I don’t know about you, but I consider it to be great service if the owner brings your table to you. He asks Theo if we want anything to drink and after taking our order he and another woman bring us all HUGE bottles of soda and beer, followed quickly by a bag of water sachets. His son in behind the counter at the kitchen and speaks English well. After exchanging pleasantries, he asks us what we would like. As there is no menu, we ask him what there is. He only says one thing, so that one thing it is!

It doesn’t take to long for the food to finish and we are served by the cook, the owner and yet another mystery woman (they seemed to be popping out of no where!). They unveil a plate of spaghetti, fried eggs and half of a baguette. Filling and delicious! We finish and they bring us each coffee (that we are allowed to mix ourselves!) and more baguettes!

We are all fat and happy by the time we are ready to head back. The man shakes all of our hands and tells us his name is John, before he requests we all take a picture together.

We hadn’t even asked how much everything cost, so considering the meal we were expecting it to be quite a bit. However it was one of the cheapest meals I’ve had! Roughly 1000 CFA, or 4 GHC (that’s 2 USD).

We head back for a few rounds of cards by the lake before we head to bed. It was a great St. Patty’s Day.

In the morning we head to a village at the bottom of the Togolese mountain range. We see kids heading to school and as a few little kids grab my hand I wonder if I am accidently kidnapping them. However it turns out I was just walking to school (I really should learn French). After a short hike around the villages and mountains we head back. All seven of us crammed into a guys car who brings us to a taxi and negotiates a good price for us to get to the border. He would have taken us himself, but he was on his way to the hospital when he picked us up and took us the opposite direction (we found this out after, but I still felt incredibly guilty).

We crossed the border a little farther north into the Volta Region of Ghana. The border consisted of a small gate and a building where you could get your passport stamped. So it was pretty quick.

I loved my trip to Togo and how beautiful it was there, but I still felt very comforted to be back in Ghana, which is finally beginning to feel like a home.