Naked Man in Lomé, Togo

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A day at an outreach clinic + Celia’s boyfriend’s research project = spontaneous weekend trip across border to Togo capital city of Lomé. Hadn’t planned on visiting Ghana neighbors, though heard border crossing was easy. Well, it is…if you are Ghanaian! But, still, relatively simple for a visitor. During down time at an outreach clinic in a small village called Ando No. 2 (outlying village of Have), I pulled out my Ghana map and tourist guide. Joyce and Louisa, clinic nurses, showed us their homes on the map, one of which is very near the Togo border in southeast Ghana. Both talked about how Ghanaians regularly cross the border to buy cheaper goods, and the ease of border crossing. This information would not have been quite so interesting if Celia’s boyfriend had not done a research project for 1.5 years in Lomé, and made some very good friends there. Celia, not having adjusted to the slow pace of Have (2nd week - we had not yet started our regional travels), was hot to go to Lomé. Another draw for Celia was Togo’s national language - French, which is her first (one of!) language, plus, her boyfriend was encouraging her to visit his good friend.

According to Joyce and Louisa, then confirmed by our cook, Florence, who lived in Lomé for several years, border crossing is simple, requiring no visa. What they didn’t know is that applies only to Ghanaians and other West African neighbors. Celia’s calls to her boyfriend revealed that we may have some visa requirements. Paul (our program director in Have) was in Accra during this time, and called his cousin, who works at the border, for advice. Ben said that we could sneak across through the bush (we only considered this for a moment…NOT!), or go through the legal border crossing and pay a fee. We also learned that Celia needed to purchase a reentry visa to Ghana first - I already had a multiple entry visa, required when I obtained my Ghana visa, since my entry to Ghana would be delayed by my stay in Kenya. We decided to go for it. A little adventure was needed.

Since Florence had lived in Lomé, we asked her if she would like to join us, which she did. Samson (nephew) also wanted to go, as he had never been out of Ghana, and Florence agreed that he could go. She and Samson would stay with her good friend, and Celia and I were invited to stay with her boyfriend’s good friends. So, once Paul agreed that we could go, away we went, stopping first in the regional headquarters, Ho, to get Celia’s reentry visa. Due to a delay - the official who had to sign the visa was in a meeting - we arrived at the border after dark. There, we stepped into a dark, murky world. Thank goodness we had Florence and Samson with us! First, we got past the bitchy (excuse me, but accurate description) person on the Ghana side that gave us departure forms. But those that signed us through were polite and professional. Celia and Samson were stalked by a man who demanded money, then more money, for guiding them to the bathroom - an open field. Then, we navigated through the dark, mud, and border maze to the Togo crossing. There, we encountered a guard who, after looking through our passports, stood up in disgust and through them down. Celia and Florence speak French, and were able to ascertain that we needed a Togo visa, which the guard did not find in our passports…..because we did not know we needed one (we were told we would pay a fee at the border)!!!! Silly us! But, we were able to purchase on site. Celia paid 10,000 Togo cifas, $25, and I was charged 15,000 cifas because my Ghana multiple entry visa would potentially allow me more trips into Togo.

We enjoyed our short stay in Lomé, though nothing of great interest in the city. The market is huge, crowded, chaotic (to us!), both indoors and outdoors (watch your step - a mud puddle may also be a urinal!), sells everything from food, clothes, toiletries, and household goods to crafts. Marketers are very aggressive, almost grabbing you. No such thing as just looking - they constantly press you. Traffic is a fun spectator sport. At stop lights, motorbikes line up several wide and deep, awaiting take off - looks like a motorcross race. As in Ghana, pedestrians do not have any right of way! Except for our hosts, the best feature of Lomé is the Atlantic Coast and beautiful beige sandy beach that borders the city on the south. Oh, and French bread - baguette. Not a fan of white bread, the fresh baguette was delicious, and the taste such a welcome change! Our hosts were absolutely wonderful. Pauly and his elder brother, Clement, love Celia’s boyfriend, and welcomed us with open arms. Clement gave us his “penthouse,” an upstairs living room and bedroom with private entrance from his courtyard. Celia loved conversing with them both in French, and thoughtfully translated frequently for me. Pauly spent Saturday showing us Lomé, while Clement planned (without our knowledge) to give us a country tour on Sunday. Clement was quite down when we refused to stay past Sunday morning. Florence had responsibilities in Have, and Samson had school.

Once again, border crossing provided some adventure. At the border, we all lost phone reception, so communication with Florence had been difficult. She was not at our agreed meeting place, the Shell petrol station, but a woman there said she had gone to Ghana, which we couldn’t believe, but she wasn’t there, and we couldn’t contact her. So, we decided to cross. However, a naked man (yes, stark naked!), about 6’8” tall, decided he was going with us. He shadowed us, and whenever anyone tried to approach him, he would put his arms around us to protect us. You see, he was going to marry us. Some people had us come into their kiosk and tried to scare him off, but he was unmovable. They thought giving him money would get rid of him, but he stood straight with his eyes ahead, ignoring the offering. Celia was hiding behind me in the kiosk, saying she was frightened, but I told her he was harmless, and the best thing to do was to walk to the border and let the guards handle him. So, we did, and they did, but with difficulty, as our naked man put up a struggle to protect us and stay with us. But, alas - the guards whisked us through, and we lost our prospective husband. But we found Florence and Samson, standing right across the border on the Ghana side. “Why did you cross without us?” The same woman that told us they had crossed, also told them that two white women had crossed before them. Not many white women being around, and no phone reception, away they went. We were all happy to see each other, and had an uneventful ride back to Have.

Celia and I were jazzed, and ready for more travel. We were anticipating next weekend’s tours in the Volta Region with Paul. Coming up: waterfalls, mountains, and monkey sanctuary.

Peace and love to all,
Deni

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