Blogs from Lome, Togo, Africa

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Africa » Togo » Lome February 27th 2024

Well, here we go again, ‘back on the horse’ as they say, with my first solo travel since I visited East Africa pre-Covid in 2019. And just so they didn’t feel left out, this time I visited West Africa, which now completes for me the four points of the compass in Africa. Specifically, I have just completed a 14-day tour of Togo, Benin and Ghana with the travel companies Native Eye (UK) and their local agent, TransAfrica. Joan very graciously gave me a ‘leave pass’ for this period, which was not easy for her with her very limited vision although she did import some friends to help in my absence. As I progressively pull together my photos and scrappy diary notes, I will post a series of blogs on my highlights of the trip, grouping together ... read more
Colourful men
Hands free!
Roadside stall

Africa » Togo » Lome January 11th 2016

Lome, Togo One feature in Africa is the quantity of small shops generally selling one product, fish, clothing, etc. One of our stops was a fetish market, where one could purchase dead animals, skins, plus see a Voodoo priest to give you a spell for your particular problem. Voodoo originates from this section of Africa, Ghana, Togo, Benin. We stopped at a rural school which was interesting particularly since the wash-room was locked. Our next stop was the compound where the king of one of tribes lived. You could tell who the king was since he was the biggest, Our return trip was aided by a police cruiser in front of the buses. Great way to move past traffic jams.... read more
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Africa » Togo » Lome February 22nd 2015

Voici la famille qui nous a accueilli a Lomé pour notre première semaine de wwoofing. Tout d'abord nous allons commencer par les presentations. Noël, le papa, est comptable pour la compagnie qui fourni le gaz naturel de l'Afrique de l'ouest. Mais cest un passionné du travail de la terre , héritage de son père. Augustine, la maman, travaille pour la boite qui a lancé internet au Togo. Ensuite il y a Priscilla, 7 ans, et Jayson, 2 ans. Pour eux comme pour nous cest la toute première expérience de wwoofing. Cette famille est vraiment adorable. L'hospitalité dont ils font preuve est vraiment sans égal. Ils sont très soucieux de notre bien être, veillent a ce que l'on ne manque de rien et surtout, ils sont très désireux de nous faire découvrir les merveilles de leur pays. ... read more
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Africa » Togo » Lome February 22nd 2015

Je dois avouer que pour le moment nous ne sommes pas débordés par le travail. Nos hotes préfèrent nous faire voir du pays que de nous "tuer" a la tache. Apres la ferme n'est pas très grande donc il n'y a pas beaucoup de tâches a effectuer. Noël vient de commencer, il teste son projet de ferme sur une superficie d'un hectare pour savoir si il continu ou pas. Pour l'instant, il cultive la mangue, la papaye, le gombo, le magnoc et quelque orangers. Et il élève des chevres, des dindes, des dindons, des poules, des pintades, des canards et des lapins. Sa ferme se situe à 6 km de notre logement, à la frontière du Ghana. ... read more
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Africa » Togo » Lome February 17th 2015

Nous sommes bien arrivés a Lomé. Tout se passe tres bien. Ici il fait 30 degrés et les Togolais sont tres accueillant. Aujourd'hui nous quittons l'hôtel pour aller dans notre premiere ferme située dans la banlieue de Lomé. On a pas trop eu le temps de prendre des photos tellement on en prend pleins la vue mais on va sy mettre ;-) Quel plaisir quand même de retrouver l'Afrique apres tant d'années. Sur la premiere photos on voit le jardin de l'hôtel. Et la seconde cest la biere 100 pourcent togolaise quon a goûté hier en fin d'après midi. Et au passage elle n'a rien a envier au bieres européennes.... read more
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Africa » Togo » Lome April 10th 2013

By the time we had crossed into Togo it was late in the day and we had little time to find the campsite. It was a bit unnerving as the moment you cross the border you are spat out right into the centre of Lome and forced to negotiate the gauntlet that is African urban driving. Even in the fading light you could see that the city had seen better days as we drove along the promenade passing the various crumbling edifices that were thrown up in the post independence building boom. Although the palm tinged promenade and wide colonial era boulevards had a certain charm the city had long lost its tag as the Paris of West Africa. After a few wrong turns around the docks and some questioning from an inquisitive policemen we manage ... read more
Grand Popo French Colonial House
Grand Popo Beach
Grand Popo French Colonial House Doorway

Africa » Togo » Lome June 16th 2012

Yes, the Africa Mercy is sailing. A pod of dolphins is now swimming off the port side. Wow! We left Lome, Togo this morning. We are heading for the Canary Islands. This ship was originally a ferry and when out to sea it rocks from side to side. Right now, all I see is water. It is a bit cloudy. When we left port, the port captain/pilot came on board to guide us out. There were two tug boats that helped get us going as well. Once we were out of the harbor the pilot returned to port, probably on one of the tugs. There was a stow-away search, and then we were on our way. Everything is tied down. We have been busy for the last two weeks preparing. I had no idea there was ... read more

Africa » Togo » Lome June 8th 2012

There have been many good-byes this week. There was a celebration of thanks for the 200 plus day workers who have worked with Mercy Ships in Togo. Men came dressed in suits or African dress, and the women were all in beautiful African dresses and head coverings. Of course this included an African meal of rice, beans, plantains, and other specialty dished that I cannot name, singing and dancing. This was not a boring event. I love hearing them sing. It was followed by ice cream which seems the dessert of choice on ship for celebrations. It is vanilla and more like an ice milk. These men and women day workers are local people who translate, work as stewards, go on some of the non-medical ministries (about 10 of them), drive, do repairs, etc. A few ... read more

Africa » Togo » Lome May 30th 2012

Last Saturday I went to the women’s prison. It was some distance away. There is a closer one, in Lome. It is visited by other Christian groups. Mercy Ships was told that the prison we went to rarely got visiting groups. I don’t know the name of the place. It is hard to understand what is being said. Most of the time Ewe, the local language, is spoken. There were guards who greeted us as we entered. I didn’t see any guns. They were probably out of sight. There were three women. They were dressed neatly. How they managed to keep clean is a mystery. The compound also has men. Our men visited with them. We stayed about an hour. The women were kept in two rooms. One was about 20 by 15 feet and about ... read more

Africa » Togo » Lome May 30th 2012

Wednesday May 30 We arrived at the border with Togo nearing dusk and once we cleared Ghana, filled in paperwork and presented ourselves to Togolese officials. Visas are issued on the spot and after changing money we were on our way, heading towards Lomé with the coast on our right-hand side. Nearing the port we came across what seemed like over one hundred trucks, parked along the road waiting for their turn. This meant traffic was now only one lane and it was almost impossible for our truck to get around corners. Nico jumped out to help navigate in the dark and nearly got hit by one of the many motorbikes who had squeezed through a two foot gap rather than wait for us to move. We made it around the roundabout and once again organised ... read more
Sammy
Library, Balanka
Computer room in library




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