Travel Blog » Africa » Togo

Togo Travel Blogs

Background: French Togoland became Togo in 1960. Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA, installed as military ruler in 1967, continued to rule well into the 21st century. Despite the facade of multiparty elections instituted in the early 1990s, the government continued to be dominated by President EYADEMA, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party maintained power almost continually since 1967. Togo has come under fire from international organizations for human rights abuses and is plagued by political unrest. While most bilateral and multilateral aid to Togo remains frozen, the European Union initiated a partial resumption of cooperation and development aid to Togo in late 2004. Upon his death in February 2005, President EYADEMA was succeeded by his son Faure GNASSINGBE. The succession, supported by the military and in contravention of the nation's constitution, was challenged by popular protest and a threat of sanctions from regional leaders. GNASSINGBE succumbed to pressure and agreed to hold elections in late April 2005.

Togo

Map of Togo

Togo's Flag

Hostels in Togo
Latest Togo Blog Entries
Togo Photos

By lyssapoague
October 11th 2009

togo Africa » Togo

last friday morning, anouk, taylor and i headed out for togo, the country directly east of ghana. getting there was fairly uneventful but we drove through the volta region which was really was beautiful. after a few hours we arrived in aflao. we got through immigrations and realized that lome, the capital city of togo was just on the other side of the border -we had expected to have to travel further into the country to get there. after exchanging currency -cedis to francs- we headed down the main road of lome. the first thing we saw after crossing the border [View Full Entry]

By chillaaa
September 12th 2009

TOGOOOOOOOO Africa » Togo » Lome

Togo Auch wenn ich inzwischen schon wieder zurueck in Ghana bin - hier ein Ueberblick ueber meine eineinhalb Wochen, wo ich bis Anfang der Woche war. Eigentlich wollte ich nur gut eine Woche in Togo bleiben und Freitag vor gut einer Woche aufbrechen, aber dann hat mir irgendeine fiese Krankheit einen Strich durch die Rechnung gemacht und anstatt am Strand in Ghana habe ich stattdessen ein paar Tage in Bett in Togo verbracht. Was genau es war ist unklar, wahrscheinlich aber eine Malaria, die wegen meiner Prophylaxe relativ harmlos verlaufen ist. Sonntag war ich wieder weitestgehend a [View Full Entry]

By eddy15
July 26th 2009

Atheism and the Daily Report Africa » Togo

Me and Virginie
Virginie and I share a bag of cement during one of our many breaks.

Well another day of work (2 hrs) and a lot of relaxing --- gotta love the fact that we had four guys “shoveling” including both “leaders:(we only have 3 shovels), while the rest of us had to haul gravel; or the fact I have to write a daily report… Who the fuck gives a shit when we ate! All this X-tianity here has aroused my atheist sentiments (also reading Joyce). If asked “why don’t you believe in God” (the X-tian one)? I say I see absolutely no reason to follow the tenets of X-tianity faith as opposed to the any other. [View Full Entry]

By eddy15
July 25th 2009

More Singing! Africa » Togo

More singing! Played soccer yesterday --- how is it that even bare-footed these guys are better than me. Speaking of guys from the village turn out for building the school I thought this village was all women, but come the soccer game low and behold! Men! And why did we play with such small nets that it was impossible to score. They must love 0 - 0 games! Work was over at 10:15 am again. Man if no one wants to work I’m not going to complain! Two French girls joined our group. Perhaps this will inspire me to give a [View Full Entry]

By eddy15
July 24th 2009

What have I done to deserve this? Africa » Togo

Togolese song: God make a man; Man make a woman; Woman make a devil; Devil make a fire; Fire Oh, Fire oh, Fire down below! Well you can see from the lyrics of the preceding song that the religion of choice here is definite. I noticed that ASTOVOT is now ASTOVOCT! The C is for Christian of course! What did I do to deserve this? Oh right! But the people are nice enough and two French girls are supposedly coming! “Man make a god” I get some satisfaction out of changing the lyrics. Most are filthier (good thing these kids watching [View Full Entry]

By eddy15
July 23rd 2009

Work begins! sorta... Africa » Togo

The work camp has finally commenced. Not what I was expecting, but I shall reserve final judgment. First the group is made up almost entirely of Togolese guys, with one German girl, Larissa, who has a nice demeanour. Five more Europeans are supposed to show up soon, we’ll see. All the cute French girls are in the other “chantier” in town, including Debora (the hot French girl who showed up on the 19th in Lome). I spent the weekend hanging out with that group (one guy Alex from Paris is the only other western guy) but they are all into culture [View Full Entry]

By eddy15
July 19th 2009

About to start the Work Camp Africa » Togo » Lome

Met up with ASTOVOT and they put me up for a reasonable rate (2500 CFA) although I miss my Swiss hotel. I bought some work gloves and am awaiting the arrival of a fellow volunteer, a French girl! [View Full Entry]

By eddy15
July 18th 2009

Relaxing in the Togolese Capital Africa » Togo » Lome

Have been relaxing in Lome, getting visas and such. Today an ordeal at the Benin consulate. F**king idiot old man! Don’t want me to come to your sh**ty country to spend cash? TIA! From hell’s heart I stab at thee! (Just finished Moby Dick). Anyway I’ll have to erase some pages as I’m one page short, but I’m sure in a worst case scenario I can bribe the Togolese border guards to cover an old stamp. Still need a Ghana visa as well! Been eating well, but spending too much cash! I have gotten a hold of ASTOVOT Organisation I am [View Full Entry]

By eddy15
July 16th 2009

In Lome! Africa » Togo » Lome

So far so good. My visa will be done by tomorrow. Other than that I had an ordeal trying to get back to my hotel, but it was my fault. I confused the “Palm Beach” with the “Coco Beach” hotels. Awesome supper! Well mostly the desert! No problems yet in Lome as Lonely Planet sure made this place seem sketchy. We’ll see. [View Full Entry]

By LuBarnham
June 15th 2009

Bargaining With the Gods Africa » Togo

fetish market at Lome

Enter Togo, by means of the least likely looking dirt road imaginable. That there can be both a Ghanian and Togolese immigration Post at the end of this meagre country road, where the grass grows as tall as men and trees abound, seems impossible, and yet there they are. Only a few passengers produce passports and receive entry and exit stamps; the majority hand over folded notes of local currency to the border officials and resume their seats in the truck. After purchasing a visa in a nearby one horse town, we're dropped off in Kpalime. I want to call it [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Africa » Togo