http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Togo en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:01:11 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:01:11 +0000 Riding Day 8 95km total 895kmWhat was suppose to be a nice short ride to Lome quickly turned out to be a nightmare. I had chartered a boat to take us across the river so we could continue our trip to Lome along a little strip of land inbetween the ocean and a Lagoon. It promised to be a very picturesque ride. However before we could even get going a dog that had been hanging around our gues http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-451811.html 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 immigrationsand realized that lome the capital city of togo was just on the other side of the border we had expected to have to travel furth http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/blog-444117.html TogoAuch 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-435979.html Well another day of work 2 hrs and a lot of relaxing gotta love the fact that we had four guys ldquoshovelingrdquo including both ldquoleaderswe only have 3 shovels while the rest of us had to haul gravel or the fact I have to write a daily reporthellip Who the fuck gives a shit when we ateAll this Xtianity here has aroused my atheist sentiments also reading Joyce. If asked http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/blog-426685.html More singingPlayed soccer yesterday how is it that even barefooted 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 1015 am again. Man if no http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/blog-425714.html Togolese songGod make a manMan make a womanWoman make a devilDevil make a fireFire Oh Fire oh Fire down belowWell 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/blog-422829.html 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 wersquoll see. All the cute French girls are in the other ldquochantierrdquo in town including Debora the hot French girl who http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/blog-422828.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-422827.html Have been relaxing in Lome getting visas and such. Today an ordeal at the Benin consulate. Fking idiot old man Donrsquot want me to come to your shty country to spend cash TIA From hellrsquos heart I stab at thee Just finished Moby Dick. Anyway Irsquoll have to erase some pages as Irsquom one page short but Irsquom sure in a worst case scenario I can bribe the Togolese border http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-419604.html 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 ldquoPalm Beachrdquo with the ldquoCoco Beachrdquo hotels. Awesome supper Well mostly the desert No problems yet in Lome as Lonely Planet sure made this place seem sketchy. Wersquoll see. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-419602.html 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 currenc http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/blog-416829.html This weekend I travelled to Ghanarsquos eastern neighbor Togo to celebrate Easter. Lome the capital city is only about 3 hours from Accra and it is also right on the ocean. For the last hour of driving the road is only partially paved and even the paved parts have lots of potholes so it was a very bumpy ride.Togo was a French colony and therefore it is very different from Ghana which was http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-390609.html Hey AllHappy Easter Man this is my first Easter away from home...awwww...now I'm sad...but maybe if I start writing about my trip this weekend I'll feel better...sure that sounds good. Unfortunately I forgot my camera on this little excursion...yeah...it's a shame too because the country was beautiful. Oh well guess that means I'll just have to go back...oh darn. Okay so for this weekend http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-389754.html Wow It's actually my last day in Togo I have had my last breakfast and my last lunch and going to have my last dinner later.Have to say that the last couple of days have been fantastic. Two days ago another volunteer Emilienne arrived and it has been sooo nice to have some company. She is Swedish but speaks amazing French and English so she has been helping me a bit with the last little bits http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-385541.html Well this week is a lot quieter than the previous 2. I think everything is slowly winding down until I go on Saturday and Antoine doesn't want me to start on anything brand new as I won't be able to finish it. Still the usual is carrying on. Having even longer morning meetings now yesterday's was 715 until 1pm That's A LOT of FrenchI am still astonished by how organised these guys ar http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-384709.html Well apologies for not having written for a couple of days I have been working pretty hard over the last couple of days and haven't managed to come to the internet caf. But seeing as Saturday is finally here I have managed to sneak away2 weeks into my little expedition. 1 week to go. I am definitely becoming more aclimatised to Togo. Getting into the rhythm of the day waking up at 615 wor http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-383661.html Well I seem to be able to update this blog about ever other day but no promises. Today is a relatively quiet day so I managed to slip away for a couple of hours. Thank you again for all your lovely messages and thanks Frankie for the MMMMASSSSSSIVE email. I had to pay for an extra hour in the internet caf just to read it I actually really enjoy my walk to and from the internet caf. It is ab http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-382557.html Well it hasn't been very long since my last update but lots has happened and I have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon so here I am.THE WEEKENDFriday night I helped clean up the centre and then played games with Elolo FINALLY FOUND OUT HOW TO SPELL HIS NAME in the evening. Taught him how to play Boxes Emma and Sarah will know the game I mean when you start with lots of dots on http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-381937.html Aww thanks guys for all your lovely messages So nice to receive them all.So I've been working for 4 days for PDH and it's VERY hard work. I go to bed at 7pm each night ABSOLUTELY exhausted. I think it is because I have to concentrate so hard when speaking and listening to people. I'm finding the language easier each day as I am getting used to the phrases that are used Nous proposons au PDH http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-381166.html Helloooo to everyone back homeApologies if I make any spelling mistakes this is a very strange keyboard and all the letters are in the 'wrong' places.So I have finally made it here after 4 months of planning hundreds of pounds and thousnands of miles. I'm doing well but VERY tired.The journey seemed to go ok. It was really interesting to see the mix of people getting on my plane at Gatwic http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-379934.html