http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Togo/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Togo en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:36:22 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:36:22 UTC Today I left Lome the capital of Togo and came north to Kpalime. I struggled to find things in Lome worthwhile staying for. I went to a great sounding restaurant which was quite dissapointing I wondered arround everywhere looking for interesting architecture and I found very little.I ended up staying two nights just outside of Lome in this very eccentric plce called Chez Allice in Aveposo http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-348491.html About three weeks ago Akima the girl from Grenada Angela the girl from Canada and I decided to go to Togo. Wersquod all stumped up the extra cash for a multipleentry visa before coming here and so we were determined to get out of Ghana at least once.Itrsquos about three hours drive from Accra to the border town of Aflao so we set off early on Saturday morning bumping along the rather http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-344418.html My internet has been down for several days and this blog entry has taken awhile to write. Its not as detailed as it should be but I doubt many of you will care and will get the gist of the experience. I'm sorry it took so longI have neglected my blogging duties lately and I apologize but luckily now I have a relatively long and exciting story to tell.If you haven't notice...this blog's location http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-333375.html PCV Meghann and I left Ouaga on the 14th and traveled to Dapaong in northern Togo. We arrived in early afternoon and went to the PC house. We were welcomed by Kyan a volunteer from my stage in Guinea who had transferred to Togo. The three of us borrowed bikes to explore the city. Kyan made a point to get us some wagash a locallymade fried cheese served with rice and spicy sauce. It was del http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-293957.html Clever I know. I wanted to say that a lot yesterday but tought a lot would be lost in translation and didnrsquot know if the Togolese had the same affinity for puns as I do. For a variety of boring reasons our Togo trip became a day trip really to help us renew our visitorrsquos stay in Ghana. Irsquom pretty sure we spent 8 hours in the van and 3 hours actually in Togo most of which http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-261230.html As much as we loved Nigeria and our lack of harassment in the country must be recordbreaking it was still something of a relief to leave and really know that we had made it through. The Beninese border officials were so friendly and relaxed that they actually stamped us in without giving us a visa. I was rusty on the French and was trying to ask how many days in Benin they had given us but th http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Atakpam-/blog-252336.html Heading for the fairly large and bustling town of Kpalim deep in the forests of Togo's cocoa and coffee country I couldn't help but notice sign after sign for Ecotourism outings childish paintings of pinked white people cruising along palm tree lined paths to cascading waterfalls. As our ancient and dying Peugot chugged along the paved highway to Kpalim I wondered about that word ecotourism. http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-248690.html Left Kokrobite where we had been camping for days got to the city of Accra and stopped Shoplite at the Accra mall bought truck food looks very western lots of foreigners in the mall. We went to a store where they sell tents and Simon bought one for himself Mark bought sleep mats the place is similar to K mart evrything you need in one.We drove to the border took a long time maybe more th http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-238001.html For those of you who aren't acquainted with turtle girl...yet...it includes me obviously carrying a heavy backpack...the rest is self explanatory. To start off i did not have a heavy backpack but after a series of 'mistakes' in Togo it turned out that way...................Crossing the border into Lome was really easy.. There didn't seem to be any obvious system and the constant wind blowing ou http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-234356.html I know I know..I haven't written in forever...its just been crazy busy here...lots of stuff going on..so lets start with new years....happy new years by the wayWelcome to Togo tres tres tres Francais y tres EXPENSIVEI went to Togo for a few days for New Year's and couldn't believe how expensive it was Togo is nice but I prefer Ghana. It was a fun few days but way more expensive than hereI http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-233064.html That is definately the question. The answer is a little bit of a mixed bag. When we first arrived in Togo we headed to Klouto where we went for a guided walk through the forest. There were three guides trying to get the business from our group and this is where our limited knowledge of french paid off. Two out of the three guides spoke english though not very well and the other spoke only fr http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-229039.html Het is dus ''wachten'' op mama en vervolg mijn weg dus maar als gepland Togo Benin en daarna Niamey de hoofdstad van Niger maar inplaats van daarna verder oostwaards te gaan ga ik van af Niamey terug naar Ouaga en vandaar terug naar Ghana. Lom de hoofdstad van Togo heeft eigenlijk slechts een bijzonderheid en dat is zijn ligging tegen de grens met Ghana na de douane wandel je zo het centrum http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-207268.html Togo is a prime example of the madness or ineptitude or spitefulness of colonial administration or perhaps a bit of all three. Sandwiched between the slavetrading empires of the Ashanti and the Dahomey the Togolese lost a lot of their folks to slavery. The Germans invaded in the 1880s and found an obscure and suitablypliant village chief who signed a treaty of protection with them. Th http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-193101.html Since Accra we have been back to paradise beach resort good food beer waves sun palm trees... for a few days more R R then we headed out of Ghana to Togo. We only had a couple of days in Togo we only got a transit visa on the border. We did not do a lot there we drove along the coast rode stopped in Lome went round the market artisan stalls supermarket olive oil and wine a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-192535.html Initially I acquired quite a dislike for Togo. This was entirely based on one particular dayrsquos experiences First of all the difficulties in getting a Nigerian visa continued. In Ghana the Nigerian embassy had run out of passport stickers and in Togo the embassy for some reason was closed. Next I was threatened by a moneychanger who had tried to rip me off. He then accused me of rippin http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-170763.html As promised I found some time to write some more about what I'm doing besides taking adventurous vacations in Ghana.My main challenge right now is getting ready to move and transition my work from Elavagnon to the much larger regional hub of Atakpame. Themove will take place at the end of July but I am already working with Cate amp Wayne the current Atakpame SED Small Enterprise Development http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Atakpam-/blog-155076.html I have to give a great big Thank You to my best friend Norris for his visit to West Africa to see me last week It was an amazing experience for both of us his first trip to Africa and my chance to see my new home through his eyes and also see how far I've come at adapting to this difficult environment.We started his 12 day trip by traveling through Ghana because its always cheaper to fly into http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Atakpam-/blog-153442.html I had a great minivacation to Ouagadougou Waga Burkina Faso followed by an inservice training for business volunteers and an allvolunteer conference and now I'm ready to get back to work in my village.Waga is a beautiful city very developed with big buildings wide clean boulevards good restaurants and beautiful cinemas. I took a bush taxi trip up the country so I got to see Kara an http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Atakpam-/blog-139955.html Salut mes amis I know itrsquos been a while but believe me Irsquove been impatiently waiting to reach out to you all as well especially because of the encouraging feedback Irsquom getting from all over the world.So whatrsquos new As usual Irsquoll start with my projects because my life does really center around my work partly because I enjoy it so much. The gardening club is surely http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Atakpam-/blog-130048.html While many of my fellow volunteers here in Morocco when home to the US for Christmas I had lunch in Marrakech with the other volunteer in my region who stayed behind. It was a sunny day and we ate on the upstairs terrace at Kozy Bar one of my favorite places in Marrakech.The next day the real adventure began. I went to Casablanca and took a plane to Lom Togo. My friend Jesselyn who I went to h http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-118990.html holaaaaaqui me encuentro en Lomo sin probar cerdo...paradojas de la vida.Mali ha sido epico tanto q no se por donde empezar. Burkina fugaz tanto que vuelvo la semana que viene a verlo como dios manda.empezando por el principio salimos de bamako con muchas ganas...despues de la primera curva algo no iba bien con la direccion de Dereck...habiamos olvidado un desmontable dentro de la cubierta...inc http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-116478.html Hi allSorry for the long delay I've experienced some technical difficulties and after writing a long entry just before Thanksgiving and lost the whole thing before I could publish. So let me fill you in...Basically this month has been one of the busiest of my life between work in my village traveling for meetings and of course a nice but ohsoshort Thanksgiving vacation.World AIDS Day was a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-108599.html hello been a while.. now in togo and still having some great times.spent a few days at a really gorgeous crater lake after i wrote last and then decided to go for something the guidebook classes as 'for the more adventurous'and it truly was.. its called the princess ferry and is a cargo ship for yams but has two first class cabins the alternative to the cabin is to sleep in the dining room for http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-100798.html AIDS Ride was a total success We biked about 30 km per day through probably the most hilly and mountainous region of the country and our two teams conducted HIVAIDS sensibilizations at upwards of 6 villages high schools and middle schools per day. I found my niche doing the condom demonstrations on a wooden penis but we all got to try out all of the aspects of the program ABCD skits for p http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-98731.html For the first time I have stepped off Ghanaian soil and ventured into the confusing yet utterly charming borders of Francophone Africa. Crossing the border from Aflao in Ghana my travel companions and I were greeted with the same bustle and cocaphony we had come to know in Ghana but with a decidedly different twang. Mototaxi drivers courted us with eloquent French and aside from the fish a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-97352.html I now know what people mean when they say that Peace Corps is a 247 job. And I'm not just talking about the fact that we constantly adapt to a faoreign language and culture even the work itself never seems to stop So I'll run down the projects that have been keeping me busy and making the time fly by some of which I've mentioned beforeI am finally starting up the gardening club at the l http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-96854.html Eight full months it has taken us to traverse this huge region the size of the contiguous U.S. without Texas.. From entering Mauritania on the first of February to leaving Cameroon on the last of September.A region of strong religious belief poverty and corruption. But also a region of great happiness striking colours and wonderful music.West Africa has some of the worst governments in the wo http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-94830.html In the last 3 weeks Irsquove made many new friends in my village and itrsquos starting to feel like home. Even the children on the road are yelling BONSOIR STEVEN which is a lot better than Yovo I have a new friend that is in his final year of high school and I found lots of odd jobs for him to do so that I can justify helping him to pay his school fees. Cleaning the latrine and fixing t http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-92505.html So I've just spent my first two weeks or so in village and to be totally honest it was much harder than I expected. I am living on my own now in a rural African community which means I do all my shopping manage my time and schedule and my learn the ropes of who I can depend on around me. It's difficult to constantly feel like a stranger since every time I leave the house children shout the Yo http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/blog-87807.html On Thursday my training group all swore in as Peace Corps volunteers and now the two year countdown begins Not that I'm in any hurry to go home although I do miss everyone. I'm excited to get started working in my villageWe left Adeta Thursday morning and after a sad farewell to friends and host families as if I won't be in the same region for the next couple years we drove to Lome for som http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Togo/Lome/blog-84570.html