An Overnight Stay In the City of Lome!

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Hey All!

Happy 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 I decided to head east for a short overnight visit to Lome , the capital of Togo. This trip was funny however in the sense that my team roster changed all the way up until the last hour! Because of people's change of plans, or lack of passports I could only snag one other person to go with me. So Bethany and myself made up the Togo Duo. Which actually, it was kinda nice only having one other person to worry about!

We departed the hostel around eight o'clock Friday morning, immediately caught a Tro Tro to the Tema Bus station and walked over to Tudu Station hoping to find transport to the eastern border town of Aflao . Apparently, Aflao was a hot destination, because when we did arrive we found a line of at least fifty people trying to get on a Tro Tro's heading to that destination...well at least we wouldn't have to wait for it to fill up! So after waiting for three Tro's ahead of us to fill we finally managed to push our way onto one. They filled up the vehicle, took our money, and loaded all the bags. Sweet. We're on our way!

Wait... get off? Why? It's going to cost extra?! Wonderful...So we got off the Tro, and listen for awhile while two men argue in Twi about the situation. After a good two minutes of bickering the guy that first took our money and then gave it back and told us to get off, apparently had lost the argument and began letting people back on the Tro. Bethany and myself, naturally, were completely lost and confused on the entire issue, so I decided to ask the apparent winner of the argument, just where the situation now stood. How did the conversation go, you might ask? Well, something like this...

"Excuse me sir, but is this Tro still going to Aflao?" To which he responded...
"SIT DOWN!!!!" ...to which I meekly responded
"okay...sorry..." Ah Ghana, good times.

Turns out the Tro was going to Aflao and that the original price was still intact. And it actually turned out to be a good situation, because Beth and I's second seats were much comfier than the first ones! At any rate the journey there was long, warm, bumpy and uneventful, so yeah, same old same old.

When we finally arrived in Aflao we exchanged some money...score...and proceeded through the border and immigration. While it was slightly more tedious than Cote D'Ivoire, we passed through with no hassle making it through in less than half an hour.

First thing I notice about Togo as soon as I entered was the new form of transportation offered to travelers, Motos! Every where you look there are motorcycles. Dare I say, there are more of them than actual cars, and certainly more taxi motos than actual taxis! Now I've never rode on a motorcycle before, so naturally, it was the first thing I had to do! Purely sensational... I was scared to death... but it was still truly amazing! By the end of our trip I had gotten really comfortable on them, but at the beginning...man, it was embarrassingly awkward. I'm almost glad that everyone spoke French...that way I couldn't understand them when they were making fun of me!

Anywho, we took the moto our hotel, Le Galieon. This particular hotel I really enjoyed. Good food, nice air conditioned rooms, friendly staff, working bathrooms, a soft bed, all that wonderful stuff! After checking in, we decided to go check out the city. We spent a good two hours walking the streets of Lome and in a similar fashion to Abidjan, I found the city much cleaner than Accra. Both in noise and environmental pollution. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, with friendly natives, beautiful flora, and a sunset on the lagoon that was so beautiful, we were forced to sit and watch it for a good five minutes.

After walking around we took a moto back to the Galieon, grabbed our books and crossed the street to the beach. Unfortunately we both forgot our swim suits, but that didn't stop us from taking the the beautiful view of the deep cerulean sea. It was this trip that I was treated to gorgeous hues of turquoise and aquamarine colored oceans, devoid of human contamination and pollution. It was spectacular! The remainder of the evening was spent listening to a live jazz band performance while we dined on spaghetti and chicken cordon bleu. Oh Johnny was a happy boy, a very happy boy! The perfect end to a long eventful day.

Saturday morning belonged to the markets as we set out bright and early to do a little shopping. It was also a great way to see the more of the city on motorbike. After a couple hours of sightseeing, buying and bargaining we headed back to the Galieon, checked out, and made our way back to the border. We passed through once again with no problems. Jumped into a fifteen passenger van back to Accra, waited only one hour...score...and then we were on our way back home!! In fact everything was going swimmingly...until the van broke down...fortunately it was a battery problem that was eventually easily fixed, after only an hours delay...score again!

We made it back to our hostel right around five o'clock in the evening, just in time for dinner! Whew! Not too shabby. It was a great short weekend get away, not too many activities or events but still tons of fun!

Alright...so, the lands to the east and west have both been conquered...hmmmmm... I wonder what the weather in Timbuktu is like this time of year...guess there's only one way to find out!! ^_^

Your mail, comments, thoughts, prayers, and love are all very much appreciated! I can't wait to see you all!

Happy Easter! Hey...I don't feel as sad anymore, yay!

Jonathan

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Comments

[Lee Rivers]

He's Risen!!
Happy Easter little bro!

[Karen Schmidt]

You were my Art student; Eisenhower Middle School
Jonathan, In 1982 I spent a summer in Burkino Faso and Cote D'Ivoire. My parents worked at a hospital at Djibo, Burkino Faso for almost 2 years. It was one of the more profound experiences of my adult life! The country of Burkino Faso was then called Upper Volta. The disruption of the overthrown gov. began while my parents were there. Oh how I envy you! Your mother told me about your adventure and gave me your blog address. I will look forward to reading your updates. I am enjoying your writing style! Your description of bumpy roads, broken down vehicles, waiting . . . and waiting, heat, coping with french and a culture foreign to me bring back memories. We made 3 trips to Abijan the summer I spent in Burkino Faso. I remember being excited about modern accomodations and water I could drink from the tap. I must get out my old slides. Enjoy, learn . . . be careful. Karen Schmidt (One of your teachers from EMS . . Art)

[amanda m]

Oh Jonathan your adventures never cease to amaze me and make me laugh :) I'm so glad you're having fun, see everything. also a sidenote we are reading a book in one of my classes about a girl who was from Togo