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Published: March 12th 2024
When you go on an organised tour of any region, there are always a number of prescheduled excursions included in the base package. But sometimes it is the spontaneous or unexpected stop that can be a highlight.
Such was the case for me at a place called Atakpame in Togo, which just happened to be on the day of my 75
th birthday. As we were driving along, we made a spontaneous stop when we interrupted an outdoor school lesson of grades 3 and 4 to check out their facilities and get familiar with their lessons approach. There was a beautiful moment for me when the whole class sang “Happy Birthday” to me (en Francais) then stood up and gave me a big clap. This was followed by one of our tour group, who had brought his ukulele on tour, playing a few ‘Playschool’ songs that the kids all understood, even if not the language. Then two of the local children showed off their talent and gave a very brief repertoire on the ukulele, followed by general discussion facilitated by our guide.
At Djougou in Benin, we just happened to pass through there on market day. Now through my many
years of travelling, I must have visited well over 100 markets, but this one just seemed a bit special. We had just made a very clear transition as we travelled into heavy Muslim territory, with mosques at times almost outnumbering houses and all females decked out in their hijabs and burqas. What was different about this market was there were no regular stalls, but everyone crowded together very tightly on the floor, with colourful Muslim women and all varieties of merchandise all squeezed in together. For this reason, it was difficult to even get access but the colour of the vendors and the goods, along with the obvious enjoyment of the women (no male vendors!) created a great atmosphere.
Just prior to reaching Cape Coast in Ghana, we came across on the side of the road a very crude stilling operation. This is called Akpeteshie and it is a
liquor produced by
distilling palm wine from fermented
Raffia palm tree juice. This sweetened liquid is first fermented in large barrels, sometimes with the help of yeast. After this first stage of
fermentation, fires are built under the barrels in order to bring the liquid to a boil and pass the resulting vapor through
a copper pipe immersed within a local creek, where it condenses and drips into sieved jars. The boiled juice then undergoes a distillation. The resulting spirit is up to 50 per cent
alcohol by volume – we know as we tasted it and it sure gave us a whack!
When we stayed overnight at Sokode in Togo, we got to witness a fire dance. In the centre of the village a large fire lit up the faces of the participants, who danced to the hypnotic beat of the drums eventually leaping into the glowing embers. At various times, they picked up burning coals and passed them over their bodies and even put them in their mouths, apparently without injuring themselves or showing any sign of pain. It’s difficult to explain such a performance, but maybe it really is the fetishes that protect them from the fire! To be honest, having seen firewalking before, I found this one a bit underwhelming.
So let me finish up this series of blogs by giving some of my general views and observations from the whole trip:
Our travel group: I have been on organised tours before where one or two participants have so
much pissed off their fellow travellers by the end of the tour that they have become alienated by the group, or even left early. There was no such problem with our group, who all seemed to gel easily and travel harmoniously, which certainly added to the enjoyment of the tour.
Tour guides and drivers: We travelled in two minivans, each with a dedicated guide and a driver. The vehicles performed well, with the aircon a particularly popular item, and the guides were reliable and knowledgeable. If I were to have a minor complaint, I think the guide overdid the history lessons from time to time, especially when we were all boiling under the hot sun, but others may not have shared this view.
The roads: These were better than expected in Togo and Benin, but we got a real surprise when we reached Ghana, which in general was more developed than the other two countries, but which produced some awful roads. It started when we crossed the border from Benin and we then had to travel through 3km of ‘No Mans Land’ on what must be one of the worst quality roads I’ve ever travelled on. Clearly, few
people use this particular border crossing and it felt as though we were making an illegal entry. To add to the frustrations, we were stopped and inspected at numerous Police check points during the Ghana travels.
The traffic: Similar to many developing countries in Asia, there are almost no rules on the road except the desire to preserve your own life! Most cars and trucks drive too fast and too close to the vehicle in front, and overtaking was often done at inopportune times and even on bends. Add to that mix the proliferation of motorbikes, especially in the built-up centres, and it is not surprising there is a high frequency of accidents. On a number of occasions, we noted large lorries that had gone off the road and had just been left to rust away there.
The weather: To be honest, this was my biggest bugbear of the trip. We didn’t encounter any rain the entire trip, but most days were in the high 30s deg C with almost 100 per cent humidity, which made trekking around tiring for me as I’ve always suffered with the heat. The irony in our group was that the two Aussies,
who had come from a hot summer seemed to suffer more than all the Europeans coming out of their winter. I guess it all depends on each individual’s own metabolism. I found that it really sucked my energy levels and I was always delighted when our evening’s accommodation included a swimming pool!
Personal safety: I even purchased myself a ‘man-bag’ to carry and protect my passport and cash, only to find it was totally unnecessary. At each excursion stop, our backpacks could be left in the van, which was always locked or under the watchful eye of our driver. I guess when you mainly venture around as a group, you aren’t under any danger personally, but as no stage did I have any concerns about safety and in fact the majority of locals were very friendly and welcoming.
Health: I felt a bit like a human pin cushion after I had a large number of vaccinations just before I left. I assumed we would be sleeping under mosquito nets and hounded by mossies, but that was not the case and I didn’t even use my bite protection spray all trip. I did feel poorly on the very first
day of our tour, but that ended up being just a 24-hour thing, so I suspect nothing major. It makes me wonder if I didn’t waste the $800-odd I spent on vaccinations and tablets, but of course I will never know ….
Accommodation: The quality of our hotels was surprisingly good. With only a couple of exceptions, I’d judge them at around 3-star, which for regional centres in that part of the world is pretty good. Every one we stayed at had aircon as well as fans, and more than half of them had swimming pools, which were most welcome for those of us who felt the heat.
Food: The cuisine most offered was one of fish, chicken or occasionally goat or rabbit, combined with rice, plantains, or some derivative of fried yam or cassava. These meat options were never of the KFC-filleted variety and were often difficult to extract the meat from the bone. I was fairly conservative in my eating habits and in many cases survived on some excellent soup options topped up with fresh bread.
Drinks: The main drinks consumed by the group were beer, beer and more beer! I was surprised that nobody
ventured to check out any wines on offer, but the local cold beers obviously hit their mark, with the occasional soft drink making up the balance.
Animals: Having toured East Africa a few years back, where animals are a big part of the attractions, it was disappointing that there were no wild animal sightings on this trip. We did see a bunch of peacocks and peahens at the Ashanti Palace and huge numbers of chickens, goats, pigs and dogs running rampart at most villages, but wildlife was unfortunately not on the agenda.
Visas: These were a bit of a hassle, often requiring a formal invitation to visit from the travel company, and they were relatively expensive. Togo and Benin had e-visas but the former also required an additional ‘Travel Slip’. Ghana required passport and paperwork to be submitted directly to the local embassy.
In summary, I would certainly say that the trip was a success, despite the suffering I got from the heat at times. It did however take me 5 different flights over 5 days to get home, and despite the fact that I had booked ‘comfort seats’ in economy on each flight, this was tiring,
or maybe it’s just that I’m getting old. It is likely that future trips may well be limited due to Joan’s vision problems and I suspect will likely be closer to home. So that wraps it up for my West African blogs.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Thank you for your summary of your adventure to West Africa.
I'm pleased it went as well as it did. I'm 74 and find that the issues with trips to under-developed countries are beyond my ability to cope. I wish that Joan's vision problems can be remedied.