Tearin' Up Togo

I just can’t get over how different Togo is from Ghana. This whole year I had been reluctant to spend the money on purchasing a visa to visit Togo because my mindset was that Togo would be a mirror image of Ghana. Yet, despite the fact that the border was merely drawn in during colonialism, the two countries are seriously the difference between night and day. The second you pass border control, everyone is speaking French and not a tro-tro is in sight. Instead, motorcycles cover the roads taking passengers to their final destinations for a cheap price. Togo was once known as the Paris of West Africa but political turmoil has left the country with low tourist rates and once prospering restaurants, hotels, and clubs are now skeleton buildings. Surprisingly, the beaches and streets are much cleaner than Ghana. The gutters are covered, unlike Ghana’s open sewers. The money is in CFA’s and the most confusing currency I have ever dealt with- it is in thousands. And the food is AMAZING. Baguette and guacamole sellers on every corner. I really felt like I was in a different world when I was in Togo...it was one crazy trip.

                It began at the University of Ghana at 1 PM. I had a final that morning at 7:30AM and was exhausted but this was the final gap in my schedule to travel before I headed back to the good ole US of A. We made it to the border at dark and were bombarded by people trying to get us to exchange money or buy new phone cards etc. Luckily, we made friends with a Togolese guy by the name of Assan who became our knight in shining armor. Getting through the Ghana border was easy but the Togolese border control was grumpy with the fact that we couldn’t speak French too well. West Africans are simply able to walk through the border without questioning but if you appear foreign there will most definitely be a bribery exchange involved. After two hours spent with the Togolese border patrol we took a taxi to our hotel, The Galion. Although the hotel was constructed in a beautiful white colonial style on the outside, our rooms looked like they had not been swept in months and none of us could sleep because we were getting bit by bed bugs. After hours of travel, it was just nice to have a place to rest.

                The next morning, we went to the central market to exchange our money. The scene was like out of the movies…a man approaches you and asks if you need to exchange your money and you do it right there in the center of the street. I had previously heard nightmare stories of getting ripped off so I knew the conversion rate and when the guy told me half of what I knew was correct, I showed him on the calculator what the proper amount should be. His face showed his disappointment but he did not argue. There were four of us: Kassie, Mariel, Zoe, and I. Mariel and I decided to head north for some nature and hiking while Zoe and Kassie decided to stay in Lomé. We took a tro-tro about 4 hours up to Kpalime which is at the bottom of the beautiful Mount Kluto. Then, we did the inevitable and hopped on the back of a motorcycle for a gorgeous drive up to the top of the mountain. And this is where the confusion begins. We had been told to visit a Mr. Prosper because he is an environmentalist and works with the butterflies of the forest but the Togolese men who stopped us at the top of the mountain kept repeating that he is sick and needs an operation. Something about their story did not feel right but we proceeded to our hotel anyways before heading out for our tour of the forest. For the next four hours, we hiked deep into the forest with our incredible guide, David. Even though he spoke broken English he was lively and my friend Mariel was able to translate the French for me. He showed us all the different fruits and plants: coffee, papaya, mango, sugarcane, aloevera, tomatoes, bananas…the list goes on. He even cut open various plants to show how the forest naturally produces all the colors of the rainbow and then painted a butterfly on my arm. There were also butterflies flying everywhere even though it wasn’t the height of butterfly season yet. Mariel and I were beat so we cleaned up and ate a delicious meal before David picked us up for a night tour. We walked on the paths and he showed us HUGE bugs. We saw a slug that was larger than the size of my fist and was the color of pure white snow. We heard drumming in the distance and he asked if we would want to dance with the local villagers. After exploring an abandoned German hospital we headed to the town center. For the next hour, Mariel and I danced around the male drummers with women of all ages who showed us the Togolese traditional dances. Togolese dance is super different from Ghanaian dance and they got a nice kick out of my inability to move to the rhythm. Randomly, I ran into a girl from San Francisco State who has been studying for a year with me at the University of Ghana and had finished her finals and was travelling solo around Togo and Benin. She was the one who informed me that she was living with Mr. Prosper (the expert on butterflies that was supposedly sick)…so he did exist! Apparently there are two butterfly groups competing for the attention of tourists. Despite not meeting Mr. Prosper, our own guide David did a fabulous job at showing us the area so I was not in the slightest bit disappointed. The next morning David drove us to the base of the mountain to begin our journey back to Lome. We rode in a taxi (two of us squished in one seat up front) and five in the back…I have never seen eight people in such a small car before. 

                Back in Lomé we met up with Kassie and Zoe and took motorcycles to the largest fetish market in West Africa. The first thing noticed at the market was the smell: it was this putrid smell of dead animals, which is technically accurate. We got a tour from a nice man about the market and he explained how the dead skulls, hands, heads, feet (you name it) of monkeys, crocodiles, hippos, dogs, lions, snakes etc. surrounding us are used for a practical purpose today, treating followers of traditional African religion and voodoo. People travel from all over Africa to come to this specific market to purchase a specific item that was recommended to them by a traditional priest to help cure some ailment or misfortune. We sat in a room with the voodoo chief for an hour has he explained the different forms of white magic (good magic), super fascinating. I got to perform some rituals with the chief and communicate with the spirits by throwing cowries shells on the ground to bargain for prices. Although I was initially intimidated to visit the market, I feel that this really opened my eyes to the reality, complexity, and depth of traditional religion in Africa.

                A couple hours later we got dressed up and ate a delicious meal at a French restaurant where we got brick oven pizza. After eating rice and fried plantains for the last 10 months this was pure heaven. We then went to one of the local bars which was recommended in our guide book. We spent the rest of our night at the largest club in West Africa, Le Privilege. My friend Kassie won the azonto dance competition against 15 other girls, it was pretty epic. On the way home, our taxi got pulled over by the police. The police made us get out of the car and demanded a 15,000 CFA bribe, about the equivalent of 30 US dollars, which is a lot in both Ghana and Togo. After about thirty minutes sitting on the curb we got away with paying them 3,000 CFA and made it back to our hotel. It was definitely one of the most eventful nights I have had in West Africa.

                The next morning we bought fresh baguettes from a local bake shop and headed to the border. As expected the Togolese border control was not too pleasant with us but the Ghanaian guards were nice and I had them laughing with my use of Twi and we even did some Azunto dance moves.

                Despite our exhaustion we changed in thirty minutes then had to go to our end of year party. We ate a delicious meal, watched a video of all the events from the past year, and even got to swim in a pool. We were so excited to sit in a hot tub, only to realize it wasn’t heated OIG (only in Ghana). I said goodbye to my roommate, Ariel, which ended up not being our last goodbye. Her flight was cancelled a total of 6 times and she remained in Ghana for 2 extra days. Apparently United Airlines will not be flying out of Ghana in the next couple of months…so the rumors say.

                As for now, I just completed my final paper as a University of Ghana student. It is unbelievable how fast the past year has gone. I will spend my next few days packing, reflecting, working at the Radio Station, and hanging out with my neighbors. I am definitely overwhelmed but hopefully things will wind down in the next few days and I will be ready to leave Ghana.