The first weekend of November, six other NYU students and I traveled to Togo, the country directly to the east of Ghana.  We took a charter bus to the border, a three hour ride, and proceeded to walk from Ghana into Lomé, Togo’s capital.  Togo is a Francophone country, and we were immediately affected by the language barrier in our attempt to acquire visas for our stay.  About and hour of lots slow speaking and sign language later, we were safely into the country and set to explore.

First stop was our hostel.  Despite our reservation request, they were booked.  …?  So we walked to find another one, Auberge Rovitta, which was straight out of a horror film.

One of Lomé’s main tourist attractions is the voodoo fetish market.  I recommend looking at my pictures of the market, but if you can’t, imagine rows of several tables filled with dead things – heads of hyenas, antelopes, ducks and monkeys, skins of ferrets and dogs, bones of everything, dried chameleons and snakes…it was unbelievable.  Needless to say I didn’t pick up any of these.  Sorry Em, no elephant skin for Christmas.

Two Togo Favorites:

1. The main mode of transportation is by motorbike, including taxis (or taximotos).  We took them three times over the weekend, and it was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life.  I will admit, my first ride I clung to the driver, convinced I had just made the absolute worst impulsive decision of my life, and eyeing every pothole in the street…thinking the worst.  After the first ride, I loosened up, and really took Togo by motorbike.  The streets are really beautiful – lined with trees (and sidewalks…a change!).  The last moto we took was to the border, which included a drive down the Lomé coast.  [Think City of Angels...Meg Ryan on the bike]. Ok not really…I still held on…but it was an amazing and memorable ride.

2. Being a Francophone country, Togo has a lot of French/Euro flair, including their food.  My food intake for the weekend: two chocolate croissants and a baguette…and some cheap Chinese food, but that doesn’t count.  The baked goods were phenomenal.

Our trip ended with us coming to the realization that our bus service didn’t run on Sunday.  Oops.  We ended up eventually finding a tro-tro to take us home to Accra.  Au Revoir, Togo.

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