I am too tired to blog in my Togo voice so you will have to bear with the soothing, calm sounds of my natural voice.
Picking up where I left off in the internet café in Lome, I realized that the time set aside to meet with my fellow travelers to proceed to Lake Togo had come and gone. At Le Galion, the staff gave me a note that was left detailing exactly where they had gone which made it easy to catch up. I packed up my stuff in my room, left behind my phone charger, and checked out. Perhaps because of the lack of a toilet (but in its place a shower and sink), my room was 7,000 CFAs (seefahs) or about $14 which was less than my meal at Eiffel Restaurant.
Hopping onto a moto-taxi, I rode to the Grand Marche where I could change 100 cedis in CFAs as I would need that for the next day or two. I found two Muslim men who, perhaps in appreciation of my Arabic greeting, gave me a decent return of 30,000 CFAs. Back onto a moto-taxi and flush with CFAs, I showed the driver the location, Hotel Le Lac, Lake Togo. When he did not know where to go, he stopped at a hotel and asked directions as something was getting lost in translation between us (he spoke only “small-small” English). The hotel staff spoke better English and directed me to a taxi stop just up the street and told me to pay 1,000 CFAs to get to the hotel. I relaxed as best I could in the taxi, sitting four across in the backseat which reminded me of my first few weeks doing Crew.
My backpack and I were let off at the stop for Hotel Le Lac. For 200 CFAs, a moto-taxi took me right to the entrance. Looking out at the water, I saw my friends who had not been there too long anyways. The beach on Lake Togo had a resident population of Hobie Cats (catamaran sailboats) and other small sailboats. I asked a guy who appeared to be guarding them about a possible rental and he said that they were all privately owned, much to my disappointment. Luckily, the lake was quite pleasant and warm to swim in, and exceedingly shallow. I was several hundred yards off and still standing up in the mucky bottom. This even allowed me to explore a fishing set up, a series of poles and nets in the water aimed at trapping fish. The one I looked at had a few of them in it.
After relaxing on the beach under the shade of palm trees, we packed up to head back to Lome to pick up passports and catch the tro-tro to Kpalime, a town in the heart of coffee country. The enterprising Togolese immigration officials had advised my colleagues to buy a yearlong, multiple entry visa, lying that their single entry visa had expired. We were able to pick up passports without an issue and made our way to the tro-tro.
Togo is less well off than Ghana in some ways. Food is wicked expensive (but delicious) and it is simply confusing to use currency with so many zeros in it. People are also poorer as evidenced by the tro-tro. Vehicles are older and much more overloaded with stuff than in Ghana. While the three of us claimed the back seat, a fourth person was inserted when it was really meant (at least in Ghana) for three across. Thus, the two and a half hour drive was cramped and bumpy. At a tollbooth, our Togolese seatmate bought escargots on a stick, handed in from out the window. I have seen a lot of different foods on sticks but snails were definitely a first. Unfortunately, we drove off before we could decide whether to buy some.
Arriving late at the hotel, I ordered some food and checked into my room. It was 16,000 CFAs a night or around $34, expensive by West Africa standards but really nice. I turned the air-conditioning down to 16 degrees Celsius, took my fourth hot shower on the Continent and came down to beef, peppers and onions grilled on a pair of metal sticks (usually they are wood). The steak fries were also top notch (steak fries being what the French refer to French fries as). We also negotiated with a guide to explain were we wanted to go on Saturday. Luckily, my friend spent 11 years taking French and was finally able to put it to use. Didae agreed to take us up Mount Klouto and Mt Agou the next morning at 7am.
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