J’taime, Togo

As I hopped on the back of a taxi-moto, the zippy motorcycles that serve as the main mode of transportation in Togo, and sped off along the brilliant coastline towards the tree-shaded boulevards, I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Au revoir, Ghana,” I thought. “Bonjour, Togo!”

When you step across the Ghanaian-Togolese border, everything changes. Togo is a world away.

Don’t get me wrong—I love Ghana. However, Togo is, how do you say, tre magnifique! Lomé, Togo’s beautiful capital, definitely has earned the title of the “Paris of West Africa.”

While tro-tros (shared vans) dominate the streets in Ghana, motorcycles and scooters dart around in every direction in Togo at mad speeds. The open gutters in Ghana suddenly become closed. The roads go from being rugged asphalt to smooth, swirling dirt and cobblestone. The architecture of the surrounding buildings looks much more reminiscent of beachside Europe than anything I’ve seen in Ghana.

And the food! Oh, the food! Even the chop (very basic, streetside food) had a more distinct taste than in Ghana. Whereas Ghanaian vendors sell plain white bread along the streets, Togo has women with big baskets of fresh baguettes complete with avocados, tomato, onion, and salt for quick and incredibly delicious sandwiches for a mere 100 cefa (approximately 20 American cents). There are also “cafémen” with carts who walk along the street and serve little cups of Milo, Nescafe, or tea for a very reasonable price. Even the carts that sell Fanice ice cream and frozen yogurt, which are everywhere in Ghana, are different in Togo. They have a far greater variety than in Ghana, including one called Lait Vanille (which tastes like frozen vanilla ice-milk) and Fan-Maxi (which tastes exactly like PinkBerry’s tart frozen yogurt flavor).

I think my greatest delight was discovering that they sell sparkling pompelmousse (grapefruit) juice at most stores. I was quite unaware of how much I missed grapefruit until the taste hit my tongue. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

I spent the night on Friday in the courtyard of our hotel, “Le Gallion,” with a plate of delicious French-inspired cuisine in front of me, the waft of cigarette smoke floating about me from nearby tables, and the music of a wonderful live Togolese jazz band in my ears. As the lovely antique-inspired lights shone on me, I reveled in the balmy night breeze and wondered at how perfect life was in that moment.

The invigorating night scene is only one example of Togo’s elegance. Until I arrived in Togo, I did not realize that it had been month since I had seen fresh cut flowers. At the art market, which includes vendors with absolutely stunning jewelry and woodcarvings unlike anything I’ve seen so far in West Africa, there is an island of flower vendors with a brilliant array of flora. I was so amazed that I literally felt my heart stop. Birds of Paradise, Lilies, Daisies, they had it all! I went to see the flowers every single day that I was in Togo. Before crossing the border to return to Ghana, I even bought a small bouquet, which braved a ride on a taxi-moto back to the border in addition to the 4-hour tro-tro ride from Aflao back to Accra.

I felt like Togo had everything I love about Europe and West Africa melded into one. The old architecture, the motorcycles, the rampant cigarette smoking, the beautiful French language, the romantic vibe, and the delightful food are all reminiscent of how I vividly imagine Paris in addition to my actual experiences in Spain and Greece. However, the warm West African friendliness, the incredible crafts, the bustling marketplaces, the lingering voodoo practices, and the quaint but lovely villages are certainly very typical of what I’ve seen so far in Ghana and what I’ve learned about other African countries.

Of course, I ventured out of Lomé in order to experience a different side of Togo, although I was sad to leave. My friend and I went to Aneho, a small village near the Beninese border. We ventured around on taxi-motos before going to a village that is known for their fetish markets. Unfortunately, we were disappointed to discover that the markets are mainly held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, although we missed out on the market, voodoo funeral rites were being held in the center of town for a man who recently died. I felt like many of the images I’d seen in my African History courses were coming to life right before my eyes. A voodoo practitioner donned a belt full of pouches and potions and danced wildly for the small crowd of mourners. Men wearing huge-pyramid shaped costumes with shaggy fabric that covered their entire bodies soon accompanied him. We couldn’t stay for long because it was getting dark, but what we were able to witness was incredible.

At the end of the weekend, I was quite sad to leave Togo. However, it was relieving to return to Ghana. My French is, as they say in West Africa, “small-small” and I found that my limited French combined with my friend’s limited Ewe (one of the local languages) with the limited English spoken by the Togolese made communication more than a bit difficult. My mind was put at ease to come back to the country that I’m growing to know so well. I won’t deny that I fell madly in love with Togo or that going to another country, especially accompanied by only one other woman, wasn’t exhilarating, albeit a bit daring. But my life, at least for the next 2 months, is here in Ghana and it was nice to be restored in my temporary home with the knowledge that my little “African-Paris” by the sea is just a border away.

Togo, mon amour, I shall return.

2 Responses to “J’taime, Togo”

1. Grandma Joan says:

   October 19, 2009 at 12:29 pm

   Dear Lexi, your word pictures made me feel that I was there and would like to have joined you. I know that you were looking forward to visiting Togo and am glad that you were able to. I am also glad that you can withstand the heat there. As you will recall, I would have melted like the Wicked Witch of the West!
   Thanks for cc-ing me in. I loved hearing from you. You may know that I have a new puppy called Jake. He is a Havanese and is a sweet little guy. I hope that you will be able to see him when you return. He weighs less than 4# at the moment. Just a little fluff ball!
   Sending love and a hug, Grandma
2. Karima says:

   October 27, 2009 at 12:32 pm

   Oh Lexi, that sounds like such a great place! Let’s make it an unrealistic goal that we will go there someday together, and then I can translate for you! …maybe I’ll even allow Jon to tag along, just maybe . Or I can just teach you french in SB so you are more prepared for next time haha.

   Miss you tons, mon cherie! <3