This trip was full of hilarious moments, entertaining (and sometimes entertained by us) locals, lots of border crossings and delicious new snack food. The most impressional part of the trip were...
1. Cumbersome border crossings
2. Moto-taxis (Sorry, mom!)
3. Avocado and omelete baguettes
4. Fetish Market
Let me explain...
Our adventure began at 6am in Tema station (which we realized wasn't the best starting place, since the Madina station is closer to the border and closer to my home stay, but you live and you learn). After a few hours in a van and striking up conversation with a man with a Cheesecake Factory (no he has never worked there), we arrived at the Togo border. Crossing the Togo border was not seamless. The Benin border was even more obnoxious, mostly because the crossing guard claimed we were not allowed to come to Benin for a day, since "Why should you come to Benin for a day when I'm not allowed in the United States for a day?" but once our taxi driver talked to him he let us through and everything was fine. Some interesting sights on the way to Cotonou, Benin: informal gas stations that sold gas of varying grades and quantities out of reused wine bottles and jugs, the gorgeous coast line, and a ridiculous amount of trucks hanging out on the side of the road.
After almost 12 hours of traveling (everything always takes longer than it is supposed to), we arrived at our hotel just as the sun was setting. Our friend Ryan, who has a great sense of direction, lead us to a nearby restaurant we saw on the map, but we got lost. Apparently the crossing guard we asked about the restaurant, just to make sure we were on the right track, set us in the wrong direction, so Ryan knew what he was doing after all! We finally found the restaurant after a very nice couple flagged down some motorcycle taxis (called moto-taxis) for us and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of hummus, falafel and wine right on the beach.
The next morning we set out to find some cheap street breakfast and check out the fetish market! We asked this random guy where the nearest baguette stand was (the giant egg sandwich in the photo below was equivalent to $0.50) and he ended up not only showing us to some baguettes but touring us throughout the giant market, making sure our money was hidden, bargaining for us, and eventually led us to the fetish market. The fetish market was a varied selection of animal skulls, skins, herbs and what looked like dried up reptiles and rodents. There was also a man selling a small piece of wood with a string and a tack that fits into it, which was painted red with "sacrifice," that not only cures AIDS but keeps your husband loyal, and it was only $10! What a deal! (photo below)
After the market we made our way to Lome, Togo. After another round of boarder crossing, during which the power went out and the visa official needed to use my cell phone light to fill out the rest of my form, and a frustrating conversation with our taxi driver (we thought he was bringing us to the hotel, he thought he was taking us to the station and wanted to charge us more, even though it was closer!), we finally arrived at the hotel and had a relaxing evening with good food, great laughs and more wine!
Sunday we hit another market (we're obsessed) and got more baguettes (obsession number 2) on the way, which this time had avocado, tomato and optional bean or fish sauce, which I refrained from trying. It was Sunday, so the market wasn't very crazy, which was good, and I bought a lot more souvenirs and such since I wasn't being hassled and pushed around. I finally bought some fabric and I'm hopefully going to get some clothes made this week, but finding a seamstress that isn't expensive, does good work and doesn't take over a month seems to be a cumbersome task, so we'll see how that goes. A few of us also stopped by the beach for a bit, which was a five minute walk from the hotel, and witnessed a guy pooping on the shore, which is apparently very common, while Ryan climbed a tree and knocked down some coconuts (with help from a local). I love coconut water, so drinking it straight out of the coconut for free and not in an overprices juice box was heaven!
The ride itself was uneventful, but upon crossing the border and entering the tro-tro station I was literally dragged away from my friends by a crowd of 15 tro-tro driver trying to get the business of seven seemingly naive Obrunis (how wrong they were). I wasn't scared or concerned for my safety, they're harmless and just think that grabbing my arm and yelling at me is going to grant them my business, so I stood there and waited for them to stop yelling, at which point my friend Harrison stepped in and pushed them off me and started making fun of them by yelling at me to go on HIS tro-tro, and the comic relief calmed everyone down. After this fiasco I was able to board a van with all my limbs attached. Besides that the only bit of excitement was when we got pulled over and made to sign in with our passports at some check point, which often happens when white people travel, and Jeremy, Ryan and Harrison proceeded to try some street vendors undetermined meat. I don't think they ever stopped eating mystery street food for a minute the entire trip, Jeremy in particular. The resiliency of his stomach astounds me.
Overall the weekend was hectic, busy and really really great! We did so much it was hard to remember everything for this post. There's nothing like a few days away from your daily routine with good friends and great adventure to make you feel refreshed!! Here are some photos from the weekend.
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| Attempting to impersonate "American Gothic" with our omelet baguettes |
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| Apparently you can fit 4 people on a motorcycle (Don't look Mom!) |
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| Fetish Market |
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