So with 31 minutes left on the clock, I commence trying to organise and write to you everything that we did and saw last week in the North. The general plan was Kanté, Pays Tamberma, Kanté, Kara, Sokodé, Atakpamé, Kpalimé (all are marked on a map of Togo if you happen to have one handy). And in general, we stuck pretty well to that plan!
We left Lomé on Sunday 1st April (thankfully they don't celebrate April Fools' Day here otherwise we would have been in for a 'treat' indeed! knowing the nature of the Togolese, especially the male variety) in the pre-booked coach run by the Post Office. And consequently, for the equivalent of around 5 pounds, we had the most luxurious and most organised trip (and longest) that I've experienced since being here. Numbered seats, a non-cracked windscreen, all wheels attached plus steering wheel and one seatbelt made us feel very much more like Europeans than Togolese. The small reminder that we were here however was the original way of air-conditioning the bus - the lack of a door.
So we arrived in Kanté after nearly 10 hours of travelling, and were met by our pre-arranged moto drivers! We headed straight for the village in the Pays Tamberma where we were to spend the night, and the ride down bumpy, stony, bendy tracks was just fine, apart from the small moment where a cow casually wandered out in front of us and we had to brake HARD. (But don't worry Mummy, the cow escaped unscathed!) When we arrived in the village (5 houses at most) we greeted the chief, who was the strangest mixture between native and Western culture I've seen. His feet showed his age, and that they'd obviously been bare since he was born, yet he had his mobile in a nice pouch around his neck - and he even used it Grandma! But very welcoming, and we then took our bags to go into the house where we would be staying. That one was specially built by UNESCO, and opened by the president no less, and is in the original tata style but is specifically for visitors. So we slept outside that night, under the African stars! (that is until it started raining and we were forced to move into the little room - the covered area in the middle of the top terrace which serves as a bedroom.) We also had a friend with us; a mouse and then a lizard decided to really show us the meaning of Togolese hospitality by very kindly keeping us company ALL NIGHT. With no electricity, no running water and a storm outside, it was an experience to say the least.
The following day, we did the tour of the Pays Tamberma. I learnt so so so much about the history, and the houses and just everything, but will write down events and places for you first and will probably have to do a separate post about that because there's just too much to say! It was eye-opening to say the least, and it was impossible to forget that we're in what is at once the richest and poorest continent of the world. There was no doubt about it at all - This Is Africa. For lunchtime, we hopped over the border to Benin (without visa) as you do, and had very very yummy rice with tomato and onion sauce, and the kind of smoked cheese they do here which is called wagassi and is very nice. That has to be one of the highlights of the tour - have now been in 3 African countries! Plus, a woman with a white stone through her bottom lip, a woman who spoke to us for at least half an hour solidly - all in her own language, Kabyé, of course - and hugged us lots, not to mention looking out from the terrace in the dark (it goes dark here at like 6) and seeing lots of black bushes, then seeing them moving, then eating, then finally realising that they were a herd of goats come to graze on the scrub! And the whole experience of sleeping in the tata and being able to see everything there, and meet some of the people who really live like that, was just incredible. What really brought home the realisation that there is so much disparity in the world is that our guide does actually live in one of the villages he showed us. Not only that, but at the age of 16 he was called from Lomé where he was at school, to be initiated and he has the scars to prove it. And when I think about what I did for my 16th birthday, it seems impossible that it can exist all at the same time, yet it does. There really are very few words to describe realisation like that, but that's the best I can do!After the tour we returned to Kanté to sleep there Monday night - have rarely been so glad to have electricity, some things really make you appreciate others!
On Tuesday, we saw a little of Kanté, which is pretty small, and then headed to Kara which is the ancient capital of the North because Togo was originally not at all like it is today. We had hoped to find a restaurant serving pizza and cinnamon biscuits but after searching we discovered that it no longer exists :( and the trend of disappearing and appearing restaurants and sites will continue... Instead we found somewhere where we basically had breakfast for lunch. Really just hit the spot. We also made our way into the Grand Marché there - not as easy as it sounds, this involved negotiating an open sewer with our bags on our backs, plus about 1001 people wanting to cross the same point at the same time. You gotta love it here! After Kara, we went on to Sokodé to sleep the Tuesday night, and found the best café ever (and right next to the hotel) where we ate every meal until leaving - the Barack Obama 'yes we can' café to be precise!
Am going to have to finish here for today and will continue next time as I have no minutes left on the clock and it is also just about to rain so I have to go and make sure my room is waterproof etc!
x
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