Travelling in the North - Friday 6th April

So on our last day, we were in Kpalimé - very familiar for both of us, and such a nice relaxed little town too. We had another brilliant breakfast at the café,  and then headed back to the hotel to be met by the guide who was going to advise us on waterfalls. After a successful negotiation - we halved his price, yes! - we headed off (two on the moto... eek...) to an unnamed waterfall. Access to these waterfalls is always a bit tricky, but honestly, this was something else! Nearly vertical, up and down, by the time we got to the bottom we were definitely ready for a swim! It was such a beautiful waterfall though; secluded, quite big with a pool encircled by rocks, and an enormous rock exactly like Pride Rock in the Lion King. Being African, our guide of course scaled this in about 2 seconds and spent the time sunning himself on top. Being English, I decided to stay in the water... Which was cold!! But definitely worth the scramble. Afterwards however, we then had to get back to where we'd left the moto... Not as difficult as I'd feared it might be, it wasn't at all easy though! The ironic thing is that after you've came back up from the bottom of the waterfall, you need another waterfall at the top to cook off again... Unfortunately, it seems they only exist at the bottom of very steep hills, not at the summits, definitely inconvenient.

We spent the rest of the morning at the Centre Artisanal, which is very interesting as you get to see all the artists at work, but sadly extremely expensive because of that factor. Bought my sister's birthday present though (Gwyn!) and tried to get a really cool keyring for my car keys at home thrown in too, but the man was having none of it - meanie.

So after a lovely relaxing and touristy last day, we made a little tour of the market (and got lost - well done us...) where I bought the best honey EVER, plus presents for Mama and the girls which was fortunate. On the way back to the taxi station, we passed a taximan who called to us asking if we were going to Lomé, we said yes and that was it! We threw our bags in the back, hopped in and set off! He even stopped at a roadside market so that we could buy fruit for the families - I think the easiest taxi we found the entire trip haha.

Arrived home at 4.30ish and was met with such a lovely welcome by all the girls - even the people down our road were telling me 'bonne arrivée' cos I guess it was obvious I was coming home from somewhere...!

Will write a separate post to tell about the history of the Tamberma etc now because it is too much all in one, and when we've written our highlights list will also put that up on here. Had such a fantastic week, despite some of the difficulties we did it and managed to get back home  all in one piece too!

X

Travelling in the North - Wednesday 4th - Friday 6th April

Sooo at this point in the story, we are in Sokodé and it's the morning of Wednesday 4th April.
Here I think a small deviation is necessary to discuss the merits of the Togolese roadside café. Some basic information - prices usually range from 250CFA to 1500CFA maximum, company is variable and menus are all pretty much identical, although we did come across one serving Quaker Oats! These menus include about 7 different varieties of each staple - spaghetti, rice/couscous, meat, omlette. The breakfast options also include coffee, with or without milk, hot chocolate, ditto, or a combination of the two, again with or without milk, plus bread. Some of the delicious combinations of meals include spaghetti and chips, omlette and peas, couscous with tomato sauce and peas and omlette and spgahetti. I can thoroughly recommend all of the above. (note - when they say peas, they mean an entire can of tinned peas, it turned out to be surprisingly tasty!) Consequently, having discovered one of these such cafés next door to our hotel, we commenced by spaghetti simple, which actually means spaghetti with tomato, onion and chili sauce, and followed up by breakfast, omlette sandwich (which means eggs cooked with tomato and onions in bread) and Milo café (coffee plus hot chocolat, plus condensed milk, which is the only milk used in these cafés!) - YUM. We later discovered a very pleasant alternative to this in Kpalimé - Quaker Oats simple - which means porridge and sugar! Rather filling though as you have to remember Togolese portions are double regular size, be it breakfast, lunch, supper or any kind of food.
So after a very nice breakfast with Obama, we asked an entire list of questions to the owner of the café (here, it's essential to note that this time, the company at the café was very useful indeed!) about where things were and how to get to them. During this, we discovered that 2 of the things we wanted to see no longer existed, but we got directions to the rest. These included the old grand mosque, the new mosque (Sokodé is a Muslim dominated area btw), plus the little market of Zongo, and the grand marché of Sokodé. This was indeed a morning of mosques - we saw about 8! All very very beautiful though, and we also eventually stumbled across the old grand mosque which looks unmistakably like just a normal house, so we'd already passed it a few times before we realised what it really was. Wandering round, we saw the little market, little wasn't an understatement, and also the big market where I bought yet another pagne... We also went into the new grand mosque, which includes a school and is actually a kind of Muslim compound they called it. About halfway through the morning, we decided to cover our heads with the scarves we'd brought for that reason and from that moment on, we had the nicest reaction we received for the whole trip. Every single person called out to us and greeted us, both in their own language and in French; people genuinely really smiled at us (and interestingly, the Togolese don't often have an extremely easy smile before you know them); and although I think we received more attention by covering up than by not, it was definitely the most whole-heartedly postitive attention. Plus, several people actually came up to us to say that it was good we were wearing scarves, and they liked what we'd done. Well, when in Rome...

After our touristy tour of the town, we went back to the hotel, collected our bags, and headed to the taxi station. Our next main destination was Atakpamé, but we'd decided to stop for a little in a village a little way outside, called Anjé/Anie as it was supposed to be very picturesque and we thought it would be nice to have a little break from sight-seeing. It's close to Atakpamé, so the idea was to leave Sokodé early, spend a little time in Anjé and head onto Atakpamé to find a hotel before it went dark. What an idea that turned out to be...

As always, on entering the taxi station with our bags, we were surrounded by 6 furiously gesticulating Togolese men (honestly, the animal kingdoms competitions in the mating season are nothing compared to how this can be sometimes...) all persuading us that actually we wanted to go to their destination, in their taxi and at their price. After trying and failing to negotiate properlybecause the prices seemed very high, we headed in the direction of the 'price board' (prices chalked on the wall by a board saying Anjé etc) to get the official version. Unfortunately, this time the drivers weren't exaggerating... So we made our decision huddle and after five minutes, decided that yes it was worth it to go to Anjé and we'd just spend 30 mins or so there having a drink, and then get a normal taxi brousse to Atakpamé. Bear in mind, this was 12ish and the journey to Atakpamé straight is marked at around 2.5/3 hours so we were doing fine for time. So we got our tickets from the man, eventually extracted the change, and sat down to wait.

2 and a half hours later, we set off for Anjé. And another thing, there was a yellow bus waiting at the start which was very very keen to take us. Alone. Naturally we refused point blank, despite all the excuses the driver gave. But guess which bus we ended up taking... Apparently everything happens for a reason...! After nearly 3 hours we still hadn't reached Anjé... So practised our now-honed skills of negotiation on the driver, who of course wasn't having any of it until we reached a price that he couldn't refuse. However, after that we drove straight through Anjé and onto Atakpamé, arriving there at 5.30pm rather the worse for wear to say the least.

Arriving in the town, we walked, found a hotel and just stopped. Unfortunately, the situation didn't massively improve after that. So relieved to have found somewhere to sleep, we jumped on the restaurant next door as the easiest and quickest option. Plus, we'd realised that it was a good 10/15 minute walk to get into the main town so this was probably the only option for us at that moment! Having made enquiries and been told that it was 3000CFA for chicken and chips or fish and chips, we judged this expensive, but worth paying just to have something.  So we went in and sat down, ordered drinks, and then asked to see the menu. The waitress then informed us that there was no rice, it was pate. So we again asked to see the menu. And she repeated what she'd just said... It turns out that the chicken and chips we wanted was on order only, something we'd neglected to pick up earlier, and that it would take 30-60 mins. Now being familiar with the Togolese sense of time (or lack of) we decided to go for the pate, with fish. So that came. Cold. So we sent it away to be warmed up. And by the time it came back, we were far less inclined to eat than before. This resulted in a desperate foray to the all-night fruit market we'd passed on the way into town, one mango and a rather messy preparation in a room which had 'no cooking' clearly marked on the door. Pretty sure it didn't count as cooking though... Cheers for the penknife Daddy - if that's the only time I use it, it was worth it. We also had some cookies left that we'd bought in Sokodé so those were also much appreciated.

Breakfast at the hotel on Thursday morning was again, MUCH appreciated 8 hours after our last 'meal'! I took a photo of the way she laid it out - it was just so Western, we could have been in any standard European hotel, and it was very amusing. We wanted to see Atakpamé the town in the morning, and then go to a village nearby called Kamina which was a big communication base for the Germans before, and at the very beginning of; the First World War. Wandered round the town, and saw the very beautiful cathedral, plus an entire collection of amusing signs. The signs here are just amazing at times; my favourites from these were 'Waky Decor', bar 'Go Slow' and 'Big Up' hairdressers'. Plus another in Kanté that I really enjoyed was the garage 'Laissez Tomber', which could be taken as the Togolese motto really! One more than really sums up the atmosphere here we found in Sokodé - again a garage, this time with the line 'Peu à Peu ça ira' (little by little, things will work out). Really liked Atakpamé as a town, it's a lot greener than even Sokodé, and you can tell that by this point we've moved down a region, to the plateau region instead of the more northern regions. After a wander around, we came back to the hotel and had what turned out to be a most brilliant idea - that of asking the man hanging around in the garage whether he knew Kamina, the village with the old German military base etc. In effect, he called his friend and within five minutes, we'd found ourselves a person chauffeur to and from the vilage, plus guide, all for the handsome price of 1000CFA, about 1.20...

And it was a really good thing we got him, because the village was TINY and we definitely needed a guide to tell us where to go. It was very interesting to look around, and it turns out it was a MAJOR centre of communication for the Germans. Based on no model, it was begun just before the turn of the century, and between August 1st and 22nd 1914 a total of 229 telegrams were sent and received from there. Impressive to say the least! We also enjoyed the accompaniment of small children which were included in the guided tour, free of charge.

After that adventure, we headed back to Atakpamé, mentally girding our loins for the departure, as we had heard several nightmare stories about people trying to get a taxi out of there. Compared to the day before, the departure was not a problem. In about an hour and 15 minutes, we'd found a taxi, got seats, tickets, fruit to eat and left - speedy service! The journey however was marked as 2 hours in the guide book and took a total of 3 and a half... This did include an emergency petrol stop - when I say emergency, the engine cut out and so we glided to a stop halfway up a hill... Luckily, the little oil-selling men who are everywhere here came to our rescue and after a dodgy start we were back on route! And a major plus - this was now the 2nd bus we'd had with music, which was SO needed, especially about halfway through the journey when we realised we weren't at all where we thought we should have been by that point!

So we eventually got to Kpalimé and headed straight for the nice hotel I stayed in last time, opposite the very lovely church. Sadly they only had expensive rooms left, but the difference was relatively minimal and bearing in mind it was already nearly 6 we thought we'd better just take what we could get! And guess what, we found another fantastic café, that we'd both been to before and consequently had supper, and breakfast there yet again ha.

Will write about Kpalimé in the next post, although not a huge amount to say, as we both already knew it so did simple things.

x

Travelling in the North of Togo - Sunday 1st -Tuesday 3rd April.

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

Vogan and Aného

Went travelling again this weekend, after a long week of exams, plus an extra day off which was appreciated! Left Friday afternoon to see the market at Vogan. Did have rather a lot of difficulty finding a taxi, but ended up having the most luxurious ride I've had since being here - the two yovos in the front of a van by themselves! It was just heavenly in comparison although (Mummy close your eyes) seatbelts are just non-existent here and am going to have to think hard when I get back home after 7 months of just hopping into cars/vans/taxis/motos/etc... Arrived at Vogan mid-afternoon and despite not really seeing very much except a lot of cars, as soon as we got out and turned around the most enormous market every sprang up right in front of us. It was literally enormous. And everything was there! Raw food, cooked food, drinks, fabrics, clothes, fetish stuff, (which included snakes, crocodile skulls, feathers, shells and all sorts of random-looking things!) animals (alive and dead), medication, toiletries, things like nail varnish, household items, pottery, baskets, stationery, books - literally everything you could ever want in your whole life was there. It was just amazing!
And while we were gaping in awe at this, we spotted some kind of voodoo ceremony going on nearby, so we went to look. First we stood a little way back, near the market, but then a man traditionally dressed told us (in Ewé, which he continued to speak throughout despite us only replying in French...) that we could go closer, so we did. Then a totally scary, totally African, seemingly totally mad woman came out of the dancers and marched towards us blowing her whistle and shouting in Ewé. Unsurprisingly, we followed the example of all the little children around us and just RAN! It turned out she wanted money, and for me to put my camera away (so said the helpful man in Ewé) which we weren't about to pay so we just stayed well back. It looked sort of like a voodoo dance off - there were two groups, one of which arrived a little after the other, both doing the same dance as far as we could make out. But the bizarre thing was that the first group finished, and then  had a little rest, then half the group migrated over to the second group who were still dancing, having started later than the first. Then, the second dance came to an end and the first group started again,with apparently about double the number of people than it started with (we still don't really know where they all came from) and then the second group started again! It was really really cool to watch, but when we asked what it was for, nobody really seemed to know sadly.

So we then left the market for Aného, and it was a good thing we knew the name of the hotel we wanted to stay in because by the time we reached there it was dark, as here it starts to get dark at 6 and by 6.30 it's pretty much totally black. Got to Hotel Oasis and OMG - it's right by the lagoon, beautiful at night, and totally deserted! Asked for a room, were given one, had a shower in the ENORMOUS bathroom (comparatively), had supper and went to sleep - just so so easy.
In the morning we wandered round Aného a little, saw the old colonial buildings, and found the beach where we could swim. Was majorly hot, but by the sea with the wind it was just perfect. Then we got a taxi back to Lomé and all was just fine. Did have a slight surprise when I arrived home though; between 12 and 3pm everyone just goes to sleep here (as I do whenever I can!) and so I sent towards my bedroom to go and shower and get sorted, and there was a man just asleep in front of my bedroom door...! Don't think I've seem much so far that was so unexpected as that... It turned out just fine because he's Mama's nephew who has come to help his aunt (Mama's younger sister) who is not very well at all at the moment sadly but the jokes about my reaction to the 'gros monsieur togolais devant ma porte' will continue for a while I think...

Thursday, March 22nd...

On a random day off today as we've had exams in school since last Wednesday so today the teachers are going through the corrections and evaluations etc with all the people in charge, so there are no lessons. However, the poor children weren't told anything, so they all turned up this morning and didn't totally disperse until after 9am, having been there since about 6.15! Nobody seems to know why they weren't told, but the bells went off for the flag as well at normal time apparently (I slept through that bit...) - very bizarre.

Exams are tough here; sitting there watching them all last week, I had a total kind of epiphany of just how hard it is for these children to get anywhere. Not only are they working against the heat - which by the way they do suffer from, not in the same way as us, but they still sweat and need their fans etc, especially at the back of the class where it's just stifling - but they are also in competition with the noise from the primary school next door, from the next classroom; they're sharing pens/paper/pencils/rubber/crayons between about 4 and the benches are so uncomfortable that lots simply kneel on the floor (during 1.30/2 hour exams...). Plus the fact that the tests themselves often have to be corrected before they can start, and, something else which I hadn't fully realised until the other day, they're working in their second, sometimes third, language. They're not born with French, they often don't speak French at home and many of the little children in the street speak hardly any French at all. If the teachers speak to the children outside of lessons, it's often in Ewé and I never really realised that it's because it's more natural for them. Yes, they are bilingual but they're not born that way. It's not like being born with parents of different nationalities who speak in their own language from day one - that way you grow up with both, here they are taught French, even though everyone does speak it. Of course, I'm teaching English so I'm teaching them a third, sometimes fourth or even fifth language... No wonder I had an average of about 7 out of 20 for my 5é! There are other difficulties too, but they're not up for discussion on here.

It's only when you really think about these things that you realise what effect they have. When you look at the statistic that only around 43 percent of students attain the bac here it seems atrocious and you ask why. Then you look at the conditions in which they're learning their lessons and taking their exams and you understand. Not to mention that the majority of these children also work in the home, which means getting up at 4 or 5 and not going to bed until sometimes 10 or 11. At the age of 12, it's not at all surprising that they fall asleep in lessons.

On the bright side, had such a good start to the day here - woke up and had breakfast, watched furtively (occasionally not so furtively!) by the hundreds of children outside school as it's only across the road, and got so many laughs when I came to serve them in the shop in my pyjamas! Then there were two girls who installed themselves just outside us and started playing Bryan Adams 'Everything I Do' Celine Dion 'My Heart Will Go On' and just heaps more, which was so nice! In Europe... we just don't turn up and make ourselves at home on someone's doorstep let alone play music to them, and I really wish we did!
That is the real charm of Togo; the entire atmosphere is of friendship and community. You say hello to EVERYONE you meet, whether you know them or not, little children, big children, adults, old people - just everyone. And like this weekend, I'm going travelling to a voodo market at Vogan and then down to Aného, an old colonial town by the beach, and will be relying on asking people there where to go, where to stay and what to do because here, you can do that. Last week, one of the other volunteers met a guy in the street, they got talking as you just do here, and it turned out he was an artist. And when my friend asked if he could see his work, because he's also interested in that kind of thing, the answer was sure, come right now. And so he went! And had the most wicked time, got to use all the guy's stuff and took loads of pictures and all sorts! Because you just can here. At home, that wouldn't even be considered. And tbh, the offer probably wouldn't be made like that anyway so the option just wouldn't be there! But here, such is life!

Plus, at the moment it is seriously hot over here... The thermometer keeps reading 40/41 and today walked into a shop with air-conditioning at 29 and felt cold... Not saying it wasn't nice but wouldn't have wanted to stay in there for really that long!

x

Voyage à Kpalimé!

Some more travelling (at last!) this weekend - set off for Kpalimé, which is a moutainous little city/town right next to the border of Ghana, and only about 2 hours away from Lomé. Having been used to leaving extra early for any travelling, it was very odd to saunter down to the taxi station at about 8.30, especially as I'd already been awake for 2 hours which is unusual! In comparison to normality, the taxis for places like Kpalimé are superly organised - they have an office, including a man to run it and a ticket! Am pretty sure I haven't had a single ticket for anything transport wise since I've been here, they tend to reserve them for things like the Post Office which has inherited much of the French bureaucracy... So we paid our fare (the equivalent of 4 pounds for a 2 hour trip...) and were directed to a taxi. It was in pretty good condition really, as it still had all its windows and windscreen, plus all four wheels, which is often a rarity. A 7 seater minibus, it already contained 3 people when we got on to make it 5, but here in Togo there's always room for more of everything! After about 2 hours, 6 more people, and a roof-ful of lugguage of various sorts, we finally set off for Kpalimé; departure only slightly marred by a skirmish between our driver (sporting a rather fetching pink princess mobile phone holder on his belt) and another possible passenger, who had in fairness already entered another taxi. This minor factor didn't stop our man trying his absolute hardest to persuade him that in fact he would have a far better ride in our taxi. The other man didn't quite seem to see it himself, can't think why...

So after a comparatively short wait, and an extremely bumpy and noisy journey, we arrived in the town of Kpalimé! Our next challenge was to find somewhere to stay. So we headed for the cathedral (the largest and only church we could see) to search for a hostel which was supposed to be opposite. And guess what, it was there! And they had a room! We did have to do some explaining though because the question 'do you have a room for two, with two beds?' was met with much consternation and Ewé speaking and general confusion. In the end, the lady just took us to see the possible rooms directly - we then understood the confusion as every room has a Togolese double bed which I am sure is bigger than a standard hotel double at home! One of them hardly fitted into the room and we'd been asking for two so you can imagine what they must have been thinking... After such an easy find, we headed straight to the market to find some lunch. I unfortunately (or fortunately...) fell into the temptation of freshly made botoquins - literally just out of the oil! - which are basically like Togolese beignets and so bad but so good! We finally settled on a little café/bar which we'd passed within the first minute, and got a plate of spaghetti with chili tomato sauce and some meat (non-specific... I stayed veggie) which was ENORMOUS and cost 1 pound...

We had then planned to visit the Artisanal Centre, and also to do a guided butterfly walk from a place my Lonely Planet had recommended. However, despite being mentioned in the LP, the place for the walks was apparently non-existent. After many many explanations, and being driven round for miles by two taxis trying their best to help the yovos in distress, we finally gave up and just headed to the Centre Artisanale instead. As they say, all things happen for a reason, and we were not just a little bit pleased when it began to rain (Togolese style of course...) as we'd ended up with the indoor option! So spent a pleasant couple of hours looking round the Centre and seeing the men at work. I was SORELY tempted by a wooden elephant that had actually been made before my very eyes but resisted... and regretted it! The level of skill there is so high, it's incredible, but the prices were of course elevated by at least 3 times sadly. Was asked several times if I'd like a 'cadeau' but having already experienced the Togolese cadeaux in Lomé I politely declined! In general, cadeau just means slightly lowered price, so as I know I'll go back to Kpalimé I can wait. What a sensible girl!

When the rain stopped, we walked back to the hotel and having stepped over an electricity cable which had come down on the way there, we weren't surprised to find a severe lack of electricity. This did however pose a few problems - in order to have any light at all we had to have the door open, which attracted the mosquitos and we were also trying to shower at the same time which is not the easiest thing to do in the pitch dark, let me assure you. Had a small incident involving my soap and the loo... but all was resolved when the helpful men came round with candles and matches! We then went out to eat at a sort of famous hotel/restaurant called Chez Fanny, owned by a French/Togolese couple so serves French food. Had garlic steak-frites, and realised just how much I miss meat like beef! The only meat we have here is chicken, sometimes a meat sort of more like duck, or the packet frankfurters for salads etc. Then followed it up with a sugared crepe with vanilla icecream - YUM.

On Sunday, we continued the good food with an amazing breakfast in the same little café, which consisted of coffee/hot chocolate, bread and omlette cooked with tomato and onions - again for the same price and again YUM! The day before we'd met a man at the Centre who had directed us to a village called Kouma Konda where he was a guide and he knew we could do exactly what we'd been wanting to. So, because we're on an adventure here, we took him at his word (which more often lead to difficulties than success with the men here!) and found 2 motos to Kouma Konda. Bless the man, as soon as we got there we were greeted as friends and everything was explained, and within 20 minutes we'd ordered our lunch and set off on our guided butterfly walk, also including coffee and cocoa explanations etc, as well as pointing out of all sorts of medicinal plants, PLUS a waterfall! It was amazing to be in the middle of the bush there - it was just so so green! And cold too! We saw so much - plants to cure impotency, rabies, skin diseases, as well as all the plants they use for the vegetal painting which is very popular there. When we got to the waterfall we were a little reluctant as the water was chilly as chips, but we did it and it felt so so good afterwards! Our guide offered to take us up Mount Klouto as well, where we'd bee able to see Lake Volta in Ghana, as well as all of Kpalimé and beyond but really sadly we were seriously running out of time. So we hiked back up the mountain, to our lunch waiting for us. Then we finally found motos to go back down, got our stuff from the hotel and bought some avacadoes from the market to bring home before managing to find a full taxi. We hopped in, and were away! A more pleasant (though hotter) journey this time, as I had the most beautiful baby EVER sitting right next to me :) he even held onto my finger :D

All in all, a really good weekend! More good news is that we spoke to the children about this extra English/Human Rights club I want to start and had already 60 put their names down from only 2 classes!!! I know that at least half won't turn up, but that makes still between 20 and 30 who are genuinely interested in learning. It's such a good feeling to have, and seriously encouraging. Going to go through the lists with my teacher when we have the other one and then form 2 groups to go once each a week as there will be too many to have just one group, at least at the start. Will let you know how it goes - hopefully will start next Thursday with one group, and am pretty excited after that, but am also feeling the pressure! Definitely enjoying school more now, and even though they're naughty and noisy, the children certainly win prizes for cuteness!

Month Two: March!

Just a quick update to let you know I'm still alive. Which I am. (Here insert African applause in the certain rhythm they do, to the words 'ça c'est fantastique, ça c'est super!')

Rained again on Tuesday night and just as impressive - with lightening and REAL thunder this time... Am sort of looking forward to the rainy season I've got to admit! It could be a different country after and before the rain though, it's incredible to see it change from dusty, typical Africa to muddy, greener; more like England! Was very impressed with myself that although the rain woke me up, I then managed to go back to sleep for the usual 8 hours. That is the most I sleep here - last night went to sleep about 1.30am and woke up 6.30. Won't say I was ready for action cos that wouldn't be quite true... But it is interesting that with a little nap this afternoon I'm now totally up for going out tonight and wouldn't say that I was tired. Perhaps (god forbid) I am becoming someone who doesn't need that much sleep... I suspect that will only last while I am here though!

Had a massively amazing moment in school the other day (apart from preparing and presenting my first lesson, and starting a class alone...) - we had been doing exclamative sentences, using 'what/so/etc' and this lesson was on the use of 'such'. She wrote the title etc, just as normal, wrote the example sentences, then started to ask questions to the class and to start to explain it basically, when one pupil put up his hand and asked to make the sentence on the board using 'such'. And he did it! Perfectly! Without any kind of explanation really - it was just amazing!

Had to prepare a lesson for the 5è this week and have another to prepare for the 4è this weekend; went okish I think, they did a test on the text we'd covered with them in that lesson and most of them did well so I guess that's a good sign (although it was mostly repetition of exact phrases...). Going to see the CACIT organisation in the next few weeks, which is my next Project so excited about that!

Alison, the younger French girl who was living with us left last night and I was VERY sad to see her go. Just through living with her for 4 weeks, only 3 weeks of which she was actually there, I got to know her and although I really hope we'll stay in touch it's still made me sad. Two other volunteers also left today, and we have a new American who arrived last night and there is another Swedish girl who is coming or has come soon I think, but she isn't staying with us. So is all change here this weekend! Mama's son is also coming to stay for two weeks, arriving today. I am currently occupying his bedroom and there are many many jokes going on about what's going to happen when he arrives, and I can't tell how much is joke and what is serious... Could be an interesting time!

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