On Wednesday, April 20 we docked at Lome, the capital and largest city of Togo. It is the country’s administrative and industrial center and chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra and palm kernels. Togo is slightly smaller in size than West Virginia with a population of approximately 6 million people. The people speak principally French as the official language but with several African languages as well and also English.
Togolese people are friendly and have a natural interest in others. The children all attend school and are well behaved and educated. Many of the people today still live in tribes and follow life as we think of as true Africa – believing in voodoo rituals.
Along the coast of Togo are wide beautiful beaches with clean sand. You will find lots of people relaxing on the beaches especially during the afternoon as the temperatures get very hot with high humidity and most stores close between noon and 3pm. The day we were here it reached 43 degrees Celsius (about 110 F) with very high humidity. The tour buses had NO air conditioning. I will save my thoughts……..
We visited a fishing village where everything is done by hand. We were invited into one of their thatch roofed homes. Each house is a separate room, i.e., kitchen, bedroom. All roads are dirt, all farming is done by hand and watering is done by hose. Saw no irrigation or farm equipment anywhere, just nothing mechanical being used. And as in India, no sanitation either!
Voodoo villages truly exist where we viewed shrines and watched a stone-raising ceremony with a traditional voodoo priest. Also, in Hland Village we witnessed the stunning ritual dance of Zangbeto tribe, called “Dance of the Night Watchman”. The man pictured in the red was actually smoking a pipe filled with very powerful stuff!!!!!!!
Along the way we visited Agbodrafo, a traditional village where we met the Chief, his wife, and many of the villagers and learned about their culture and history. It was once an important hub in the West African slave trade.
Located in Lome, the Fetish Market is a fascinating place to visit. Shamans, sorcerers and healers still shop for warthog teeth and porcupine skins, bird skulls and other ingredients for their rituals. If you’re not into rituals, the artisan’s center was a wonderful place to see and purchase the crafts of Africa. Beautiful woven cloth, macramé, carved wood statues and beaded jewelry.
We departed at 6pm and sailed a mere 78 miles to our next port of Tema, Ghana, West Africa, arriving at 7am the following morning, April 21.
Curt has been ill the past week with a respiratory infection. So, since Ghana is so similar to Togo, I chose to just do a taxi shopping tour with two friends. I had done an all day tour of Togo yesterday. I did not go to Accra, an hour away, but stayed in Tema. My assessment is, except that English is the official language of Ghana, there is little difference between the two countries.
