What I did on my holidays

Former VSO colleague and chum Emefa offered me a visit to Togo – what a lovely time we had.  We stayed by the sea in Lomé with her family – aunts, uncles, cousins, sister, nephew and niece - and spent four completely packed days.  She had prepared a whopping itinerary to cover as much ground as possible.  From the moment I left the airport I was in full viewing mode, seeing from the Ghanaian border, right in the middle of the capital city, to the Benin border – just a little further along the coast.  Togo is narrow and stretches north all the way back to Burkina Faso.  It is lush and green and beautiful;  it has mountains which look like SE Asia, and waterfalls, and coffee and avocados and bananas in wild abundance;  the food includes fresh seafood – joy! – and dozens of the most delicious dishes….. I felt I was eating gorgeous food all the time I was there. 

Chateau Viale, a former presidential retreat

Out clubbing in chic Lome

The heavenly twins, Lorris and Lorianna

No chance of drowning here!

An Olympic pool - Diebougou, this is what you need

Beach bar

We needed a breather

The history of the country is a typical West African mixture of various colonial powers, under-investment, misappropriated investment and now a curious arrangement whereby the late President left the ‘throne’ to his son.  What, a hereditary head of state in this day and age? 

There is such a lot going on.  Lomé is a major container port, and very international with lots of expats, expensive hotels, restaurants and nightclubs;  great for shopping, and so I have invested in a dress in chic Woodin fabric, run up by Emefa’s tailor’s atelier in 24 hours…..

We spent a night in Kpalimé where we zig-zagged up a mountain to see for tens of kilometres, trekked to a waterfall where I swam accompanied by not one but two minders – Emefa’s family friend and driver, Atitso, and our guide – and then drank palm wine straight from the palm tree.  This is usually then distilled into some killer spirit called sodabé – rather in the absinthe/blindness way, I got the impression - so was pleased only to taste the raw material!  We also visited an artists’ village, a decaying Presidential chateau on a mountaintop, a meteorological station, some more relatives, a lovely French restaurant, an organic coffee farm and hotel in the hills, and innumerable beaches and swimming pools.  We took a canoe trip across Lac Togo to see the original capital which is on an island – Togostadt to the German colonists, Togoville to the French colonists; and we visited a clandestine slave house used for up to 25 years after abolition…..

Tourism outside Lomé is under-developed, but there was clearly a period in the 1960s-70s when hopes were high after independence, and there are a large number of quite large, sad buildings waiting for tourists to arrive and save them….. and I can promise you that the welcome is extraordinary.  I made a huge social gaffe by joking about going to the fetish market, as I said, to find a husband – a silly joke, but it bothered people who were not sure if they were expected to research and find me a husband as an act of hospitality…. And also, of course, it never does to joke about voodoo.

Amazing place, amazing people, and lovely to find a chance to have a few days with Emefa before we go our separate ways, and to meet her family;  she now has Canadian nationality – so we can return the great favour – OK, all you Kellys?