TogoTogoTogo

October 4, 2008 (2nd day in Togo continued...)
After breakfast, we walked through the streets with our friend Rodolph, searching for a bank to exchange our GH cedis into Togo currency (Franks or CFA).

Togo is much more relaxed than Ghana. Motorcycles cover the streets--and they and taxi drivers actually STOP for pedestrians (funny idea, right?). Vendors don't haggle as much, and the beach is CLEAN. Today, the sky and water were a jewel-blue, set against the warm yellow sand, with green palms strung cross the sky. People were lying on the beaches and against the palm trees so peacefully. The strip of road running parallel to the beach reminded me a little bit of Hawaii.

After finding a bank, we took a long (20-minute) taxi ride to Togoville, an island that is supposedly known for "Voodoo". The taxi ride was gorgeous, and so was the island. After our taxi arrived to the shore, we took a 30-minute boat ride to Togoville, as our Togolese sailor dipped 15-foot ores in and out of the water. In Togoville, we bought souvenirs, saw a beautiful Cathedral (pictured above), and explored...

I brought the Polaroid camera and plenty of film with me, as we always come across children when traveling. The kids' stone and shy expressions instantly transformed with a single "click". When my friend Eric saw one of the little boys' expression melt into the widest smile, he contagiously said, "Just look at his eyes, Carly. He is so happy." Simple, but true. It was beautiful, and fun to introduce Project Polaroid to another country. Of course, kids ran from all directions as soon as the Polaroid camera was introduced, and before long, the "whole village" was involved.

As we rode back into the water, shades of cotton candy pink licked the ripples, the sun set, and the moon and stars quickly danced in front of the sweet paradise. It was a wonderful day.

October 5th, 2008
Today was our last day in Togo. We got up early to make the most of the day, again going to the same place as yesterday to get one last cup of Togolese Tea.

After breakfast, we roamed the streets, playing drums and the Kora (the brown instrument with a cutout circle featured above). We strolled, shopping from market to market (the flower market was gorgeous), exchanging French greetings, finding it much more difficult to barter in another language.

As we wove in and out of the streets, it literally felt as hot as the Sahara desert. We went to the beach to cool off, most of us dipping our toes in the beautiful Atlantic waters, while others just dove in wearing all of their clothes. We saw a noteworthy squid and a few other jellyfish.

After spending some time at the beach, we hopped on motorcycles (the most popular kind of taxi in Togo) and rode back to our hostel. The motorcycle ride was so much fun and very refreshing!

Rodolph took us to his house, treated us to fresh pineapple, then walked us back to the border. It was the perfect end to a wonderful time spent in Togo. Now I can say that I've been to one of the 10 countries that are 4 letters long: T-O-G-O.