Week 9 - TOGO

No matter what, we gots to go to Togo!

During the ninth week of my trip in Ghana, my Ghanaian Visa expired being valid only for 60 days. This was definitely a problem in need of solving so i began to inquire about the fastest way to process a renewal of my visa. Apparently i could renew it within a day at the Ghanaian embassy in Togo and being interested in seeing Togo anyways, i decided to go! Early Friday morning, the crew and I left Accra and headed to Aflao which is the city just outside Lome, Togo. Upon our arrival, we were met by dozens of hustling money changers who were trying to change our Ghanaian Cedi's into CFA's (which is the currency used in Togo). These guys were walking around with fat stacks of cash and were experts in finger magic making money disappear right before your eyes. The atmosphere of the border was as I describe it, "sheer chaos". Unfortunately for us being caught in the spiral of overwhelming confusion not really knowing the proper conversion rate, we all ended up being severely ripped off by the sneaky money changers aka thieves!

Pissed off and upset about all the money we had lost collectively, we decided to put it all behind us and move on across the border to Lome. As soon as we crossed the border (which couldn't have been more than 15 meters separating Aflao and Lome) it immediately became apparent that we were in a different country. All the street signs, advertisements and posting were written in french, motorcycles (motomoto: The term used in Togo) flooded the streets, and the roads were covered in pot holes and garbage. To make my matters of cultural shock worse, my inability to speak french hindered my ability to communicate with the majority of the Locals. For the first time, I really began to regret all those times that I threw pieces of erasers at people in french class!

Our first destination was the Grand Marche which is the largest open air market in Togo located at the center of the city. The Grand Marche is where you can find pretty much find anything and everything from cloth, food, rat poison, super glue etc. Nothing I encountered at the market really interested me until i ran into a woman who sold bean avocado sandwiches which are served in fresh baguettes! Mmmm how i could go for one of those right now! The Grand Marche was totally an exhausting day trip and after a long day we decided to call it a night.
Early the next morning, we got out of our hotel and decided to go to the fetish market just outside of Lome. This was probably one of the most creepy experiences I've had in Africa yet! Upon entrance into the fetish market you can't help but smell the stench of rotting, decomposing animals. There were heads of dead crocodiles, monkeys, horses, giant turtles, monkey paws, teeth necklaces, and much more. The market is dedicated to the sale of ingredients which traditional healers (Voodoo chiefs) say can make magic charms. The fetish market basically is a voodoo man's shoppers drug mart to put it in the simplest terms. Joseph, a healer from neighbouring Benin, says:

"This place is like a pharmacy for everybody in the world. When someone has a serious sickness and the hospital cannot help, they come here to the fetish market."

After having enough of the creepy fetish market, we left and head to Agbodrafo just east of the capital. Not having any reservations and with no place to stay, the crew and I walked along the beach in search of a cheap beach resort. After walking for some time, hot, hungry, grumpy and tired, we ended up finding the most incredible place. We found a resort called Coco beach resort where we lodged in straw huts on the beach, (a beach which was the most beautiful I've seen in my entire stay here in Ghana and Togo), ate delicious food and devoured coconuts. I know I've said this before in past blog posts, but this place was actually paradise! At night, we sat by the beach, enjoyed drinks with clear starry skies and watched the moonlight glimmer of the ocean waves. The entire evening was magical as I was enjoying the majestic view being surrounded by great company, people who I've grown to love and will never forget (you all know who you are)! This was the close to our weekend as we headed back to Accra the following day sadly saying goodbye to a piece of heaven on earth.

Week 8 - Green Turtle Lodge

Beach Lovin

I've heard of the Green Turtle Lodge (GTL) from the first couple days of my arrival in Ghana but really had no clue what it was all about. Almost all who I've talked to about it praised GTL for its "incomparable beauty". Curious about what makes GTL so amazing, the crew and I decided to check it out on our eighth week. We departed Friday morning on a trotro from Takoradi and headed to Agona. From Agona we picked up a cab which drove us down to the GTL situated right before the little town of Akwidaa. I can't begin to tell you how bad the road was. I felt that the car at any point during our drive was going to break down due to the harsh conditions of the seemingly endless dirt road. After half an hour of motion sickness we finally arrived.....to paradise! The harsh ride was totally worth seeing this secluded beach resort!

The sun was beaming bright, the ocean wind was blowing, and the water and sand for the most part was the cleanest i had seen yet. And just to put the cherry on top of it all, there was a basketball net right down by the beach. I can't count the number of times i had told everyone that "this was ridiculous!" Even more interesting about GTL is it's ECO-Tourism status.
Green Turtle Lodge is an Eco-tourism site which adhere to the principles of Eco-tourism, encouraging guests to be responsible tourists. GTL defines Eco-tourism as Environment and Community Oriented Tourism, abbreviated from ECO-Tourism. I find it fascinating to see an establishment such as the GTL abiding by the principle of "responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and sustains the well being of local peoples" while still maintaining the quality of a five star resort. The lodge is environmentally friendly being powered entirely by solar energy. In addition all the toilets are self-composting and also re-cycle shower water to feed plants. GTL also maintains a commitment to maintaining the local community of Akwidaa as all staff are employed from all levels of the local community. Part of the GTL profits are paid into a community fund which is controlled by a local committee who decided where the money should be spent. Having said all this, I'm sure I've made it clear that GTL is fun you can have without feeling bad about it!

Week 7 - Aburi Botanical Gardens

I'm not really a big Botanical Gardens type of guy but i must admit, Aburi was spectacular. This place carries a rich history as it was founded by the British in 1890 and later occupied by western missionaries. These days, the Botanical Gardens is the main attraction of the Aburi district just north of Accra maintaining its beauty over each passing decade. There must have been over a thousand different plants and trees which were organized in the most incredible fashion. And aside Aburi Botanical Gardens being conveniently located on top of a mountain, the township of Aburi was an absolute spectacle. The street markets were flooded with giant mangoes, cassava roots, maize, yams, plantains, and all other sort of fresh fruits and vegetables. There were children running happily on the street as well as herds of goats, chickens and wild dogs wandering around. The place seemed like a dream to me being so different from anything that I'm used to in Canada. Check out the crew in the garden of sheer beauty!