Togo… We crossed the border into Togo pretty late. We ended
up getting a late start from Big Millys because of a torrential rain storm.
Right over the border is the capitol city Lome we drove to a hotel with camping
in their courtyard. We were supposed to stay one day but Talbot got really bad
case of Malaria and we ended up staying two nights. Chez Alice (campground) was
a really nice place, it was run by a German lady who absolutely loved animals.
She had 5 dogs, 2 monkeys, a baboon, African Parrot, and 3 kittens. I ended up
bonding with a monkey. We spent half a day grooming each other looking for
fleas. The monkey didn’t understand why the black marks on my arms (tattoo)
couldn’t be removed. The rest of the time we visited the fetish markets. I
thought the fetish markets were whips and chains but it ended up being for
Voodoo. It was really educational and I highly recommend it. Myself Cecilie,
Maria and the boys went to the big center market and I spent a hectic few hours
buy sandals and underwear (which size xxxl was too small) their sizes are crazy
and my big booty doesn’t fit any undies I have bought.
The next day we drove towards Balanka (a village in which
Toni owns an apartment building in Germany and the family that runs it is from
Balanka.) We didn’t make it to Balanka but stayed at Sokode, right next to
Sokode tennis club. Seeing a tennis court in West Africa was the last thing I
was expecting but we found ourselves the next morning challenging the locals to
a doubles tennis match. So far we have played the locals in Soccer and now
Tennis.
The next day we made it to Balanka and met with two German volunteers
who run a library and school that Toni’s German friends have set up. The library was very nice, and the kids were
great. It was a Sunday so most of the villagers were there to show us around. That
evening the kids were a different story. They were all cheeky buggers who tried
to get into our tents and spent all night keeping us up by hitting the tents
and running around.
We left early the next morning and drove to Kante we arrived
early afternoon and found what seemed like another decent camping/hotel where
there was one room with A/C for only 3500 CFA ($7). Sarah and Brittany wanted
it, so did Cecilie and I, but we ended up giving it to them. That afternoon we
drove to this village where the houses are built like the Baobab trees.
Basically 3 generations ago the king of Benin would take these villagers as
slaves so they built their houses looking like Baobab trees and could be
completely self-sufficient. After we toured the housed we took a small drive to
an actual sacred Baobab tree. With a small fee you could climb inside the tree
and climb up the middle and out the front of tree 30 feet high. Myself,
Cecilie, and Jareb climbed into it and once halfway up the inside of the tree
I knew it was a big mistake. The humidity was at 75% and there was no place to
hang and climb. I thought for a second I was going to fall to my death and
break my neck. I had to yell to Rhys to get everyone away from me because I was
going to fall. I ended up getting one good grip and pull myself to the small
opening up top. I was extremely freaked out by the time I got back down. When
we got back to the campground the owner of the hotel was extremely drunk and
tried doubling the camping prices and the room price. Sarah and Brittany said
hell no and camped while Suse renegotiated with him.
The next day we were taking off at 7. Once we took off, Rosie's front right tire fell through an underground drainage drain. We were
officially bogged. We couldn’t jack the truck up because there was nothing
stable enough. Every villager from a square mile tried to give their opinion
and all of them sexist pigs who basically told Suse she doesn’t know what she
is talking about. After 3 hours of this and multiple attempts a local police
chief called a tow crane and hauled us out also collapsing the cement holding
our back tires. We got out safely and cost us 50,000 CFA ($100). Once we were
about to leave the still drunk owner wanted us to pay for the drainage
breaking. We explained to him that he is an idiot and we will pay for the
drainage if he pays for the tow. (He was the original person who told us to
park where we did.) We finally left around 10:30 and took off to the border of
Benin.
Benin… Crossing the border into Benin was relatively easy.
It took us about 2 hours. Suse did all the work while we stayed in the truck
and played cards and read. We drove until 6 and free camped on the side of the road
by the city Ndoli. It was our first free camp in a while so it was nice. The
next day we drove most of the day to Abomey where we stayed at Chez Monique. It
was a really nice place, Cecilie and I wanted to upgrade so we got a room for
about $10 bucks a night. It was nice, no air conditioning but a great fan. It
was just nice not setting up our tent and able to shower and not worry about
people waiting for you to finish.
The next day we started at 9 and took motorcycle
taxi’s to couple of ruins where previous kings lived. When the kings left they
would burn the palaces down so there wasn’t much to see. We then went to a
voodoo village where we watch a traditional chief explain voodoo and also did
some crazy voodoo chant and blessing. I have to admit Voodoo is nothing what I
thought it is. I thought it was black magic like I watch on TV but really it’s
mostly fetishes and blessing. Once a year they sacrifice a cow or chicken. Once
a year they do a 7 day to 41 day Voodoo celebration from all the villages
around the area. We were luckily enough to fall on day 4 of that celebration.
We took moto taxies to a village and spent two hours watch a Voodoo celebration
and voodoo dancers dressed in huge reed costumes. They even sacrificed an
animal behind a sheet but we didn’t see that. Thank god.
The next day we drove a few hours to Lake Noukou where we
took a boat taxi to stilt villages of Ganvie. We spent about 3 hours on boat
going through the way of life of a stilt villager. The kids are given a canoe
at the age of 5 and by 7 they are by themselves fishing on the lake. The
village is very primitive. They have one well and all the toilettes go into the
lake. After we finished with the tour we drove to the Point of no Return where
we camped next to the monument. The Point of no return is a 5km walk the slaves
had to walk. They would pass a tree of forgetfulness where they would forget
who they were and who their families where before they would load up on boats
as slaves and be shipped to the Americas. It was again a very emotional day.
Myself and the boys walked to the tree with was 4km from the monument. Once we
got there the locals explained what the tree was. I couldn’t believe how nice
they were to us. If roles were reversed I don’t think I could be nice to white
people.
The next day we drove to Cotonou the capitol and we stayed
at El Dorado beach resort. It was nice, we ended up staying two days here and
the next day we drive to Nigeria.
