Sunday, June 10, 2012

Togo and Benin


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.