Atakpame, Togo

We knew that Auberge Vakpo was not the kind of accommodation we would find everywhere in Togo so it was nice to start our visit to the country in a memorable way. We strapped our packs to our bags and gave our small day bags to the motorbike rider to carry on his petrol tank. It was quite difficult keeping balance when he accelerated, as the weight of my pack pulled me backwards and my feet came of the pedals. With a grip on the back parcel rack and my right hand clasping my right knee I was able to remain upright on the bike as we bounced off through the dusty roads to the minivan station. The minivan was as well hammered into shape as our first one and after the standard 90 minute wait, we were full of passengers, stacked with sacks of charcoal and baggage, and ready to go. Everything was covered with a net and tied to the home made roof rack. While waiting, John met a Nigerian man who owned a small shop in the minivan station, until thieves broke in and took all his stock a few weeks ago. Life would be hard enough in Togo without such calamities. The sealed road was so bad it took 3 1/2 hours to cover the 100kms to Atakpame.

This is typical of the private houses in the towns while the rural places are thatch and mud.

We had to catch a zemi-john to our hotel as it was far too hot and humid to walk the three kms. The place was called Hotel California and sat beside and below a petrol station. Luckily not many people own private cars so the station was pretty quiet. Not many motorbikes filled up there either as small stalls a few metres away from the station were selling whisky bottles filled with cheaper Nigerian fuel.

Atakpame is a junction town and the streets are lined with stalls selling everything and anything. Even if they have especially built shops, the hawkers like to move as close to the street as they can.

These clay ovens are moulded and integrated with the footpath. Charcoal goes in the middle and the huge stainless steel basins or pots go on top. The women fan the flames until they are roaring and in no time the pot's contents are bubbling.

This van is being worked on on the side of the street by amazingly skilful and creative guys. It will be up and running in no time with new windows from another wreck and a coat of paint over the well beaten and hammered panels. This looks in even better condition than our first Togo van as it has glass in the back window...we had a sheet of plastic!

Everything happens on the side of the road... this was made here and is now for sale here.

We found an internet place and after 90 minutes we had been able to send two emails! There are only two internet providers and they are both owned by the same company.

The currency in Togo is the CFA; it stands for Communaute Financiere Africaine. It is the common currency for 8 countries; Benin, Burkino Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. It is pegged at 655.967 to the Euro. Our guide book said there were no ATMs outside the capital city of Lome but we walked Atakpame and found one that had no sign but saw a small door outside a bank. When we went in it was an ATM that luckily gave us CFAs. Visa cards are the only cards that work here in ATMs.

There is nothing to see or do here but we filled in a couple of days and got to practise our French phrases. The only sit down eating places we could find were in hotels so we chose to eat at ours which did some simple but tasty food.