6 PLACES VISITED: 14) Akosombo Dam & Hydroelectric Plant (Volta River), 15) Akosombo GHANA. 1) Kpalime, 2) Lome, 3) Avepozo, 4) Agome Sevah TOGO, 1) Grand Popo, 2) Ouidah BENIN.
10 OVERNIGHTS: 1-2) Camping/Hotel “Aylos Bay Lodge” Atimpoku (Elev 32m) GHANA, 3) Water Bush Camp “Cascade De Kpime” (Elev 326m), 4-8) Camping/Hotel “Chez Alice”, Avepozo, suburb 17km east of Lome TOGO (tent first night, room others), 9) Camping/Hotel “Auberge de Grand Popo", 3km east of Grand Popo, 10) Camping/Hotel “Le Jardin Bresilien”, Ouidah Beach BENIN.
3 UNIQUE WILDLIFE: 1) Grey Baboon, 2) Long Legged Orange Monkey, 3) West African Python.
BLOG POST TRAILER: In this post I loose my hair! Not my head. My hair. Just look. Golfco Pictures script demands it. I also did it as a tribute to my best friend Nick Drinias!
In this post we also farewell GHANA and make our way across TOGO and BENIN to get to NIGERIA. It starts with two more relaxing nights in a hotel bed on the banks of the Volta River and a visit to GHANA’s biggest dam and hydroelectric power station neat Akosombo in the lower south-east of the country. The dam and power plant took 3yrs and $USD186m to build by the first President back in 1966 and has the capacity to supply 39% of GHANA’s needs.
Our run of good weather continued right up to the TOGO border and beyond. Winds blowing hot dry air from the Sahara in the north act to neutralise the sticky humid air of equatorial GHANA but the by-product is a thick, very low visibility haze that hangs over everything as a result of this hot Sahara air condensing the humid air of GHANA.
TOGO is a former French colony so it is back to baguettes, French and more cheese and wine. There are German speaking pockets as well given their administration from late 1680 until early WWI. Most tourist menus are in French and German.
The roads of TOGO are not that great but the towns do look neater than GHANA. The capital Lome (Pop 1m) is still as dirty and chaotic as Accra but the major sites are better kept here and easier to negotiate. “Independence Square” with the Town Hall is large and impressive. Lome also had less claustrophobic markets. Lome also has a much better beach and water front than Accra.
GHANA has “Fan Ice” but TOGO has “Fan Milk”, same company but no strawberry in TOGO. Fan Ice/Milk is one of the greatest inventions in West Africa. It had brought independent work to thousands of individuals. This is because most of the 150mL, fixed-price $AUD0.40 packets of frozen yogurt are sold to the end consumer by unlicensed citizens using eskies on there heads or attached to a bicycle. They all have the same familiar trumpet and the formal is the same no matter were you go. You can also buy a packet from a service station or supermarket but it is all the same price - this ensures that individual sellers are not undercut. Brilliant. Africa needs more of these ideas.
The only offering of TOGO were the waterfalls in the north-east. We stayed by one called Kpalime. The water was not plentiful but was good enough for a cold and refreshing shower. The good news of this place was the presence of baboons and monkeys and how close you could get to them with enough time and patience - some of the photos in this post attest to this.
The highlight in Lome was visiting the “Fetish Market”, approx 5km north of the city. Whilst similar to Bamako it had a broader variety of dead animals and was more into “charms”, i.e., wooden objects that protected you from evil or brought you better sleep or good luck or even a better sex drive! My guide Elias explained that these fetishes are based on “Voodoo” which is actually “black magic Catholisised” - what this means is that the tribal African beliefs that dead animals and certain wooden or stone objects can focus the power of spirits to heal and protect. The “Catholic” component takes the “evil” or “curse” out of this belief system and makes it positive - this is a way of promoting good without compromising the customs or culture of “Voodoo”. I saw so many cures that it was more like a “Fetish Pharmacy” than a “pet sematery”!
TOGO also has a “fetish” with large steel gates and ornate pavers - you see many suppliers of these along the coastal road that connects GHANA with BENIN. TOGO also made the right move with their container terminal or port. They outbid GHANA and IVORY COAST to win over MALI and BURKINA FASO which are land-locked and use TOGO as the official port, importing mostly from China and exporting what is left of the Bauxite and Iron Ore. The terminal in TOGO was only 5k from our camp site and is positively huge with many new modern cranes. This must be the chief employer in the country.
This post also contains the new number 1 highlight of my trip to date - a day long visit to a small village called “Agome Sevah” in TOGO. A lady called Mandy, who used to work for Riza is doing charity work for this village with her husband and the story behind it and their achievements are spectacular. It is worth reading DAY 84 to find out all about it and why it was the best day of my trip so far.
On DAY 85 we entered BENIN. We only spent 3 nights in this narrow, club shaped country on the Atlantic coast with limited time to meet its peoples or go to its major cities. The BENIN coast is idyllic. Aqua green ocean, lots of coconut trees and lush internal forests. Still a lot humidity and heat but much more bearable with the strong ocean breezes. BENIN is the inventor of Voodoo and was the slave trading capital for over a century. Its towns are much smaller and neater and far less chaotic than TOGO. Many of the BENIN slaves went to BRAZIL - a total of 12 million departed these shores over 100 yrs. BENIN also has a network of lakes close to the Atlantic with some villages on stilts that resemble south east Asian villages. This was a unique feature of the country. Ouidah was very interesting. It is the on the coast in the middle of the country and the birth place of Voodoo and was the centre of slavery from the late 1600’s to the early 1900’s. In 1992 the BENIN government passed a law that recognised Voodoo as a legitimate religion and even appointed a public holiday for religious celebration. It was very hot and humid in BENIN so we were lucky to spend 2 of our 3 nights on the Atlantic. BENIN and TOGO certainly stood out and worth visiting.
DAY 77, Thu 28JAN16, 152km, Camping/Hotel "Big Milly's Backyard", Kokrobite (30km west of Accra) to Camping/Hotel “Aylos Bay Lodge” Atimpoku (Elev 22m) GHANA (Swim1). Our last day in the Accra area. A sad day after 8 relaxing nights at Milly’s and another 2 further west on the coast. It was a proper farewell because we visited the mall between 9:30am and 10:30am for a cook group stop. I was able to email, call mum and my brother and upload all my runs from my GPS watch. Completely up to date. Our journey north-east was ver hazy but not humid given the Sahara wind syndrome.
We made a stop at a large service station and spoke to a local lady who had married and divorced an American in Miami and was back in her home town to start again. She spoke to us about a local super-food called “Noni”, a juice that is produced from a rotting fruit that is meant to cure everything under the African sun!
Our campsite was even better than Milly’s. Located on the calm, freshwater Volta River and shaded by a million palms it was a pleasant surprise since we were all expecting bush camps close to the Togo border. We arrived around 3pm so I went for my first proper long distance swim in GHANA since the Slave Coast was way too rough. A terrific swim up the Volta passing under low hanging trees, grassy islands and water that was as black as tea with the tannins of falling vegetation and a warm 30C.
Volta is not used for drinking - just irrigation and the area is replete with banana, pineapple, rice and corn. The Volta turns into the “Volta Lake” which occupies almost 15% of the surface area of GHANA - like a huge inland sea covering the eastern half of the country. Thomas, the architect from Vienna, joined me and kept up the entire 2.2km swim doing breast-stroke only. As an ex-wrestler he still has big arms, broad shoulders and a big torso - just like a swimmer but oddly he cannot freestyle! He also told me that he likes to swim but not alone in strange places so he was happy to follow me. After the swim we enjoyed our usual cultural treat on a wooden deck on the water’s edge. Vit and Thomas joined us and they asked me about my “wing-tips thesis” since we talked about what each of us had studied at Uni. Dinner was another simple carbo affair but needed given the running and swimming planned tomorrow.
DAY 78, Fri 29JAN16, 20km, Camping/Hotel “Aylos Bay Lodge” Atimpoku GHANA (Run12, Swim2). I was looking forward to this morning’s visit to GHANA’s largest Dam and Hydroelectric Station only 10km away near a town called Akosombo. Last night I had the strangest dream in probably all my life. I dreamt that I was transported to a parallel world from 20SEP2005 for ten years. This world was similar to the one I left but slightly different in every respect - slightly different job, friends, food, attitudes, values etc. They were different enough to matter and I struggled the whole time to understand why I was in this parallel life and how I could get back to the original. After finally discussing it with Riza, I realised that this parallel world play out all the variations that we can make in our lives to fundamentally change our situation but not necessarily change our character.
We set out for the dam and power station at 9am and unfortunately for the photos another hazy Sahara day but not humid for us. The power station also known is a result of the damming of the upper part of the Volta River as it flow from the huge inland “Volta Lake” down to the Atlantic Coast. Our guide, Derek, explained that it was commissioned in 1966 but the first President of GHANA after 3yrs and $USD186m of construction. It comprises 6 main units running 6 turbines each and together generating peak power of 1,020MHz which supplies 39% of GHANA’s needs. The dam direct water to one side for power generation and to other as a spillway when the water level is too high. The original turbines were made of cast iron and all have been replaced by stainless steel equivalents supplied by JAPAN and 4m in diameter. Whilst the power plant is small when compared to China’s “Three River Gorge” or Brasil’s near “Iguassou” (which I have visited), it supposedly has the second largest man-made lake in the world, as a result of the dam, by surface area and volume of water (Three Gorges is number 1). Another interesting fact is that an Australian called Albert Kitson got the dam going in 1920. We walked across the top of the dam (Elev 72m) but could not go inside the station to see the turbines.
We then visited the nearby town of Akosombo where I finally found two square shaped plastic containers to act as my clothing wash bowls when no service was available. I was now 100% independent of the truck’s bowls and brushes and would not have to wait in line for anything. Little things but relevant if you have to run and blog at set times!
I was impressed by Thomas’s insistence to run with me in the midday heat. The sun was out and it was significantly hotter than our arrival the day before. We ran across the “Volta Suspension Bridge”, 340m long and built in 1957 - it is the same design as the Sydney Harbour Bridge only smaller and without pillars. Thomas is not a runner by nature since he has a lot of upper body book and knees weekend by many years of twisting and turning in wrestling but he put on a good show, Had to slow down in the last 3km but made it back 10min after I did. We then went for a 1.6km swim up the Volta. Very refreshing but we were both tired by the time we settled down to an afternoon drink at 3:30pm - we had been going for 2hrs straight.
The Culture Club then decided to watch “Godfather 1” in my room and I struggled to keep awake given the day’s exercise. Made it and by the time the movie was over we joined Roberto for his BBQ chicken - first time since Christmas we had enjoyed a chunk of meat. Thanks to Roberto the only other time we had a proper steak was at his first cook group way back in November - have not enjoyed a steak since. This is what I really miss given the 400g rib-eye I would enjoy with Nick and Leo Drinias almost every Tuesday when our mums were together following the deaths of our respective fathers. I was very much looking forward to these nights again.
DAY 79, Sat 30JAN16, 130km, Camping/Hotel “Aylos Bay Lodge” Atimpoku GHANA to Water Bush Camp “Cascade De Kpime” TOGO. Today was TOGO day. After a thoroughly satisfying episode of sport, dream and movies we were off at 8:30am across the Volta Bridge headed north-east for the GHANA-TOGO border. As a result of our 10 days near Accra, we had scored VISAs for TOGO, BENIN, NIGERIA and ANGOLA. An excellent result according to Andi/Grant.
The scenery leading to the border was familiar - lush green forest with palms and plenty of haze but low humidity - thank you Sahara. Suddenly just before the border we ascended peaking at 430m and then descending back down to 270m where we crossed the border at Honata on the GHANA side. We got a stamp there then proceeded into TOGO - took 20min altogether. We were back to baguettes and French as you will read in the special feature at the end PS: A LITTLE ABOUT TOGO.
The bush was thicker and much hotter as we penetrated further into TOGO. The roads were worse and the villages looked neater utilising mainly concrete blocks and corrugated iron roofs. We stopped in Kpalime (Pop 150K) to do cook shopping - this place is surrounded by coffee and cocoa beans and lots of hiking trails. I found an internet cafe and even managed to find cheeses, yogurt and peanuts. Our camp amongst the Kpime Waterfalls (Cascade De Kpime) was only 12km away. After a relaxing drink and a terrific veggie stew, I decided to celebrate my first night with my new tent buddy, Doug, by watching a movie. We picked “Goldfinger”. It was a very cool, dry night and sleep was easy. It was weird being back in the tent after 10 days in a bed but oddly enough, it was like I never left!
DAY 80, Sun 31JAN16, 120km, Water Bush Camp “Cascade De Kpime” to Camping/Hotel “Chez Alice”, Avepozo, 17km east of Lome TOGO (Run1). It was a great night. Cool and dry with the soothing sound of a waterfall to keep us asleep. Just as well. I needed every ounce of rest and very ounce of lentil from the night before to make my uphill run towards another, much smaller dam. I ascended from 326m to 541m and ran across the bottom of the dam and into a small village that I presume was called Kpime after the waterfall. It was a great run. It was a long time between hills and a great way to run my 64th country! The run was isolated and with terrific views, although hazy. The forest was lush and green with every imaginable shaped tree staring at you like a crowd as you ran past. I was thankful that we were at a waterfall - my cascade shower was cold and thoroughly refreshing. Water makes all the difference.
Had plenty of time to wash, read and blog and consume a bowl of last nights lentils before our departure at 12:30pm. The drive to Lome took the better part of 3hrs, passing a now thinking forest and the humidity and heat climbing faster than we descended to the Atlantic Coast.
Lome (Pop 1m) looks much like Nouakchott, the capital and largest city of MAURITANIA. A hazy chaos of honking motor bikes and yelling humanity at the side of the road. It definitely looked less serviced than Bamako and Accra. We drive through the centre of town and then down to the coast and headed east towards Benin. The beach front was long and straight and reminded me of Port Melbourne. The water was a nice colour and then sand golden brown but… there were loads of people LIVING on the beach everywhere! Rubbish and probably poo on the beach!
Even the long four-lane boulevard that connects Lome to our campsite had people growing veggies on its wide shoulders! Humanity trying to make ends meet in this harsh environment! We arrived at our campsite around 4pm and it was stinking hot. The bar and restaurant area was well shaded so it was off to shower and then sit here to try and calm ourselves. Unfortunately there was no room tonight but we did book rooms for the next 3 nights. Riza and I decided to eat at the restaurant once we found out that the truck was doing pasta with tomato sauce! No more kiddies meals for us! Riza enjoyed a grilled Dorado with rice and I had half a BBQ chicken with chips! We decided to retire early tonight so that we could run in the morning when it was cooler. Cooler. What a joke. This would turn out to be the worst night on the trip so far...
DAY 81, Mon 1FEB16, 0km, Camping/Hotel “Chez Alice”, Avepozo, 17km east of Lome TOGO (Run2). Last night was DEFINITELY the worst night of the trip so far. Not an ounce of sleep. The main reason was not so much the heat and humidity but the complete lack of any breeze through the campsite - the air was completely still - like the inside of a coffin - try sleeping in that! I gave up at about midnight and found a ceiling fan above the drum kit on a stage overlooking the restaurant. I turned it on and slept underneath on top of my sleeping bag. No good. Air was great but the mozzies were eating me alive. Could not stop scratching and could not be bothered going to the truck and putting on Deet so I stumbled back to my tent and calmed myself as much as I could. I got a couple of ours sleep once the mozzie bites stopped scratching.
By the time my alarm woke me at 6:30am for my run, I had tossed and turned more times than a cut snake inside a bottle! I was glad to be up and running - even if it was in the smoggy, hazy chaos of suburban Lome. At least I was cool. After negotiating my way through traffic I returned to some good news. Riza had secured rooms for the next 4 nights! No aircon but they did have a high-speed propeller-like fan, a huge fridge, huge private shower/bath and a TV. Bliss.
I showered and sat down to my blog and film over a plunger pressed “Cafe au Lait”. Perfect for now. We all had to hang around the campsite this morning whilst Andi/Grant visited the Gabon, Congo and Cameroon embassies - they may want to see us or finger-print us. By 2pm Andi/Grant were back and we were all free to do what we wanted. Gabon wanted to see us tomorrow.
The other news was that all the tenters had to move to another camp site, 700m further down the road since we were using up too much water at Chez Alice. Roberto, Riza and I could stay in our room at Alice - unreal - we did not feel like moving and this meant the WIFI would be all ours and perform better. Without further hesitation we caught a text into town starting with the “Grand Marche”.
This one was not as big as some we have visited to date but just as chaotic. The marketplace seems to be the "beating heart of Africa”. There is rubbish and dirt everywhere, not helped by the heat and humidity, but somehow everyone seems to trade with a smile and scratch out a living. We past the Catholic Cathedral complete with a large convent and school next door. There were also many Methodist churches in the city revealing the Germanic past of the place.
From here it was a 10min taxi ride to the “Marche des Feticheurs” or The Fetish Market, somewhat similar to the one we had seen in Bamako MALI. It cost $AUD7 to get in with free English speaking guide and another $AUD5 to film or photograph. Roberto and Riza opted out but I just simply had to get more footage for the film. Boy was it worth it.
My guide “Elias” was excellent. Not only did he explain what each dried animal would cure but he took some hilarious footage of me getting “up close and personal” with the long-dead wildlife. There was a larger variety of gutted, salt-dried animals and heads than in MALI laid out on many tables lining an enclosed space. Surrounding this were the shack-style, wooden homes of the “Voodoo Priests” that administered animal cures and chanted the Voodoo prayers to ward off evil or grant peoples wishes. Most animals were just heads: snakes, monkeys, hyenas, rats, dogs, cats. Whole animals included snakes, porcupines, badgers and many many birds like eagles, vultures, parrots, owls and the list goes on. There are also special plant seeds and roots that also cure ailments and provide sex drive! Most animals are gutted and salted and dried in the sun. Depending on the animal, they can last from 2 months to 2 years!
The Voodoo Priest removes some skin or flesh from the pelt and mixes it with water for the patient to take. Some cure diabetes, others lower blood pressure or remove fever - presto - a “fetish pharmacy”! Elias explained that the basis of Voodoo was the African tribal belief that spirits occupy the bodies of dead animals and some plants and have power to heal through these objects. Voodoo can also be combined with the Catholic Faith, especially in Southern USA and the Caribbean. I entered one of the priests homes and he gave me a carved object to hold that brings a traveller good luck - lets see if it works! I spent close to an hour here and enjoyed the stories and experience.
I was worried that Riza and Roberto may get bored but no such thing - they had been surrounded by a group of young local children and were playing games and taking photos. I joined in for a while before heading back to the centre by taxi. By this time we were pouring with sweat and very tired and uncomfortable so we resolved to find a place to have coffee and hopefully internet as well. We asked a young local man in the street to help us out and lucky for us he obliged without putting his hand out for money. He took us to a local hotel with a fanned internet room for their guests. It was not long before Francis was telling us his story over coffee.
He spoke 6 of the 20 or more local TOGA dialects including Spanish, Italian and German. An impressive 32yr old who specialised in teaching local dance and was part of a band that performed for money. He spoke to us about people’s distrust of the electoral system and the government monopoly of utilities where prices could be increased at any time due to the absence of competition. We had also heard this in GHANA where students protested over this. What was equally impressive was Francis’s dad who was 96 years old and living in his home town 350km north of Lome. He had 7 children. A man who did not smoke or drink, ate plenty of veggies and walked everywhere his whole life - an average of 50km per day and to/from Lome as well. Never owned a car or horse. Just walked. Was this the secret of his long life or was it due to the absence of stress in his everyday working life - a simple farmer, working enough to eat rather than build riches.
After thanking Francis for his insight and kind invitation to stay with his parents we looked for a special steak house in Lonely Planet - once again it did not exist any more - another victim of an outdated guide book. Instead we saw a huge supermarket and decided to stock up and have a picnic back at the hotel. We feasted on fish, salami, cheeses, lentils, mushroom and even canned brussel sprouts from France - my first since leaving home. We gossiped all night and planned a day-trip to a village in TOGO that a work colleague of Riza supports via her own charity.
DAY 82, Tue 2FEB16, 35km, Camping/Hotel “Chez Alice”, Avepozo, 17km east of Lome TOGO (Run3). The truck picked up Riza, Roberto and myself at 7:30am on the road outside our hotel so that we could all ride into the Gabon Embassy for our VISAS. Good news was they did not want to see us after all and the truck made its way to the Lome markets arriving at 10am. We spent another 3hrs looking in the city.
I went off alone since I wanted to see some of the sites. I started with the Presidential Palace which is not open to visitors and too far to photograph. It is close to the Atlantic beach-front and so close to the GHANA border that someone on that side could probably hurdle verbal abuse at the Togolese leader!
That part of town is also lined with huge fig trees absolutely packed with small bats! From here I walked to “Place de Independence” which also contained a very sixties, physco-delic, hip-looking “Town Hall”. It is a huge roundabout with a monument in the middle celebrating TOGO’s release from France and Britain in 1960. This place was much larger and better kept than the equivalent in Accra GHANA.
From here I crossed “Place des Martys” which was very unimpressive. I made my way to the Grand Market and could not believe my luck after a few attempts and searches. I found two spare batteries for my new Canon SX60! I was over the moon. They looked like the real deal and were packaged. It is forbidden to ship spare batteries due to fire hazard. I then found two spare monkey hooks to replace the ones the hotel in Bamako had lost.
Overall I was very pleased since now I had everything I needed in terms of hardware to continue this journey. Africa and I were now even again! It was so good to be back at hotel to wash off the grit, sweat and heat of the city. I fell asleep drying off under my room fan then had to muster up enormous enthusiasm to start my sunset run to the east (away from Lome along the coast). Much to my surprise it as a good run. The heat had subsided and there was a cool ocean breeze. The sun hung like a golden moon behind the evening haze and you could stare at it for hours - it was an African sun. I do not know why but in Africa the sun looks “African”. After another sanity-restoring shower we had a few cold beers in the bar before setting off to eat locally. We found a place next to a “night club” that served grilled skewers of chicken, beef and goat along with rice and plenty of local beer. The meat was still quite poor and chewy but tasted OK and if you buy enough you do get your fill. Tonight our conversation stumbled upon “the method for figuring out what will make you happy in life”. Riza was pleased. Refer to REFLECTION at the bottom of this blog post. I watched “Octopussy” when I got back to my room which I thoroughly enjoyed, well past midnight.
DAY 83, Wed 3FEB16, 0km, Camping/Hotel “Chez Alice”, Avepozo, 17km east of Lome TOGO (Run4). Slept in till 9am. By 10am I was running. Had to beat the heat. After my return I washed my clothes and sat down to blog, process photos and make my film. It was our day of rest and restoration. Nothing planned. Tonight the plan was to meet the rest of the group at the “night club” that we had visited the night before to celebrate Yuki’s 22nd birthday. Until then, just domestic stuff around the hotel. Dinner was at “Las Nocas” with some members of the group - clearly the best place to date.
The dish “Charwarma” is the TOGO version of Gyros but consists of round slabs of real meat stacked vertically onto a rotating spike and carved into a plate with onions and a mild pepper sauce - delicious - the most succulent, real meat dish to date. The coleslaw that came with it was also very tasty but at the cost of mountains of mayo calories. I sang “Happy Birthday” to Yuki and shouted him sweet sparkling wine - it was the inly thing they had and he liked it anyway! We danced the rest of the evening away at a local bar/disco playing African dance tracks - really good. I headed off at midnight and others wrapped up at 1am and 3am. I was keen to run in the morning before heading out to our village day-visit.
DAY 84, Thu 4FEB16, 0km, Camping/Hotel “Chez Alice”, Avepozo, 17km east of Lome TOGO (Run5). Day visit to the village of Agome Sevah, 80km north-east of Avepozo. Today’s experience replaced the Elephant Walk at Mole National Park in GHANA as the number one experience and highlight of the trip to date. Riza, Roberto, Yuki and I visited the remote village of “Agome Sevah”, approx 80km north-east from our hotel in Avepozo, right on the TOGO-BENIN border.
Today’s day trip was organised by Riza based on her friendship with a lady called Mandy Unger, who worked for Riza at Du Pont in the UK from 1993 to 2003. In 2008, Mandy and her husband Rod founded a charitable organisation called “Dekamlie” which in the local Togolese “Mani dialect” means “together we are one”. Dekamile has already brought a number of benefits to Agome Sevah to improve the life of its citizens, which I will summarise later.
Before working with Riza, Mandy worked with a Togolese lady from Lome called Anoma. In June 2008, Anoma invited Mandy and Rod to her wedding in TOGO to Teun Van Herpen. The wedding took place in Agome Sevah because Anoma’s paternal grandfather escaped to this village from BENIN in the early 1900s to escape slavery and lived there since. Anoma's father Akuete (affectionately called “Papa”) has a house there and heads up a local committee tasked with advising local government of the needs of the villages in that area. During the wedding in Agome Sevah, Mandy and Rod noticed how difficult and risky life was for the villagers. People washed, toiletted and drank in the river (no clean water), there was no doctor or medicine, no electricity, very few books at school. They were inspired by Papa and the kindness of the villagers to form a charitable organisation to bring some of these basic necessities to the village. Papa’s son Dethanou (“Nounou” for short) agreed to manage any works locally and provide the much needed translation and leg-work to get things approved and done with the local government of Lome.
Dekamile is a registered charity in TOGO and the UK with a donation website (www.dekamile.co.uk) and tax deductibility for TOGO/UK citizens. To date, Dekamile has delivered the following tangible benefits to Agome Sevah, thanks to Many and Rod and their long list of individual and corporate contributors: clean water from man-made wells, solar panels for street lights, homes and new buildings, school bookstore every child, a new medical clinic, a renovated school, a new trade school (teaching hairdressing, sowing, carpentry) and 23 micro-loans to locals to grow and sell foodstuffs or sell imported or locally-made household items. All this since 2009. Amazing. (That’s a rat on the right…)
Dekomile has received assistance from UK based charity “The Big Lottery” and “The Myer Trust” thanks to years of tireless applications by Nounou, Mandy and Rod. Dekamiles next projects include: putting a toilet and septic basin in every household, irrigating a large field to grow more greens (on top of the spinach and corn grown now) and building a new child nursery so mums can work without minding their little ones. Most of the micro-loans are being repaid and there is a plan for more. Mandy contacted Riza to visit the village on this trip by putting in touch with Nounou. Riza and Nounou organised today and Nounou and his first cousin Herve Sessi picked us up in their funded Toyota air-conditioned four wheel drive at 11:30am. We got along famously. I persisted with my 1001 questions to better understand the history and operation of Dekamile taking a deep personal interest based on my experiences with the Mercy Centre.
We stopped off where the lake meets the Atlantic at an idyllic palm lined aqua-green water village before heading north on a dusty, pot-holed road to the village. After our arrival around 1pm we visited the Trade School (opened in SEP14) and the local “pub” opposite. We observed classes for hairdressing and sewing and played with the local children outside. It was sticking, river-of-sweat hot but the inside of the hanger-looking Trade School was surprisingly bearable. From here it was a short walk to Nounou’s family home.
The village population is around 600 over 150 households. Most houses had solar panels and were made by mud brick or breeze-block, some with corrugated iron but most with palm thatched roofs.
We enjoyed soft baguettes filled with dried fish and diced tomato and capsicum and tried the local “sodabi” or palm-spirit, also known as “fire water”. Our next visit was to a local man who made it! He ran a hand-built distillery comprising 4 big metal ex-diesel drums connected by copper piping. The first sits atop a huge wood fire that boils and evaporates to Palm wine. The vapour travels through the copper piping to be cooled and condensed to liquid spirit as it spirals through the next 3 drums. At the end a fragrant, clear liquid collects into ex-Gin bottles at around 45-50% alcohol. It is a fine brew and does not burn the throat. I bought 3L for only $AUD7 to share with the group on the next cook group. It is like a very fragrant Italian grappa or Greek raki.
We then met the local Voodoo Priest. A young man with two twin girls. His family gathered around us and I interviewed him. Even Herve’s dad was there - pity we would not meet Papa who was in Lome and much admired, respected and talked-about at the village. Riza then entered Benin illegally. We walked down to the river that forms the border and she walked across to BENIN with a strapping young, muscular local by her side - she got soaking wet (something I wanted to do but not get wet) - not sure if it was BENIN she wanted to see or this young lad! The river and sandy bank leading up to the village looked much like the Mekong in LAOS, leading up to the village that I slept in at the time.
This inspired me to suggest to Nounou that once all village houses have toilets and the some put in showers then this village would be great for ecotourism like in Laos. I then discovered that Nounou’s mum was born in Laos - explained why he did not exactly resemble his cousin or other villagers.
After we visited the oldest person in the town (this is custom), we had a break from the heat by drinking super cold beer and “Youki” so drinks at the towns only cafe run by the chief accountant of the village, "Choochee" and his wife - they manage all of the micro-loans. Choochee served us in a clean shirt and braces and looked like Arsenio Hall! We laughed. I then noticed a grave at the door of the cafe and discovered it was Arsenio’s dad! Nounou then explained that there is no cemetery in the Mani culture - loved ones are buried around the house or under the concrete or stone slab inside the house in a special room dedicated to the dead. Incredible. We actually visited the room holding the parents of Papa.
By this time it was getting dark and I was getting smashed since it is customary to be served palm spirit by each of our hosts as we visit them. Nounou took us to “the sacred site” which lies under trees that are hundreds of years old and comprises wooden pegs inserted into the ground with clothing or hair or nails wrapped around them. There are even small brick houses with personal items on them. There is a ceremony where anyone can make an offering and make a positive wish for themselves. If it comes true they have to return to the village and offer a goat or chickens or even a cow. Nounou explained that the village has been receiving free food for years - it must work! Sadly we did not have the time or priest to perform the ceremony for ourselves. It was now dark but the two was lit up by the many solar panels.
We walked past the school and church (now lit up by a huge street light outside). We noticed women selling canned food under light and extracting basket weave from palm branches - some of the tangible benefits of having light at night!
Our final visit was wit the Village Chief and some of his key staffers. We sat in the local meeting hall and interviewed him. The Chief was very welcoming and spoke a lot. He regarded “clean water” and “light” as the most significant benefit and looked forward to the “field irrigation” and “toilets”.
Despite our fatigue, our drive home at 7:30pm was just as enlightening as the trip here. We talked about the political situation in TOGO including the 2015 election that most people considered “clean”. I asked Nounou what he would do if he was President and he did not hesitate with his answer - “increase the minimum wage from the current $AUD81/month so that people could spend a bit and stimulate the local economies”. He explained that locals could only afford to drink which is not good for their health or society.
An insightful answer. Home loan interest rates are around 3-4% and unemployment is impossible to measure given the number of un-surveyed villages. Nounou studied a Marketing undergraduate major in Toulouse FRANCE and would probably work in Europe if it were not for Dekamile. It was 9pm when we ordered pizza and beef Charwarma at our favourite Las Nocas. It was sad leaving Nounou and Hevre after such a fulfilling and meaningful day. Not even “Moonraker” could cheer me up but the Charwarma certainly did. I loved it. It is not a thick steak but tasted more like meat in a long long time. TOGO turned out to be a special place for us today.
DAY 85, Fri 5FEB16, 60km, Camping/Hotel “Chez Alice”, Avepozo, 17km east of Lome TOGO to Camping/Hotel “Auberge de Grand Popo", 3km east of Grand Popo BENIN (Run1). Today was BENIN day. My 70th country. Boy, did we get there quickly. Just 40km to the border and another 20km beyond that to a dreamy beachside camping site just outside the town of Grand Popo (Pop10K), complete with a Southern Louisiana style two-storey plantation house hotel, bungalows, restaurant, bar and pool covered in palms and hedged with cacti. Probably the best looking place to date.
The Culture Club decided not to upgrade since there was a cool beach breeze blowing and we would only be here one night. There were no aircon rooms and the fan rooms were too warm. At least there were camp showers and toilets. Our first impressions of BENIN were great. We made a stop in the centre of Grand Popo and it seemed very industrious - people selling and working non-stop. “Sun Yogo” the miracle frozen yogurt was here too.
The Auberge was very well kept and rather up-market compared to most. After pitching tent I tried an ocean swim but the waves and swell were too big. Got tired very quickly and could not keep a straight line so I decided to have a swim in the salt water pool, cool down, blog a bit and then go for a beach run - my 65th running country.
Turned out better than I thought. There was a dirt road right next to the sand so switched to the dirt road since the sand was too soft. A huge lake emerged on my left and the Atlantic was on my right - fabulous views. Life here is not the usual chaotic mess. Villages are mud and thatch, metres from the beach and cooled by ocean breezes. Plenty of fish and coconut. A great lifestyle if you are in wild West Africa. There was a cold freshwater shower next to the saltwater pool so I cooled off here and then soaked in the pool for 30min. Felt great. I blogged on the truck because the ocean breeze there was better. Once Riza got back from her run we all went off for dinner. We found a small place down the road but it took one hour to get our food. We got an extra plate of chips as compensation. Once we got back the breeze was good so we took advantage and hit our sleeping bags...
DAY 86, Sat 6FEB16, 30km, Camping/Hotel “Auberge de Grand Popo", 3km east of Grand Popo to Camping/Hotel “Le Jardin Bresilien”, Ouidah Beach BENIN (Run2). The breeze stopped early in the night. Not good. Once that goes it is hard to sleep, especially in a tent. Tossed and turned quite a bit but I was glad to sleeping in my cozzies - I was determined to have them on for the whole 3 days in BENIN - that has always been a secret wish - to travel in my cozzies. It sets a new paradigm in “travelling light”. It was quite moist in the morning. Everything was damp. We all welcomed the flow of air again once we got started.
Drove through some luscious countryside heading slightly inland fro the coast. Villages were smaller and neater than in TOGO. The locals still smiled and waved. SENEGAL was still on top in this regard. The road was particularly good - I guess this is to be expected since it is the only one that cuts along the coast.
We passed some fabulous scenery of villages built on stilts on several large lakes near the Atlantic. Most of this coast consists of lakes just behind the ocean line. We arrived at Ouidah (Pop 90K) at 10:30am and stayed until 1pm. Ouidah is a fascinating place because it is the birthplace of Voodoo and the centre of slave trading from the late 1600’s to the early 1900’s. In February 1996, BENIN passed legislation to formally recognise Voodoo as a religion including a national holiday in its hour on 10 January when Voodoo followers from all of the world, particularly the Caribbean nations and some southern USA states come to Benin to celebrate, much like a pilgrimage. Even the late Pope John Paul II visited here in 1992 to meet the “Voodoo Pope”. As mentioned earlier, Voodoo is mixed with Catholicism and many in BENIN (and TOGO) practice both religions.
My young guide at the “Python Temple” is such a person and he explained the significance of combining the two faiths to preserve local culture. My visit to Ouidah started with the “Musee d’Histoire de Ouidah” which explained the history of BENIN, the slave trade and the origins of Voodoo. AT one stage BENIN was governed by France, Britain and the Portuguese under a treaty. The slave trade was particularly bad here with estimates of up to 12 million having been sold and deported. Many went to Brasil and as a result there are cultural practices amongst the black peoples there that are very similar to those practised now in BENIN.
The Python Temple followed which is actually a holy place occupied by Pythons who are one of the most important “gods” in the multi-theostic Voodoo belief. I visited a 600yr old tree where offerings are placed to the Python god and of course got covered in pythons, which do not harm humans here because they are raised amongst them and fed local rats and mice to their hearts content! There are up to 60 pythons here. Just across the road is the Catholic Cathedral of the Annunciation which is very colourful - inside I heard an African choir. Walked back to the truck via the markets and enjoyed a “Fan Yogo” to cool down.
By now it was incredibly hot and humid almost to the point where it was suffocating where there was direct sun and no wind. The news was all good at our beachside campsite at Ouidah Beach (just 5km away) - there were plenty of air-conditioned rooms to upgrade to and they were very cheap. Easy decision.
Only 200m from our campsite, on the beach, is a monument called “The Point of No Return” which is a memorial to the many millions of people that boarded boats here as slaves bound for death or the Americas or both. They walked in chains from the town of Ouidah to the beach 4km away. Today there are 12 statues of the emblem of the kings of Benin from 1620 to 1900. I ran this route and reckon that it is modelled on the 12 stations of the cross in the “Way of Sorrows” in Jerusalem. It is a sad place and I cannot fathom the despair of those souls that passed through here over a century. I spent the rest of the afternoon finalising and posting this blog post because it was simply too hot to be outside and the internet here was very good. We would spend tomorrow camping in the BENIN bush and the next 3 days after that we would bush camping in NIGERIA so I decided to take advantage of the good internet and post today. I wondered how we were going to survive in a tent in the bush in weather such as today’s and without a beach or water to wash in! God help us.
PS: A LITTLE ABOUT TOGO:
TOGO (Pop 7m) is only 56km wide at the Atlantic Coast and almost 600km from South to North. The highest mountain is Mt Agou (886m). There are no clear origins with peoples from 40 ethnic groups but the 3 largest (Ewe, Mina and Kabye) account for over half the population. Muslims, Christians and Voodoo are pretty much even in numbers.
The largest city and capital is Lome (Pop 1m). Europeans first occupied TOGO in the 16th Century across the Atlantic coast as a result of the slave trade in GHANA.
There was a time when Germany occupied TOGO but this was replaced by a treaty between France and England after WWII. The shared the country and independence came in 1960. Government was non-democratic and the economy almost non-existent up until 2007 when the first free elections were held. The country is more stable now but has a history of human rights accusations and dirty politics.
TOGO is famous for its Batik and wax printing. Food is rich in carbs and centred around doughs of corn, manioc and yam. Fried plantains, bean flour and spicy fried mild cheese are also staples. Most of the wildlife was hunted out with only the occasional monkey, buffalo, antelope, croc and hippo that may stray in from neighbouring BENIN or GHANA.
PPS: A LITTLE ABOUT BENIN:
BENIN (Pop 10m) is slightly larger than TOGO at 700km South to North and 120km West to East at the Atlantic and 200km in the middle. Like TOGO it has many ethnic groups and 3 of these comprise 60% of people: Fon, Adia and Yoruba. 40% are Christian, 25% Muslim and most practice Voodoo which was invented in BENIN.
The capital is Porto Novo (Pop 300K) and largest city is Cotonou (900K). The country was originally called DAHOMEY by the French colonists because it consisted of a number of kingdoms ruled by Kings “Dan” and “Akomey”. Origins of peoples here are unknown. BENIN was actually the centre of the slave trade and the inventor of Voodoo.
Independence from France came in 1960 and several military leaders took their turn in ruling without elections. One of these Kerekou renamed the country to BENIN in 1975 and managed to stay in power for 33yrs leading to his fall in the 2006 free elections. Kerekou actually began with communist rule in 1972 and converted to democracy in 1989. Food is the same as TOGO with lots of grilled fish and maize in the south and fried chicken in the north. Fufu is called “Igname” here and their is plenty of local beer. BENIN has the best wildlife park in West Africa in its north called “Parc National de la Pendjari” featuring with elephants, lions, cheetahs, leopards and hippos.
PPPS: INTERESTING FACT ON AFRICA:
Whilst HIV/AIDS has dramatically reduced, there are still over 20 million people with the disease which is 69% of the global total. The main reasons for the high proportions is the lack of prevention programs and the fact the it is taboo to talk about the disease.
REFLECTION - "the method for figuring out what will make you happy in life”:
For many of us it is tough, if not impossible, to articulate exactly what we need to be “doing" or what we need to “have" to “make us happy in life”. The challenge with answering this starts with the question “what is happiness?”. My view is that there is no one answer to this. It is subjective and the answer will be different for each individual - almost like a self-defining gene or retinal scan or finger print. Yet the challenge remains. How does each person define “happiness” for themselves? I think the problem is that most of us try to define happiness as an “end state”. I think it is easier to define the CHARACTERISTICS of that end state that is likely to make you happy. Once you know the characteristics, the more you can define, the narrower will be the end-state options that deliver these characteristics. For example. An “end state” that brings happiness for person A may be: to live in a villa in the south of France overlooking a vineyard whilst teaching English to local French children in the nearest village. The “characteristics”, however that lead to this “end state” may be: I love wine, I want to be involved with children if I cannot have any of my own, I need to keep my mind stimulated, I want it to be sunny 7 days out each ten. These four characteristics can then be used to list out possible end states, one of which may be the one just quoted earlier. I think this is an easier “method” for defining happiness and the end-state that will bring it about. What are “your” characteristics?
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