Togo: A Hidden Gem

The Togolese Republic bordered by  Ghana to the west, Benin Republic to the east and Burkina Faso to the north is well-known for its palm-lined beaches and the footballer Emmanuel Adebayor.

Togo has been on my travel radar for a while. Sandra and I planned to visit last year but we cancelled last minute and settled for Benin Republic (Cotonou and Porto Novo).

So over the Easter holiday,  Togo was the destination of choice.

Why Togo, you may ask, I wasn't ready to go the long distance. I was looking forward to a less touristy holiday, I am not a fan of popular places during holidays.

By February, mind was made up on location and I shared with friends, sadly Sandra was studying for an examination and could not make the trip. After a lot of back and forth and last minute cancellations, 4 of us were confirmed for the trip.

Selfie by Tayo Ige

To save ourselves from unnecessary border stress, we decided to travel with ABC transport. The level of unprofessionalism displayed by the lady I met at their Ikeja office was enough for me to never travel with ABC again in my life. 

Bus fare was N20,000 and extra N2,000 for border fees. The journey was long, as in I will never travel in a luxurious bus (marcoplo) again across border. Lomé to Lagos is meant to be 6 or max 7 hours, we spent 10 hours to Lome and 13 hours back to Lagos. Arrived Lagos by 1 am and had to spend the rest of the night at the ABC terminal in Mile 2. The mosquitoes that sucked my blood that night ehen, malaria came knocking sharp sharp.

I made reservation for a beach front hotel in Lomé since February on Booking.com, the hotel according to the website and reviews only accepts cash, no prepayment option offered. Two weeks to travel date, my friend whose email I used for the reservation, received an email from the hotel owner, requesting she cancel the reservation as hotel is fully booked.

This was major setback and we had to start searching for available accommodation with reasonable price. The search carried us to airbnb  and in the rush to get a place,we made payment for accommodation in the wrong country, Grand Popo, Benin Republic instead of Togo, luckily for us, we lost only 16 Euros service charge to Airbnb. Accommodation was finally sorted a day to the trip.

Accommodation was a 3 bedroom building fully equipped house located in a place called Agodéka (pronounced Agodéké), about 30 mins (car) from Lomé.  The owner of the apartment lives in France but his uncle was around and he was a really nice person. He drove us to the beach in Baguida even paid the swimming fee for Tayo and Tobi, took us to Lomé to find "money changers", in short he was our designated driver for the day. 

Picture by Funmilayo Ajala

The hospitality and generosity of the Togolese people is rarely spoken of or written about, I can honestly say that the people of Togo are among the kindest people I have ever come across in my travels. We met Lina, a receptionist at an hotel close to the apartment, who volunteered to help us call our host's uncle when we could not locate the apartment. She even volunteered to take us to the house,when we finally got the directions. Except from the crazy cab man, everyone else was helpful and nice to us. Thanks to Tayo's limited French, we were able to find our way through.

I did not take a lot pictures on this trip as I was more interested in enjoying the moment and I was happy to release my camera to Tayo. Tobi was eager to play model for us all. Miss Red came visiting while on the trip, so I was left with no choice but watch the water from afar.

Places Visited: 

Cascade de Womé (Womé fall), Kpalime, Togo

Baguida Beach

Independence Square, Lomé 

In all I had just the holiday I wanted. I am glad I did not change my mind on the destination and I am definitely visiting Togo again.

Pictures will be shared in the next post.

Until I come your way again.

♥Lara