Out of Africa: First Impressions

What an awesome experience I had this month! I was able to spend nearly 3 weeks in Togo, West Africa, with my daughter Julie, her husband Bill, and my new grandson Paul! It took 20 hours to travel 8000 miles from Buffalo, NY to Lome, Togo. It was 40 degrees when I left Buffalo and about the same in Paris, where I changed planes. In Togo, it was seldom below 80 degrees, and this is the cool season, with breezes from the north. It rained one day for a couple of hours. I'm not a big fan of hot weather, but I didn't find it oppressively hot and humid; we didn't spend a lot of time outdoors anyway.
Lome is a port city of 1 million people on the coast of Africa. There are beautiful beaches, with soft reddish sand, but there are not many places where one can swim. Mostly the Atlantic Ocean is too rough, with dangerous riptides. There are warnings about crime on the beaches, where tourists are targeted by pickpockets and muggers. Plus, I saw sewer pipes running right down the beach leading to the water! The sand and scenery are really nice--but not the smell!
After leaving the airport, the first thing I noticed in Lome was the traffic. Most of the roads are not paved, but even the ones that are paved have big potholes. There are stop lights and stop signs here and there, but no one seems to pay any attention to them! There are people everywhere, day and night. Some are riding in cars and taxis. These seem to have the right of way, zipping in and out of both sides of the street, tooting their horns as if to say, "Coming through!" Next are motos, or motorscooters. If you are brave, you can hire them like taxis. But taxis will cut them off; we witnessed a moto collision, but luckily the riders were able to get up before another vehicle ran them over. No one wears helmets or seatbelts. If you are riding a moto and have a load, just carry it on your head! I saw 2 men on a moto carrying a wheelbarrow upside down on their heads! There are also bicycles and pedestrians (some selling items to anyone driving slow enough to shop) mingling with the heavy traffic. The pedestrians really have to watch out because they are last on the "right-of-way totem pole". And don't forget the garbage wagon or the Fan Milk (yogurt) cart. These trudge along or zip in and out, oblivious to the other vehicles around them.
Between the language barriers (Togo is a French speaking nation, but most of the people we met knew little French and even less English) and the crazy traffic, I was quite intimidated at first. I didn't want to leave Julie's house at all the first day. Of course, I also wanted to spend the day getting to know my grandson! But I could tell that Julie and Bill were adjusting well to the culture--and within a few days, I felt quite comfortable there. If I had the opportunity, I would go back to Togo in a minute (and happily avoid the single digit temperatures of northern PA in January!)