Time Spent in Lome, Togo

An easy border crossing into Togo, arriving at the Hotel Mercure Sarakawa our destination for two nights. Lome is known for its excellent shopping – far more interesting than seeing its few sights.

A big plus on any trip is a chance to meet and visit with people who actually live in the country and join in their celebrations. Roberto was holding huge baptism ceremony in his home that evening and we were invited. We brought along a little outfit from America as a gift for the baby and had a great time meeting friends and relatives of the family. Roberto’s gorgeous wife, and equally beautiful sisters, had concocted a huge feast, and it was a privilege to attend and participate.

Susan took us shopping the next day along the Rue des Artisans and the area around the Rue Foch visiting all her favorite shops carrying artifacts from all over Africa…

A beautiful bronze stool from Cameroon, extremely heavy, not cheap, definitely “used” for many years, but buying it meant it would have to travel with us through three countries for the next two weeks. With Susan’s encouragement, I bought it anyway (over ex-Marine’s fierce objections!)…

…and almost bought a huge slit drum but ex-Marine threw a hissy-fit. The imaginative assortment of drums in Africa was stupifying – cylindrical, kettle, frame, goblet, hourglass-shaped – all handmade and decorated. A person could go crazy just collecting drums…and we came pretty close to it.

That evening we joined Susan, her husband and daughter for cocktails in her house, and dinner out. They are Danish, have lived in Togo for many years and, if memory serves me correctly, her husband is an ice cream distributor for a Danish firm. You can just imagine Susan’s African “finds” over all these years including a huge, carved wooden bed that was hauled back on top of the 4WD during one of TransAfrica’s trips.

Our catching up with friends was over. A drive back from Lome to Accra …time to meet the others in our group and start the Mountain Travel portion of the “Golden Kingdoms.”

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