TOGO SAYS NO-THE FIRST TIME

The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have. 

-Anna Quindlen-

We are off to Togo today. 

How many people do you know that have said that? 

The whole camp had a disrupted sleep last night and the main culprit was a bird that started to chirp, if you can call it that, around midnight.  It actually sounded like someone was hitting a large piece of steel with a hammer but seriously it was a bird and this busy little bird kept ‘steel chirping’ until well after 2.30am.  At one point Pat and I just started to laugh and make jokes that we should go out and shoot it and after speaking to everyone this morning it was a general consensus that we all wanted to kill that damn thing.  Sam even got up at one point to check out the bird and he could see it and it stopped when he beamed him with his torch and when he left the bird started again!!!.  Add onto all that, my phone ringing and a few text messages received just after midnight, the call to prayer at 5.30am and then Pat heading to the toilet at 6am-it was a very interrupted sleep and we were all a little jaded with the ‘bird’ this morning around breakfast.  After waking up, first order of the day is to pack up the tents and they were actually pretty easy to do.  Each tent is named after a West African country and Pat and I have Senegal and I think I am going to like these tents as my home for the next 10 weeks. 

After breakfast, it was time to pack up the rest of the camp including the tarp that we had pulled out yesterday afternoon in case it rained and we were on the road at 8.15am.  Zoe was behind the wheel today and that is a great thing with Dragoman both staff are mechanics/drivers on the trips and do equal share of the driving which is a great idea and reassuring for us as clients.  By this time it was so hot and after packing up the camp some of us were filthy already and a little sweaty Betty and that is just the reality of overland, it certainly ain’t a beauty contest out here that is for sure.  Our ORIGINAL plan for the day was to cross the border of Ghana and Togo, get our Togo visas on the border and then stay not far from the crossing at Mount Klouto for 2 nights.  The drive to the border was expected to take 3-4 hours which sounded great and we were on our way.  Once we had turned off the main highway 40 minutes later the roads degraded to the extent that there were pot holes for the remaining 100km and it took us about 3 hours to travel the 100km to give you an idea.  We were passing small villages that had small shops by the side of the road and we also passed a lot of schools which was fantastic to see and they were all in uniform and it bought a smile to my face when I saw the schools as education is a way out of poverty and at the least a better way of life for the next generation of Ghanaian children.  As the tour doesn’t pass through this region very often, we get a lot of stares, pointing, smiling and I guess a truck with ‘white’ people is a sight to behold, especially when I am hanging out the window with a wave and a smile to give anyone and everyone who wants one.  The scenery is so lush and green with a lot of fields of maize and banana trees with some mountains as a back drop, we were certainly passing through a beautiful part of the world and I had to pinch myself that I was in Ghana.  As we were dodging all the pot holes, I reached into my bag to get out my camera and 5GHS flew out the window and I turned and saw it flap to the ground and I wondered what lucky soul was going to find that and I hope that it would make their day. 

WE made it to the Ghana border at 11.20am and we were all quite pleased with the time we had made considering how banged up the roads were.  Our cross point was at Leklebi and we had to clear the truck first before we could move onto us.  This process only took us 15 minutes which gave people time to use the bathrooms and then we travelled 10 minutes down the road to the Ghana immigration to be stamped out of their country.  It was a deserted border with just a handful of people waiting under a shed and a small green office where the officers were located next to a gate.  We all got off the truck and proceeded to the green hut and after a few minutes the ‘head’ guy asked if we all had Togo visas, which we replied 2 people did (Pat and Patti) and the rest of us did not.  He then said the words we all DID NOT want to hear which was, that Togo no longer issue visas on the border here.  Sam mentioned that Dragoman has had tours that had done it before and the guy was adamant that they didn’t and the rule changed 4 weeks ago!!!  That would be right.  Even though he was Ghana immigration, he was in a bit of a bind as we had 2 people (again Pat and Patti) that only had single entry visas for Ghana.  His concern was if he stamped us out and let us through and Togo did say no to our visas, he would not be able to let Pat and Patti back into Ghana as they wouldn’t have valid visas and then we would be stuck in no-man’s land which would not be ideal for Ghana or Togo because who then takes the responsibility for us?  Yes we were in an interesting predicament.  What the immigration officer suggested was that Zoe go with one of his guys down to the Togo border, speak to some-one there and see if they indeed have stopped issuing visas on the border and then we would have the right information straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak.  So we waited with the Ghana officers and 15 minutes later Zoe was back and it was indeed a very stern NO.  She said the Togo ‘general’ would not budge and he wielded his full authority to say no, no and NO.  It only took Sam and Zoe about 10 minutes to get a new game plan and with a very apologetic Ghana immigration officer, which was firstly not his fault and secondly he wanted to keep ‘peace’ and not cause any problems and that is exactly what he did by not letting us exit Ghana-he actually averted a catastrophe.  And for that we were very thankful.  He seemed very stern when we arrived, but by the time we left he flashed a few smiles and there were handshakes all round.  The group was also upbeat, this is overlanding at its pioneering and it was nice to know that everyone was cool and happy to run with the punches when we needed to. 

The new game plan was to backtrack 2hours back to the main road and from there drive an additional 3-4 hours to get to the border in time before it closed at 10pm, where they do permit you to obtain a Togo visa on arrival.  The main issue wasn’t so much for us getting out of the country today day but for our truck ‘Madge’, as she also has a passport (for customs) and her passport was to expire tonight, so no matter what, we HAD to cross the border today come hell or high water.  That whole ‘no process’ took 35 minutes and it was now 12.20pm, so after clearing the truck back into Ghana, even though we technically hadn’t left we decided to have lunch (after asking for permission) out the front of the customs place and I am sure we looked a sight that they had never seen before as a bunch of white people pulled out tables and food from a nonworking fridge, make lunch and then 50 minutes later we were back on the road to haul some arse on some Ghanaian roads at 1.15pm.  It took us 2 hours weaving and bouncing around pot holes, with Zoe doing some amazing driving and it was also interesting to see people’s reactions when they saw a woman driving-it was priceless and we also had to pass through some security checkpoints and they made some comments about a lady behind the wheel as well.  We stopped for 15 minutes back to the turning point and this is also where Zoe and Sam swapped driving duties and we stopped for a cold drink and then pedal to the metal again, we were back on our way again. 

The sun was high in the sky all day and while the truck was in motion it was like a natural air-conditioner and with the wind in my hair and music in my ears the following 5.5 hours on the truck seemed to pass by quite quickly.  I am also getting, actually got a great first day truckers tan on my right arm, it is getting a beautiful shade of red…um I mean brown and I am hoping with the seat rotations firstly the tan will even out and that I will be brown as a berry after 10 weeks.  As Sam and Zoe had some time in the cab it we are now to stay in the capital of Togo, Lome, for the night and with a few phone calls to check availability we will just do the itinerary in reverse so it saves travel time and we don’t miss anything that was planned.  Talk about thinking on your feet and also on the run.  We arrived into the border town of Denu at 6.45pm and what a busy border this one was.  It was now dark and a hive of activity with cars, trucks, motorbikes, sellers, small shops, ladies selling goods from the baskets on their heads and even though we didn’t have the inside lights on in the truck people could still see that we were tourists and drew attention as we bumped and dodged our way through traffic to the Ghana immigration office.  Zoe and Sam went into the building to do a recon beforehand to get the information and then come back to us and let us know what we had to do.  As we waited we were getting taps on the windows (which we had done up when we arrived) and that was good because if they were down I am sure we would have got a lot more people coming up to try and sell us things. The news was good coming back and for the safety of the truck and as to not bombard the Ghana immigration people with all of us at once we went in groups of 3 and the last of us came out at 7.45pm and we had all now officially cleared out of Ghana and we then drove on about 50m, parked the truck and then the recon was on again this time for Togo.  It was a little nerve wracking until Zoe came back 15 minutes later with police forms for us to fill in and with that done, she took our passports and the 10,000CFA (20AUD) for the visa fee and then her and Sam were gone for an hour as they processed our visas for us and we could just wait in the truck. 

At 8.45pm, Sam and Zoe were back with smiles on their faces, we finally had visas for Togo and we were waved through a boom gate and were in Togo, albeit nearly 9 hours than planned, but we were here.  It wasn’t the end of the Togo visa saga, as they only issue single entry visas on the border and we need to cross back to get back to Ghana in a few week’s time, but that is another problem for another day (tomorrow), for now we could all let out a big sigh of relief and 30 minutes later we were pulling up into the capital city of Togo, Lome (said Lom-ay) at a hotel that the guys had found in the Lonely Planet and told us to wait to see if the hotel had availability.  They were back in 10 minutes and we had rooms for the night and they served meals until 10pm.  So with that said we were all off the truck quick as a flash and seated and ordered by 9.30pm and all meals done and dusted by 10.30pm.  I have to say it was the nicest piece of steak and tasty pepper sauce I have had in a long time and now working on a new currency I couldn’t even be fagged what I had paid for my meal and 15 minutes later after getting some things from the truck Patty and I were shown to our room for the night.  I think hotel is a loose word for where we were staying, but it is funny when you are on overland trips just how amazing a shower and a mattress look and we were very happy with our accommodations for the night.  It was extremely hot and humid, even at 10.30pm, so I took a shower and by the time I got out and came to bed, Patty was already fast asleep and I wasn’t far behind her.  I was absolutely shattered after 13 hours in the truck and I wasn’t even driving.  It is a tough gig sitting in the back of the truck watching the country of Ghana pass us bye.  So for a short time it was goodbye to Ghana and hello Togo, even if you did make things hard for us today, we beat you and we are still happy to be here.