The Gold Coast Upon the Bight.

When I arrived in Togo 7 months ago I had not seen another African nation before. Since then I have seen many scenes across this small strip of a country, and I suppose part of me began to think that the rest of Africa--or at least West Africa-- was pretty similar to at least some part of Togo. The place was touted as "L'Afrique en Miniature" by the government to drag in tourists who wanted to see a nice microcosm of the continent. We have a somewhat large capital city with western amenities, 50k+ of beaches, tropical forests (kind of), grasslands, and once upon a time you could actually find interesting wildlife.

Now, though, my perspective on this place has changed around completely after only three short nights in the glorious wonderland that is Ghana.

I remember soon after I got to post I began asking some older volunteers about recent trips they had taken to get an idea of where I would visit first. The obvious front-runner was Accra and surrounding beaches in Ghana, but the reason why may be different than what you are used to.

"Listen" my friend told me, wide eyed as he described Accra, "they have overpasses"
"Really?!", I said, contemplating the now incredibly complex phenomenon of one road going OVER another road.
"Yeah, like with on-ramps...you gotta see it", he said

To a Peace Corps Volunteer I feel like finding places that are like home, even in just minor aspects is essential. When I drive through the centrale region of Togo and look out the window into flat fields of corn I try and imagine I'm back in the Midwest, driving 80 or 90 back home from school. When I look to the bluffs rising above my village I try and think of the cliffs rising above Clearwater or Watap. If I can trick myself into imagining I'm home, even for the shortest of moments I regain my sense of peace.

Yet, there is no city in Togo that can come close to resembling any true city in America. Lome is nice, don't get me wrong, but the streets are made of sand and the beach is a sewer, were not exactly talking the most posh of destinations. Accra, on the other hand, is a different story entirely. On top of overpasses, the entire road infrastructure is like nothing in Togo. There are artsy iron dividers between street lanes with flower baskets attached, street lamps and traffic signals that actually work, and traffic laws that are--get this-- both enforced and observed. You can get taxis with air conditioning and drivers actually follow regulations on how many people they can put in their cars. Keep in mind Togo taxis are stuffed with 4 in the back and 4 in the front, usually with a side of goats, babies or chickens.

For one night we were sure to stay at the only hotel I know of in the region with an American themed sports bar and TexMex cooking. Our agenda also featured a trip to the local mall--which along with every other mind-blowing reminder of home had a movie theatre, mac store, food court and full supermarket. After that one night in Accra we went to a nearby beach for two nights and stayed at a backpacker-frequented resort that showcased local rasta artisans and traditional drumming and dancing and the like.

All in all it was a perfect little vacation, and luckily I bought the multi-entry visa so I'm most certainly heading back soon! All apologies, though, my computer is acting a little crazy so I was unable to get any pictures onto a flash drive for this update...I wish I could have! Other than that everything is great...I'm off to a conference tomorrow talking about using men across Togo as partners in empowering women, then back to post to move into my new house!

Take care all!
J