Togo: Lome

 Friday, March 24, 2023, Lomé, Togo

We arrived in the city of Lome, with a metropolitan area population of a million and a half people, at 9 a.m. We were greeted by drumming and dancing. One of the entertainers was on very tall stilts! It had rained prior to our arrival, but it was a beautiful day now. The drumming was not the best that we’d heard.

We took a tour of the larger Lomé area, and our first stop was a visit to Agbodrafo. We were first greeting with a welcoming ceremony that involved a lot of talk and alcohol (I think it was scotch) being poured into a bowl, then onto the ground. Next we met King Assiakoley and his entourage in a large covered courtyard set up with plastic chairs for us to sit in. There were about 60 tourists. We had to rise when he entered. He wore an interesting cloth head covering, and addressed us in French. Several French-speaking tourists were able to talk to him after his address. 

King Assiakoley

Welcoming ceremony

We did not have the most experienced bus driver, and when he was turning the bus around it took many tries before he succeeded. It put us a little behind. We were sitting near the back and when the bus went full bore over speed bumps we were almost catapulted out of our seats! 

Our next stop was a UNESCO site, The Woold House, which was part of the slave route in Africa, and proof that illegal slave trade continued in Agbodrafo after it was banned in the world. The estate belonged to a Scottish slave trader and is near the seaside with easy access to ships. Captured people were confined in horrifying conditions for weeks or months until they were shipped off to the Americas or Caribbean. Not the most pleasant experience for us, but important for their history.

Man demonstrating where slaves were kept (under the floor boards) at Woold House

Next, we observed fishermen pulling their boats in from the surf with the day’s catch, and women drying fish on large racks over a slow fire. The dried fish will keep for up to a year. While we were engaged in our activities, our bus driver parked the bus near the beach. 

Women drying fish

Once we were on board and ready to head to lunch, the bus became badly stuck in the sand. It took about a half hour and 30 people pushing (after all passengers disembarked) to get the bus out. Seeing the local people working together in a lively and light-hearted manner to solve this problem was a nice glimpse into their community life.

Our bus’s wheels stuck in the sand

We then headed to a beach resort for a buffet lunch. More bad drummers throughout lunch. Lunch was delicious. 

Our next stop was Glidji, where we were welcomed with another ceremony involving a speech and alcohol being poured into a bowl and then on the ground. This time it was a group of men and women who were priests of the sacred forest. Many people in this part of Africa practice voodoo, which is a nature-centric religion and quite different from what we’ve been taught here. 

Men and women priests of the sacred forest

The bus drove us to Koluvidonu, where we had more bad drumming but a wonderful spinning ritual dance where the dancers would disappear from under large conical coverings made from long grasses. The local lore is that warriors were able to appear and disappear at will.

Heavy traffic and delays made us late back to the ship. Charlie got scolded for not getting in line quick enough. They should have known him better by then. Since he was not driving the bus, we phoned in a complaint about it and received a satisfactory apology.