When we crossed the border from Burkina Faso into Togo, I
was able to get a temporary visa at the border pretty quickly and easily for $30. They said that once I got to Lomé I’d need to
go downtown to get the visa processed/extended for staying longer than 7 days
in country. We wound up paying more in
taxi fees going back and forth to the visa place than the price of the
visa! It wasn’t so bad though, and it
gave us a reason to go to downtown Lomé twice.
The first time we went I had to pay $1 for the visa application form and then
go to one of many photo shacks nextdoor to get some pictures
taken. They require 2 passport size
photos, but I’m not sure what they do with them; there wasn’t a picture copied
onto the visa like I’ve seen for some other countries. When the form was filled out and the pictures
ready, I turned them in with my passport and was told to come back tomorrow to
collect my passport.
Since we were already in town (which is a long taxi ride away from where we’re staying,) we decided to check things out a bit. We went to the National Museum, for lunch, and to a grocery store. The National Museum isn’t very big, but it wasn’t very expensive, either. A guy who worked there was our guide, and we were the only visitors at that moment. The guide took us through the 2 big rooms filled with old stuff and explained about Togo’s culture and history. It was pretty interesting and took 1 hour.
We went to a cheap canteen restaurant place for lunch to have some rice and sauce. Every meal of African food I’ve tried in Togo so far has been too spicy for me. In Mali we usually have hot sauce on the side, but it seems to be mixed right in here! Then we went and found a grocery store because I wanted to see what they have compared to what we can find in Mali. I stocked up on a few items that are much more expensive in Mali, and JP got some potato chips. :)
The next day we took another taxi into town and I got my passport back without problem. Then we went to a really nice Asian restaurant which was a great treat. I had read on TripAdvisor that the Artisanal village here is pretty nice and the sellers are surprisingly not aggressive, so we went to check that out. It was indeed nice. JP got a giant mancala game and I watched some painters working and got talked into buying one of their pictures. We also walked around in the big central market and visited the Catholic Cathedral which is on one side of the market.
Since we were already in town (which is a long taxi ride away from where we’re staying,) we decided to check things out a bit. We went to the National Museum, for lunch, and to a grocery store. The National Museum isn’t very big, but it wasn’t very expensive, either. A guy who worked there was our guide, and we were the only visitors at that moment. The guide took us through the 2 big rooms filled with old stuff and explained about Togo’s culture and history. It was pretty interesting and took 1 hour.
We went to a cheap canteen restaurant place for lunch to have some rice and sauce. Every meal of African food I’ve tried in Togo so far has been too spicy for me. In Mali we usually have hot sauce on the side, but it seems to be mixed right in here! Then we went and found a grocery store because I wanted to see what they have compared to what we can find in Mali. I stocked up on a few items that are much more expensive in Mali, and JP got some potato chips. :)
The next day we took another taxi into town and I got my passport back without problem. Then we went to a really nice Asian restaurant which was a great treat. I had read on TripAdvisor that the Artisanal village here is pretty nice and the sellers are surprisingly not aggressive, so we went to check that out. It was indeed nice. JP got a giant mancala game and I watched some painters working and got talked into buying one of their pictures. We also walked around in the big central market and visited the Catholic Cathedral which is on one side of the market.
Here is a shot from the window of the taxi of some of the vast stretches of beaches, just lovely.
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