Lome

We arrived in Lome on Day 6 of our trip, which felt a bit strange as we know Lome is normally only 4-5 hours from Accra.   So we took an indirect route.

To spoil ourselves after spending a week in a tent we checked into a hotel, not least to take advantage of the laundry service.  We opted to return to the Hotel Bellevue, a simple place we stayed on a previous visit.  Because we arrived without a reservation this time we were not in the main building but in an annex about a block away.   The room was small but had A/C ,  and a TV.     There was also WiFi, which enabled us to catch up on email and blog posts while we missed while we had been in the hills.  I also took an hour on Saturday afternoon to finish the installation of the hidden security safe that I had not had time to do before we left.

The capital of Togo, Lome is a suprising place.  Because Togo is relatively poor there are many fewer vehicles than in Accra, instead the streets are dominated by motorcycles, or “motos”.  The infrastructure is quite poor, paved main streets are all flanked by secondary streets of sand.   Because of this, Lome feels as much like a beachfront holiday destination as a al capital.  Typical of many capitals of former French colonies, Togo does have lots of style, with great restaurants and grocery stores with lots of good food.   There are also lots of good restaurants  and this was the main focus of our time in Lome.