A Feth's Perspective on Life: No Go on Togo

We arrived at the Aflao bus station in the centre of Accra on Friday about an hour before our bus was scheduled to depart for Togo. As we waited, Brian tried calling the hotel to arrange for a ride from Lome as we would be arriving after dark but was unable to get a clear connection. We figured we'd try calling sometime along the way.

Before our expected long journey on a non-air conditioned bus promising few stops, I looked around for a toilet. I found the entrance to a concrete rectangular enclosure with the men's area on the right and the women's on the left. Lining the inner wall was a trench people used to urinate openly. If the trench wasn't for you the only other option was a small open room located in the center where you had to squat into a smaller trench. The room was fortunately sectioned into two by a wall, females on one side, males on the other. Ugh.....I chose the small room. Just as I was about to use the facilities, a woman walked through the open doorway, I shouted "Just a minute!" She looked at me funny, proceeded to hike up her skirt and squatted right next to me. "Oh" I said. I get it. What an experience....

We had some time to kill so we walked around the market that surrounded the station. The market, named Makola, is one of the busiest most jam packed markets in the city. We witnessed a shouting match between two women over what seemed to be the usage of water. Booths upon booths were full of clothes (most likely sent from the US and other Western countries) where people were trying to entice us to have a look. Men grabbed at my arm and one shook my hand for awkwardly too long. We made a loop and were back waiting for our ride.

By now, the time was 2:30pm (our scheduled departure time) and still no bus. Banking on Africa time we waited a while longer. Finally, 3pm rolls around, so Brian inquires with the ticket clerk when we should expect the bus for Aflao to arrive and she conveys that the bus 'is finished'. Translation = the bus has broken down and there will be no more buses to Togo for today. We get a refund for our tickets and mull over our other options. That was the last bus to Togo and it would be way too expensive to hire a taxi. So Togo 'was finished'.

We grabbed a taxi near the station entrance and headed back to Airport Residential. It was a lovely day with a bright blue sky, shreds of clouds and the hot sun. A perfect day for a drive to Togo one might say but a drive through Accra would have to do. The traffic is always horrific on Fridays so we sat for some time behind a line of cars competing to get on the main road. On our journey home Brian took pictures of interesting signs, shops and people. Ghana never ceases to amaze us with it's natural beauty yet poverty stricken contrasts. We saw a young girl on the sidewalk dressed in something like a potato sack. Signs in red screaming NO URINATE FINE were marked all along a strip of grey wall in the city centre. A water tanker wound through the streets impatiently ready to make its delivery.

The rest of Friday proved to be relaxing as we read and watched movies. Saturday amounted to nothing more than a lazy day in the comforts of our sweet Volta Lodge nest. Sunday we finally got our act together and went to the National Museum in Accra. It was informational but seriously lacked the resources it needed to fully provide a memorable experience. We walked from the museum to the National Theatre, a lovely opera house built by the Chinese in the early 90's, and grabbed a drink. We ended up in Osu for dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant called Haveli and then it was back home for a Skype call with Bill, Amelia and the kids.

We'll try another attempt at catching a bus to Togo this coming weekend that hopefully won't result in anything being 'finished'.

A man pounding fufu near the bus station