Week up to the north

Christina (RN from Arizona), Jean (translator) & I took a week vacation up to the north of Togo. So many random TIA (this is Africa) moments, so many good laughs and talks. Definitely a huge highlight of my memories of Togo!

The first day we travelled up to Dapaoung, an all day trip. We finally reached a hotel at 10pm only to find all the lights out and the manager already sleeping. There was just one room left for the 3 of us & at this hour we didn't really have other options. So Jean somehow got to sleep with the hotel manager on a mattress infront of the reception desk. How awesome isn't that :) Christina and I crawled under our 'single' mosquito net in our sunken bed for a great nights rest!

We went to the bar next door for some supper...and they had run out of beer and wine, yes the bar ran out of beer & wine - TIA :)

Watch all those crawly's on the shower floor Christina...oh wait, is the shower actually working? :)

The next day we took zemmies out into the country past many villages, up the mountains to see the cliffs where some locals lived during a war in the 1800's. So fun to ride the zemmies! Togo is beautiful!!!

What? Jean, how did you get to drive the zemmie taxi?

Gate to the cliffs.

Pretty amazing how they coped with living in cliffs - the big oven, etc.

Christina

Amazing view! So beautiful!!

I want my Momma!

Crazy driver Jean! And he's still letting you drive his zemmie?

That night was the 'Miss Togo challenge' in Dapaoung so we hung out watching the challenge and playing cards. At night all the ladies bring out their local brew on the streets. Jean bought some from this lady so we could try it. The bottle is an old Voltic water bottle. This little girl is the daughter of the woman we bought the beer from. So cute! We bought some adamae (kinda like a mashed potato starch) and sauce for supper, with our local beverage. The beer tasted like yeast with something sour in it...I had one sip and had no desire for more :) The next day we headed to Mango to see the ABWE hospital that is being built there. So exciting to see this project! The missionaries there are amazing! One missionary lady took us out on their gator to this lake where hippo's are...we only caught a glimpse of their backs :( These kids were chasing the gator down the road :) When we were getting back to the mission guesthouse I saw a yovo (white person) playing on the soccer field - it was Jens from the ship who had left a few days before! Sooo awesome to meet up with him again! Jeans, Jens, Christina, and I. Our first night in Mango we checked in to the only hotel in town, in the back of this bar there were 2 rooms - 4 CFA per night ($8 USD). The next morning we found out..as the manager was wanting us to check out early, that these rooms were actually rented out by the hour...hence the used condom wrappers outside our door. TIA!!!

Needless to say we were thankful to be able to spend the 2nd night in Mango at the mission guesthouse!

We spent the day carrying bricks at the new hospital, took a tour of the local hospital there,(saw some kids with malaria, snake bites, AIDS, etc.), played some basketball, and stopped by the local police station. Hilarious to find out that people give goats for bail - TIA.

The next day we spent a few hours waiting for a bus to take us to Kpalime. Here's a lady sleeping under the trucks - common here with all the truckers.

Yay, our bus arrived ;)

Don't forget the goat! As we were crammed in the back of the bus, I kinda was pretty surprised to feel something tickling my feet...turns out there were chickens under the seat. So with the goat on top and the chickens under the seat our music consisted of baaa and clucking. TIA.

Another bus/tro tro...crazy! So many rollovers from this. We headed to Kpalime where the next day we headed to the Sisters of Charity mission for our last time spent with them. Other Mercy Shippers met us there. We had a little farewell party - sad to say goodbye.