Leaving Benin

Farewell to Mere, Roger, and Matthieu

We had an emotional farewell with three of my old friends sending us off at the bus station. I spent much of the bus ride to Benin's biggest city, Cotonou, reflecting on my good fortune to have found so many friends still alive, faring well, and honoring me with their ongoing warm friendship. How gratifying this return visit has been.

Upon getting off the bus in Cotonou we were met by Evariste, who was a young boy living next door to the house in Parakou that I lived in before moving out to Thian. Fun to get to know him now as an adult. Evariste showed us around Cotonou for two days, driving us everywhere. Like Parakou, this city has grown enormously since I left here in 1989.

Vendors crowding our Cotonou bound bus

We then headed back into Togo, this time along the coast, to the capital, Lome. We've read that Governmental mismanagement and corruption has kept Togo from prospering as much as it's neighbors over the past two decades, as this was evident in Lome, which did not have the sparkle I had associated with it in my memory.

- John

Evariste

Our taxi ride from Cotonou to Lomé was terrible! Evariste dismissed any idea of us taking a bus to Lomé. He said that it was such a short ride that we should take a taxi. From our taxi, we were wishing that we had not listened to Evariste and that we were on the nice comfortable buses that were passing us.

For long taxi rides, you don’t get your own car unless you pay for all the possible seats in the vehicle. The taxi driver puts more passengers than there are seats in the car before leaving. Our taxi was way too small. There were six of us in this beat up sedan for six hours. Two people were squished into the front passenger seat. The car smelled like gas. There were at least 5 mystery stops along with way. The driver ignored our questions about what was happening when he was inching up to police checkpoints at about two miles per hour for no apparent reason. It was an unpleasant ride and unpleasant ending when the driver tried to get more money out of us than we had agreed to.
- Brook

A Memorable First: I Drove a Motorcycle!

One of the highlights for me in West Africa was learning how to ride a motorcycle. Starting in Ghana, we began taking moto taxis to get around. It was the first time in my life that I had been on a motorcycle and I really enjoyed it. We took even more moto taxis in Togo and Benin than in Ghana. After riding my bike across West Africa, it was exhilarating to be able to go fast without any effort.

Roger, my dad's friend from Peace Corps Benin who he hadn't seen in 22 years, treated me like a king. All my Dad had to do was mention my interest in learning how to drive a motorcycle and he set up a lesson for me.

Roger's nephew, Patrice was my instructor. Since the Beninese people speak French, I was lucky he spoke some English. So when we were out of my dad's listening range he could still tell me if I was doing anything wrong. The motorcycle I learned on looked more like a modern scooter and it didn't have a clutch. This made it a lot easier to learn on. At first I rode on the back so Patrice could show me what to do and then we switched so he was on the back to tell me if I was doing something wrong. The first time around as a driver was especially exhilarating. Then when Patrice was satisfied that I wouldn't mess up, I got to ride around on my own.

I felt lucky to be able to do something that I know I won't be able to do at home for a long time. I nonetheless hope to ride again soon somehow.

- Brook

West African Transportation

Inside a tro tro

Tro Tros

Tro tros are amazing and horrible at the same time.  It’s amazing that those vans are still running.  The ceilings are missing, the seats can be falling in or missing a back, and some of the doors don’t open.  Sometimes the rear hatch is tied shut with rope, either because the latch no longer works or because of way too much luggage.  It’s horrible because there are way too many people in a hot, confined space and there’s no air conditioning.  They pack people in, four across where we would only squeeze in three.  The seat belts don’t work.  For long trips from stations, they wait to leave until every nook and cranny is full.  And there’s so much luggage or freight, that it is piled up super high on the roof, making the vehicle top heavy. We have even seen one with two cows on top!  Then they have to drive on some pretty rough, potholed, muddy, and neglected roads.

Taxis

Almost anywhere in Ghana you will find a fair amount more taxis than personal cars, yet in Benin and Togo there are barely any. The taxis can very a lot. They range from some that are falling apart and smell horrible to some that are almost brand new and really comfortable (although that doesn't happen very often). Almost every time you take a taxi you have to argue with driver about the price before you get in.

Motorcycles

Motorcycles or motos are what they use instead of taxis in Benin and Togo. Motos are also called zemidjans or zems by the Africans. With motos the price is pretty much fixed depending on how far you are going. They're almost always cheaper than a taxi. You can get across a city for less than a dollar. We would take two motos for three of us plus two drivers but the locals would take one with a  family our size and a lot of stuff. The most loaded moto that I saw had a live cow on the back!

- Brook

Joyful Reunion

There is a lot to say about my long anticipated return to the city and nearby village where I lived and worked in my twenties. Eydie, Brook and I each wrote about our own experiences of the fantastic week spent here...

Djougou to N'Dali

We completed the 130 km ride today from Djougou to N’Dali, by far our longest of the trip.  It was quite tiring.  Eleven hours of riding.  Lots of remote country and villages that have clearly seen few white people passing through, much less on bicycle.  Tons of attention, lots of cries of batooray! (the Bariba term for white person).  Stopping to eat a rice & bean morning meal, we had over 50 people gathered to stare at us while we ate.  Brook was particularly uncomfortable with this attention.  To me it just felt like old times.

Tomorrow’s destination: the city of Parakou, where I worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer for three years, training people to build fuel efficient mud stoves for themselves, and raising trees in a tiny nursery at my home village.

Ever since we decided to return to Parakou when planning our trip, I was unsure of whether it would be a positive or depressing experience.  Google Earth images of the city made it clear that the city had grown considerably.  I didn’t recognize much and couldn’t locate Thian, the village where I lived a few miles outside Parakou’s outskirts.  Had Thian been swallowed up in the city’s growth? Will the intimate Bariba village feeling have gone, its residents replaced by independent, suburban dwellers who all speak French? 

Will my old house still be there to see?  I had worked to make that house comfortable and grew fond of it, despite its lack of electricity and running water.  Not long before leaving this house in 1989, I carefully planted one of the seedlings of the flamboyant tree beside it.  The flamboyant is a favorite tree of mine.  I hope to find the planted tree there as I’ve envisioned it, full size, canopy shaped, providing shade to the south side terrace and entrance to the house.

Would I be able to find any of my old friends?  After 22 years, it’s likely that some will have died, some will have moved to other cities to pursue employment or be with family members.  Those that I might succeed in finding – would they be upset with me for being out of touch all this time?  Will their livelihoods have changed for the worse?  Would they expect my financial help?  Would they treat me as warmly as they once did?

- John

Natitingou to Djougou

The ride to Djougou was long but relatively uneventful.  We did come across a Peace Corps volunteer teacher who asked a lot of questions about Peace Corps Benin in the late ‘80’s.  Tomorrow’s bike ride is long enough, 130 km, to merit breaking it up into two days.  However, there are no auberges along the way.  We are prepared to sleep under the stars or knock on someone’s door in a village for shelter.  Brook made it crystal clear that he strongly prefers to take a rest day and ride the entire distance in one day.  So after a family pow-wow, we have agreed to his plan.

- Eydie and John

Safari in Pendjari

Yesterday we went on a safari in Pendjari National Park and saw a lot of animals including a lion, two elephants, and whole lot of species of antelope and birds. On our way to lunch the road went through a lot of swollen streams. Stuck in the middle of a deeper one was a truck that was deserted other than two women sitting in airplane chairs on the roof with their guide nowhere to be seen. After talking to the women, our guides decided that they were going to get in the water and push the car out. They succeeded in doing this for about five feet before putting a rock under the wheel and using our car to push the other car out backwards. The women had to do the rest of the safari with us while the guide tried to fix his water logged engine.
- Brook

Natitingou, Benin

Enjoying street food

We've met some very cool Peace Corps Benin volunteers here in Natitingou at their "work station" -- a comfortable place to meet up, get a good internet connection, get some online work done, etc.  The work station concept didn't exist when I was a volunteer in this country.  The volunteer in charge of the station graciously invited us to stay here, in his apartment.  We're spending a few days here in what has been our favorite town thus far, taking care of stuff like getting a data SIM card cut down to fit into our Ipad for 3G internet access while in Benin.
 - John

Making friends

Tata Tour on the Togo - Benin Border

We rode from Kante, Togo to Boukoumbe, Benin. The road was sandy so it was slow going and tiring. When we finally got close to the border, we stopped in Nadoba and made our way to the market for something to eat. While we were parking our bikes, Dad started talking to a teacher, Sylvan, who spoke very good French and a good amount of English. Sylvan works in Natitingou, Benin and was visiting his family in Nadoba. He helped us navigate the market and took us on a tour of a tata.

Tatas are the castle-like homes that people in Northern Togo and Benin live in. Long ago the tatas were built to protect the people from the invading southern tribes. The Somba tribes defended themselves against the Fon people by building these mini castle-like homes made with banco, which is an adobe-like material. Originally, animals were kept on the first floor. The second floor was used for cooking. People slept outside on the roof or in an enclosed area. There is a silo shaped area for storing grain with a palm thatch removable roof. In the tatas they use one thick branch with a Y at the end and notches all the way up as a ladder to get from floor to floor and up to the roof. There were voodoo fetish statues in the yards.

On the roof,  learning about Tata features

Voodoo fetish statues

After the tata tour, we made it across the Togo border to Boukoumbe, Benin. Exhausted, we looked around town and couldn't find anything that resembled an auberge (guest house). We had a cold drink, saw a four wheel drive vehicle parked outside the bar, and asked if the driver would take us and our bikes to Natitingou. A stroke of luck and within an hour we were on our way to Natitingou!
- Brook and Eydie

Truck Accidents (Atakpame - Kara - Kante)

Our bikes being loaded onto a bush taxi

Togo’s arterial “highway” from Atakpame to Kara is too busy, pot-holed, and unsafe to bike, so we took a bush taxi for these 255 km, with our bikes on top.  

We got stuck in traffic behind two crashed trucks.  While waiting on the road for an hour we met Peace Corps volunteers and their visiting parents.  This was helpful for a Kara hotel recommendation and for learning of a volunteer, Mary, in the town of Kante, where we were heading.

Togo's principal road at a standstill

The next day in Kara, we had Eydie’s bike fixed.  The mechanic did that well but messed up John’s wheel, even though John didn’t ask to have his wheel repaired.  He had to release his rear brake in order to ride.

Pitiable, marooned driver and his protected cargo

Descending a mountain to Kante we saw where three trucks had collided and one still remained.  We asked a man on the roadside about the accident and discovered that he was the driver of the remaining truck (see photo).  He was staying there with the truck, ensuring the security of the cargo, waiting for his boss to release or relieve him, meanwhile relying on passersby for assistance.  Here's the amazing part: he had been there since the accident occurred three weeks ago!!!  ...Only in Africa!

We met Mary, the Peace Corps volunteer in Kante, and she invited us to stay at her house.  We got John’s bike fixed again and this time the wheel stayed true.  Brook enjoyed riding our bikes around Kante; the roads were more like trails. 

Monastery & Mountain Biking (Kpalime - Dzobegan - Atakpame)

End of the "road" from Dzobegan behind us

Yesterday we biked up into the mountains, which were way bigger than we thought they were going to be.  We were exhausted when we finally got to the monastery where we stayed.  I didn't like staying there.  It was too quiet and serious, and dinner was too late.

This morning when we were trying to figure out the right direction to  go we asked a person which route to take and we ended up having 16 people, two dogs, and five goats all crowded around us to figure out which direction to go!  The "road" that we chose was more of a mountain bike trail than a road and it took us a lot longer than we were expecting.  The ride was pretty hairy with all the stuff we were carrying. All the jolting bumps on the trail caused Dad to lose the screw holding his bike rack on. Luckily we had a spare screw to secure it again.

Once we were out of the mountains and on the main road I was tired and we started looking for a vehicle that could take us and our bikes to Atakpame.  After riding about half way, we finally found a person with a pickup truck that was willing to drive us there.  Good thing!  The road from that point on was terrible and most of the drive was in the dark.  

- Brook

Robbery and Zany Moto Taxis (Kpalime, Togo)

First thing this morning, Eydie discovered that the credit and bank cards in her wallet were in disarray and $200 in cash was missing.  We quickly recalled that we had left the wallet-holding bag in the back seat of the truck when we had our passports stamped at the tiny Ghana border station.  There was the cousin of a friend of Tony, our trusty driver and owner of the Mountain Paradise Lodge, who remained in the front seat of the truck when we went over to the counter.  He must have reached back to access the bag and returned it without our noticing.  Although we're happy that we had only $200 in there, and that he did not take any cards, it still feels violating to be robbed.  

Today we checked out the market here, successfully retrieved Brook's passport back at the Togo border station, sought shelter from a heavy passing rain storm, and shopped around for a new cell phone and a universal USB modem for our laptop.  This was a comedy, as it took multiple trips on moto taxis (me on one, Eydie and Brook on another), darting about the city from one shop to the next.  Motorcycle taxis are everywhere, and extremely inexpensive here.  The first shop would say "No, we don't have what you're after, try this or that other shop," and on and on the succession would go.  We could not help but laugh as the wild goose chase progressed.  We must have taken at least ten separate, short trips, which Brook especially enjoyed.  Adding to the zaniness of the experience was having to conduct all of it in French, greatly challenging my computer and cell phone related vocabulary!

- John

Visa Troubles; Entering Togo; Rusty French

Yesterday we discovered that the border crossing we were planning to use to enter Togo is not one where they can issue entry visas.  Woops!  We should have gotten our visas at the embassy in Accra.  So we’ve adjusted our route already, just two days into the biking.  Today’s journey: bike just over 60 km from Wli to Fume, catch a ride to the Togo border, bike another 10 km to the city of Kpalime, Togo, navigate the city on bike and find a hotel.  
On the Togo side of the border the sole officer present only had enough passport stamps (very similar to postage stamps) for issuing two visas, not three.  So he held onto Brook's passport and told us to come back tomorrow!  We had no choice, so we'll go back tomorrow and hope the passport is still there.  

It has been an exhausting day.  We’re each so glad to have a hot shower for a change and a great French restaurant right here at the hotel.  My first day back in francophone Africa in decades, and I have to converse with actual Frenchmen – zut, alors!  Trial by fire!
- John

Wli Falls

Today we learned that we are not going to get over the border to Togo where we intended to because because that small border post does not issue entry visas.

We hiked to lower Wli falls with a guide named Alfred who taught us about local plants.  For example, the palm tree has many uses such as making brooms, mats, roofing, palm oil, palm wine, fire fuel.  Each pineapple plant grows just one fruit in its life.  You plant the top again to create another fruit.  Alfred found some cola nuts in the forest.  The coating of the nuts is sweet, but the nut itself is really bitter and turns your teeth red.  Mom and Dad tried it and hated it.  People chew cola nuts as a stimulant, for its caffeine.

Wli waterfall is really impressive and huge, over 400 meters high, separated into two sections.  It should probably be called two different falls, since there’s a pool in between them.  Dad and I swam in the lower pool.  The falls created waves and generated wind. As we got closer the mist was blown into our faces and it hurt.

We moved to a different hotel that had a spectacular view of the mountains and the upper waterfall, but the hut we slept in was super damp, and our washed clothes didn’t dry over the course of a full day.
- Brook and Eydie

Our guide Alfred

Our Bike Adventure Begins (Hohue to Wli, Ghana)

Happy to begin our 3 country bike journey

Today we bought more items for the bike journey and finally started our riding adventure at 3:45.  But we headed off in the wrong direction, so we lost another 20 minutes getting back to the correct road, toward the village of Wli (pronounced “vlee”).  It was a two hour hilly ride that started off hot but cooled down as it got late in the day.  About half way to Wli we got a good look at the big mountains by the Togo border that we will be riding in in the coming days.  Although there were tiny ants on the floor, it was a nice hotel in Wli with great food, such as wild mushroom soup!
- Brook and Eydie

Today we completed our preparations for our bike trip and after much anticipation, began our three-nation bike journey!  It felt really good to finally hit the road.  Once it cooled down in the early evening it was very enjoyable riding, just as the scenery also became gorgeous.  I  enjoyed real salad and red red for dinner.

- John

Weird bush at our guest house

Undies for sale in the Hohue market

Bike shop owner and mechanics
with whom we spent many hours

Mountain Paradise

Tasting the pulp inside cocoa pods

We went on a three-hour jungle hike to a gorge and two waterfalls.  It was awesome.  All around us were avocado, banana, cocoa, mahogany, and paw paw (or papaya) trees.  Along the way, our guide let me use his machete to chop vegetation away.  That was really cool.

In some places we had to hold onto ropes because it was so steep.  In the gorge bottom Dad and I stepped across the stream holding onto a vine that had grown across.  In one spot we had to step down while holding a rope with both hands, facing the rock.  We swam across a pool and got to go behind the waterfall. 

We took a tro tro back to Hohue for the night, where we left our bikes, so we can start our bike trip tomorrow.

- Brook

Vine assisted stream crossing

Jungle fun

Machete practice

Coffee beans

Taxi Trouble

From Chris’ house we took another motorcycle, or moto, taxi to the village of Fume.  It was awesome!  Then we took a taxi up a long, bumpy road, to a high mountain town named Amedzope.  It reminded me of the 4WD road into Moab last month.  When we arrived, my dad and the taxi driver had a major disagreement about the price, which they had negotiated at the beginning.  Luckily for us, the hotel manager was really nice and he acted as a mediator and translator, for the driver gave up on speaking English with us, or even looking directly at us.  In the end, the driver left well paid from Dad's perspective but still quite angry.  It was another reminder of the importance of clearly agreeing to a taxi fare before getting in the vehicle!

We were thoroughly disappointed with the hotel in Amedzope.  Their web site had raised our expectations pretty high.  We decided to head back down and go check out Mountain Paradise Lodge, which we could see from the ridge top hotel.  It turned out to be a very good choice.  We like it here.  Good views and much better feeling.

- Brook, with help from dad

Kente Weaving

Last night we stayed with Chris Adams, a Peace Corps volunteer in Tafi Abuipe. The village is known for it's kente weaving. Generally, the young men weave in their back yard. They use a lot of bright colors in their weaving - pink, orange, gold. I enjoyed watching the patterns appear. It looked frenetic because they were weaving fast and they would shake the shuttle every time before passing it through the warp. It was mesmerizing to watch, somewhat like watching a fire.  - Brook

Monkeys, Monkeys Yay!



Tafi Atome monkey sanctuary

Today we went to the monkey sanctuary and the monkeys would jump up onto your hand where you hold a banana out and they peel it and eat it right there on your arm. While one monkey is eating another will jump up and push the other off and start eating really fast so they get every thing that’s left of the banana. If the monkey can’t jump directly from the ground to your hand they just use another person as a step stool. Once we were out of bananas the monkeys started playing and wrestling and climbing and jumping from one tree to another. The monkey’s feet are like our hands. They are Mona monkeys at the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. They think that the monkeys are protected by the gods. That’s why there is a sanctuary protecting them.  - Brook

Mona monkey

Bamboo Bikes

Today we went and saw some bamboo bikes and where they are built.  The bikes are made in a shack that doesn’t look any different from the places people live.  The bikes are made from pieces of bamboo held together with rope soaked in epoxy that hardens and holds the bike together.  Once they are made the bikes are shipped to America and Europe.  This is really sad because none of the African people get to ride them.  Once in the US a Bamboosero mountain bike sells for fifty-four hundred dollars!  - Brook

Peace Corps Ghana

The Peace Corps Ghana office was an unimpressive building in an out of the way place that appeared to be labeled as the Cote d’Ivoire ambassador’s house.  Upon arriving at the office we were not even allowed to get inside the walled compound.  The security people appeared to be brainless.  My dad was disappointed with the lack of warmth that we received from them.  He said it was so different when he was in Peace Corps 25 years ago.  We were told to come back at five o clock.  We went to a market in the "tro tro" or bus station nearby and ate a really yummy mango that was peeled and cut without being touched.  The woman used plastic bags to avoiding touching the fruit.  When we returned to the security shack at the Peace Corps office the security woman wouldn’t let us in because they closed at five and had to be persuaded to call the man that we thought we had established an appointment with.  Despite the hassle, while waiting in the security shack, we met a current Peace Corps volunteer and her sister who shared a lot of advice on places to go and gave us the names of several other volunteers around the country.  This was exactly what we hoped to accomplish.
- Brook & Eydie