Lake Togo and Togoville

Lake Togo and Togoville

February 22, 2010

I took a day trip to Lake Togo with a couple of friends on a day off.  We grabbed a taxi, bartered for a price, and took off.  It was a nice sunny day and the warm Togolese breeze felt nice driving down the roads. We drove past the fishing village and took in the sights of the ocean and the people getting ready for their long days of fishing... laying out their nets, repairing holes, chatting.  I have always loved car rides, having the opportunity to view the world and its inhabitants as they slowly pass by. There is such a sense of peace and connectedness felt with each wave, smile, or head nod.

We arrived at the lake and then bargained on a price for the boat ride to Togoville and back.  The boat was already packed with African people ready to go to Togoville for the day, staring at us Yovo's wondering what exactly we are doing. We piled in and agreed to pay on the way back.  The boat ride consisted of all of us sitting in the boat with a man in the back pushing a large stick into the bottom of the lake to propel us forward.  It was a nice, leisurely, and beautiful boat ride.  [As a side note, we could probably have walked across the "lake". We were about halfway across and saw a fisherman standing waste deep in the water. That doesn't mean that I would want to walk across the lake, or that it would be the smartest idea... ]

with our guide

Once we got to Togoville, we were swamped with people who wanted to be our guides of the village.  Our friends who had gone before had told us that a guide was actually very helpful so there weren't just wandering around the village. We again bargained for a good price to pay the guide and were proud of ourselves for decreasing the price by 500 CFA each from what our friends had paid (that's about a dollar each)... :) Off we went around Togoville! Our guide was very patient and waited as we took pictures and tried to understand a mixture of English, Ewe, and French (and the occasional make-shift sign language).

We saw a church with outdoor seating that was added on.  It was bench seating overlooking the lake with beautiful trees around, facing the opposite direction of the church toward a stage-like structure.

male voodoo shrine

female voodoo shrine

 We learned about voodoo in the village and saw voodoo shrines and trees, complete with dead birds at the base which had been used as a sacrifice.  They worship these deities. A month or so ago, we learned about voodoo on the ship and were told about Mami Wata, who is a chief deity, the Queen of Water - she is a powerful spirit here in Togo and resembles the Starbucks logo that we are so used to in the states. Therefore, the logo on the ship is different and does not look like a mermaid so as not to offend anyone.  I will take a picture one of these days and share it.


 We visited a large outdoor market swamped with people, food, and any items you can imagine you'd need to purchase.  One of my friends took a picture without asking first in the market (we are warned against doing this) and was quickly yelled at and the woman demanded money for her picture being taken.  My friend just deleted the photo and we moved on, but we didn't get any more pics at the market! :)  I didn't take any pics there even though I wish I could have! There is no way to describe the mixture of children, animals, fish, fried food, vegetables, toiletries, tires, clothing, etc... Bustling with people, selling their items... sitting on the ground or sitting on stools. Such a sight to see!

The chief of Togoville, Baya Mlapa V

We were also taken to the house of the chief and were told a small amount about the history of Togoville.  Togoville was the first village of Togo, now occupied by approximately 8500 people. It was originally just called "Togo", then the Germans invaded in 1910 and named it "Togostadt" (similar to Togo place/town) until the war when the French took over and it was renamed Togoville and the country was named Togo. We were also told about Pope John Paul II's visit to Togoville and shown pictures. Then we were asked if we brought a gift for the chief (even though we didn't see him, and did not know we would be taken to his house).  For everything we did, we were asked for a tip or gift in addition to the amount we had agreed to pay. They expected this for the tour, for seeing the chief's house, for taking pictures, everything.

We wandered through the village and saw our guide's house where we met his wife and baby.  We walked up a hill a ways where we sat down and had some cool drinks and a snack and headed back down to the water where we parted with our guide, then wandered back to the market for a little bit before meeting our boat to ride back. We found a taxi (eventually) and made it back in time for dinner!

boat ride back to Lome