Living in Togo

I used to live in Togo. I went back a little over a year ago. I was shocked by the difference. I was in Lome at first. This beautiful city I used to know is now a crowded place with motocycles everywhere, very noisy, and dirty. I did not recognize many of the places. I felt lost.
On the other hand, Lome is more vibrant, with businesses and buildings sprouting like wild mushrooms in a crowded field. You'll find internet cafes everywhere with fast access on-line service at reasonable prices. The ATM machines worked fine at one of the banks I tried and the conversion rate was good. It felt like there was a sea of brewing and active underground businesses beneath all the seemingly chaos where people with cash are making more money and the poor remaining poorer still. Lome has greatly expanded to its outer limits.
After Lome, I went to the countryside. I went in all three directions from Lome. (I can't write about all of it here). Not much has changed. At one time, I stayed at a place called Nassogne, a Bed and Breakfast place, a quaint "gite" in French. It's located roughly 20 miles before you reach Palime, on the left as you're coming from Lome. Wow, what a difference! Peaceful, serene, nice service, good food, supernice people. (I'm not associated with this place, I just stayed there). I saw the most beautiful meteor showers at night when I was there. A true "stary night" with all the stars as well that you no longer see in the cities. So it was, just a few miles outside of Lome, you're back in the beautiful African countryside with the baobab trees,the nice country folks, the poverty of the third world with people of great souls living in it. Now, I wanna go back!

P.S. Please, post a comment if you like (or don't like) what I wrote.