My arrival in Africa is not one I will not soon forget. I think the impact of the experience was magnified by my coming straight from Euroupe, arriving as I did in a new place without having fully processed the last. It is definitely advisible to give yourself processing or down time when traveling, and this was a time when I was definitely lacking in that, though I knew full well what I was getting myself into with this non-stop travel business. The last stop in Europe for me was Barcelona. I had prepared almost everything I needed for Africa before I got there so I would have time to enjoy the city. That I did, but energetic sightseeing combined with an extremely inconveniant flight time meant I was more than a bit tired when my plane landed in Accra, Ghana. Luckily there were two volunteer coodinators from STAESA, the organization that set up my volunteer placement, there to meet me at the airport.
When I walked out the airport doors I was greeted by a crowd of people held back by temporary fences, all waiting for their arrivees. I thought it would be easy to find the ones I was looking for since they would holding a sign with my name on it, but there seemed to be dozens of people holding signs and shouting the names of the people they were looking for. I found my coodinators, however, and we caught a taxi to the local Salvation Army, which had a sort of youth hostel set-up and where we spent the night.
The next day we went to get my visa for Togo (for travel to Benin). Accra on little sleep can be a little overwhelming! Streets full of vendors, taxis, mini buses, pedestrians, busy marktets... in three words I would say busy, hot, and loud. After I got my visa for Togo I traveled with Mr. Akakpo, one of the STAESA coordinators, to his place in Lomé, Togo, and stayed there for a few days untill I could get my Benin visa. I got a good rush from my first "moto" (motorcycle) taxi ride from the Togo/Ghana border to Mr. Akakpo's place, tho I was slightly worried about falling off the back because I was wearing my full backpack. Probably not the safest way to get around since you never wear helmets, but affordable and practicle in Lomé, Lokossa, and many African towns and cities where dirt and pot-hole filled roads make driving a car difficult.
I attended my first African church servie in Lomé, which was much more lively and colourful than anything I've seen at home. I had a chance to recover and relax a little in Lomé, but I was still happy to finally arrive in Lokossa. At around 10 000 people it is a more manageable size than Lomé or Accra. My host family, the D'almeidas, have a relatively nice place with many trees in their front yard. For someone from the green "wet coast" of Canada it was a relief to see some greenery after the dusty streets of Lomé and Accra. The following photos are of the front of the house, and the back yard/kitchen area, as well as my room and the street I live on.
Hurrah! I got one photo up! ... and that's all for photos today. But now that I know that I have to go online at non-peak hours, only load one photo at a time, and be really patient, there will be more on the way.
Anyway... I was also happy to discover that there is a track near by that I can run at. A dirt track but a track no less. I will post pictures of that too as soon as I can get them working.
In general I have been settling in fairly well here, the hardest thing to get used to is the heat, but even that doesn't seems as intense anymore. People I meet are often eager to get to know me - there aren't many white people in this area so I stand out quite a bit. I must be going... but I will continue on my quest to get pictures up!
Greetings from Africa,
-Carla
1 comment:
Thanks alot for the great post
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