We had an early start towards the Togo
border. On the way we enjoyed spotting our last amusing Ghanaian
signs. We are sad to be leaving Ghana and would like to have had
more time but we feel that it is right to move on. It is somewhere
that we are just going to have to come back to in the future.
The
border was straightforward and it was an added bonus to discover
that Neil didn't need to pay for a visa. For some reason we
expected crossing into Togo to feel like a step backwards after the
organised feel of Ghana but we were pleasantly surprised. There
were even signs to tell us where to go for all the formalities.
Surprising as it may seem, no other border so far on this continent
has seemed to realise the huge benefit of using signposts to avoid
immense confusion at border crossings.
Chez Alice was only 16km down the straight coastal road. We had
made a plan to meet Kirk, Dale, Christine and Joe here, who we will
be travelling with for the next little while. We had met Kirk and
Dale in the UK and have been looking forward to meeting up with
them. They had kindly bought some great meat and treated us to a
braai on our arrival.
Today was the busiest Monday we have
had in a while. It almost felt like a working day! We all went in
Christine and Joe's car and had a lovely air-conditioned drive in
and around Lome sorting visas. It was all extremely efficient and
hassle free. We managed to get our DRC visa and deliver our
application for Gabon, which will be ready tomorrow.
In the
afternoon we did some grocery shopping in the market. It was very
relaxed with everyone just going about their business and leaving
us to go about ours. African markets are wonderful when this is the
case.
Another busy, if slightly more
frustrating day. Neil and I tackled various car jobs unsuccessfully
but we did finally manage to get Mpudi clean and oil the prop
shafts. N.B. In this case it is most certainly the 'royal we'. We
also managed to get our Gabon visa, politely fending off slightly
back-handed requests for an express fee but we're getting good at
that now.