Spring Break, Day 3

Tuesday, March 12

Tania, Rachel, and I decided that this day was officially "Life Doesn't Make Sense"/"Miscommunication" Day. This is the day things started getting weirder and weirder.

I woke up on the sand when the sun came up. I really have no idea how much sleep I got that night. It seemed like the whole night I was in a half-awake/half-asleep state. Either way, I felt great. The three of us swam for about an hour, enjoying the morning waves. Then we had a nice breakfast, omelettes, baguettes, and coffee. (It seems like this is a staple breakfast in Togo). We told Tony, the guy who worked at the place and slept outside of our fence, that we were going to Kpalimé (the 'K' is silent - it makes the 'P' more explosive). He went and got some coconuts, filled our bottles with coconut water, and then gave us three coconuts to give to a friend of his in Kpalimé, Francois. We had no objections, and the guy was really nice, so we took the coconuts to make sure we got them to François.

And then came the first bit of miscommunication. We flagged down a taxi and he told us he would take us to the Kpalimé station for 2000 CFA or he would take us to Kpalimé for 9000 CFA. The second option was much more appealing, and probably wouldn't cost anymore, so we said ok. What does he do? He takes us straight to the station and then tells us that he changed his mind, he doesn't want to go to Kpalimé. So we had to buy tickets for a tro-tro which is so much less comfortable than a cab. The tro-tro was taking a really long time to fill up. You see, the only way the drivers can make money is if they stuff the tro-tro with as many people possible. They don't have leaving times, they just leave when they fill up with people. If not enough people come for a few hours, you'll still be there waiting. We got impatient, so went and got our money back for the tickets. I felt bad for abadoning the others who were waiting, but people were just not coming. So we took a cab and paid way too much, but whatever, we got there.

We were running low on cash, so we asked the driver if he would take us to an ATM. He told us that he would take us to the one in Kpalimé. Sounded good to us. A little over two hours later, when we arrived in Kpalimé, we asked the driver the ATM and he told us, "Oh, there's no ATM in Kpalimé, and the bank's closed." Miscommunication number two. So he wanted to know where to take us and we told him Adetop because that's where Francois is. He told us he would take us for 1000 CFA instead of taking us to the station and making us get another taxi. So we agreed. And then, I kid you not, he drives for about one minute, maybe less, and then drops us off and wants the 1000 CFA for that extra 100 ft. So we told him we didn't think we should pay because he should've told us it was so ridiculously close to where we were at the moment. There was a whole big argument which was pretty much just Tania and the driver since Rachel and I don't speak French, and then he just drove off.

So we were at Adetop and we asked about François. A very old man told us to wait inside the fence of the place for François. We were confused because the old man didn't mention anything where François was or when he would be back. So we sat around waiting to give François his coconuts for what seems like forever, venting our frustration and life and why nothing made sense, and then a French guy with long blond braids named Sebastian came in. He gave us some grapefruit juice and told us (well, Tania) that he and François are working on a reforestation project in the area. He had this aura about him, a very glowing one... Anyway, we talked for a while and then we asked if we should wait for François. He went to ask someone and came back about 10 minutes later and told us he would be back in about 30 minutes (which never means 30 minutes here) and that we should wait.

Well, we were tired of waiting for so long, so we left the coconuts with a note. We found out about a little village 12km from Kpalimé called Kumakonda that had a place to stay and good hiking. We flagged down some zemidjans (because we had no other option) and took the most amazing motorcycle ride up the mountain. Everything was so green and beautiful. There were times when I got great views of the land below. There was this one spot, this one corner we turned, at which instantly the air changed from hot, humid, sticky tropics to cool, refreshing mountain air. We all talked about that spot right after we got off, so I know it wasn't my imagination. I was a little worried about riding a motorcycle up a mountain road given the conditions of roads in Ghana, but in Togo, the roads are really nice, even the less traveled ones. It's amazing the difference that high-quality roads make.

In Kumakonda, we stayed at the Auberge de Papillons. Then came the next miscommunication. As soon as we got there, I was starving. Rachel wasn't really hungry, and Tania was kind of hungry. Since it was so close to dinner, we asked for a light snack so that we'd be hungry later. They tell us they can make us rice and vegetables. Tania and Rachel tell them they don't want any rice, and I tell them I do. So they bring all three of us huge plates of rice and vegetables. It was seriously more rice than I would ever eat, not at all a light snack. It was pretty funny, though, and the rice was awesome. We went for a two-hour walk down a dirt road on the mountain, just checking out the scenery and greeting everyone going the opposite direction.

When we got back, we sat around talking with a Dutch man named William that we met. He was a interesting man... I felt like I instantly knew him because he looked like a hiker, which basically meant he looked homeless, but hikers are usually happy. At night, I had grilled fish (probably the second best grilled fish I've ever had, next to the fish I had the night before), vegetables, avacado, and a banana. We checked out some of the stuff that had at Auberge de Papillons. They had an amazing insect collection filled with tons of butterflies and little critters. They also had lots of paintings of the owner's up. He makes paints from the plants in the forest and makes beautiful images with them. There was also a live scorpion and a few drums.

It became clear to us that the three guys working at the hotel weren't going to go to bed or leave our presence until we went to bed. So we told them we were going to bed and headed into our room. We came out after about 30 minutes and immediately the guys just popped up and came outside to stand by us. It was funny to us, but at the same time not. I feel awkward telling people not to crowd my space... here, it's a pretty normal thing to crowd people's space. Everyone lives so publically that privacy sometimes is a something that must be paid for. So after a few minutes, we went back into the room to make a plan. We decided to sneak out of our room without anyone hearing and then we'd sneak out of the hotel. It was so silly. I felt like I was in middle school again, sneaking out in the middle of the night, making sure I'm not discovered. We knew we couldn't hang out in the village because that would just bring about more people, so we snuck out and started walking down a little dirt road. Some guys came along and so then we all squatted down so that maybe they wouldn't see us. The whole moment was so funnny... three villagers with flashlights walking along and then us three obrunis squatting like were taking a dump to hide from them.

Eventually we sat down and started talking quietly. The whole while this baby goat kept making these crazy noises that almost sounded human. We all began discussing what animals we were in past lives. I was definitely a mountain goat, wandering through mountains eating anything I can find and just having fun being a goat. Tania was a dolphin and Rachel was an owl (although I think she could be a peacock as well). Then we took out some incense and had an incense party (which means we lit them and moved them around really fast to make cool designs). Then we layed down and looked at the stars... the sky was so big. I felt like I was seeing more of it than I had ever seen before. We almost fell asleep out there, but instead we snuck back into the hotel, tested out the different mattresses, and slept like a friggin' log.