Bienvenue à Lome - Premiere post à Togo

I walked into Togo yesterday. It was kinda surreal crossing the border to go to Togo. This was the first time I was in a Francophone African country. Finally. I thought about being in a country whose languages I couldn't speak. Anyway, here is the first part of my experiences in Lome so far. Blogging this from the cheap hotel I am at that has great free-wifi too.

Je suis à Lomé :-) Je suis très heureux. C'est Togo! Jolie Jolie. #team228 #mightyafrican
— Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 14, 2013

I had to post my first tweet in Togo en Français. Oui.

I saw a billboard on one of the main roads in #Lome that looked like it had @deborahvanessa7's picture. Sister Debbie, you go far o! #Togo
— Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 14, 2013

I told the taxi driver this but of course, he had no idea who Sister +Deborah Vanessa was. +Edward Amartey-Tagoe says +Nana Kofi Acquah took a picture of it once. I should search for it since I am not sure I would have time to go check it out properly.

#Togo entrance fees: Getting my passport stamped - 10GhC. Vaccination card - 3GHC. Checking my bag - 4000 Naira. Ayayai!
— Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 14, 2013

I was warned about the fees I'd have to pay to get in Togo but I didn't see these ones coming. See how I even tweeted Naira lol! I must have done so cos some Nigerian ahead of me was not enjoying the fees he had to pay at all. Meant to say 4000 CFA. I gave them a discounted amount in cedis. 

The taxi driver was playing Ghanaian gospel music. I asked him to play something local which he did. He played Africa Hoye by Toofan. #Togo
— Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 14, 2013

I love Ghanaian things. But "C'est Togo!" It took a while for me to recognize a song from the driver's phone playlist. Appropriately, it was Africa Hoye by Toofan. There are mentions of Emmanuel Adebayor and Asamoah Gyan in there.

Went to Pizzeria San Marco in the Residence du Benin in #Lome. This area is like East Legon in Accra. :-) #Togo #Team228
— Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 14, 2013

Bougy in Lome, if you may. Met 3 of the Lome Global Shapers there. I told them I wanted to know where some of the best pizza in Lome is, but I was not going to eat pizza in Lome. I wanted 'hanvi dokpome', etc. +Wilfried Toussiné of +Barcamp Lomé fame came to join us.

I've heard that pussy song by Shatta Wale, Jehovah Most High God, all played at the #Lome Trade Fair tonight.
— Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 14, 2013

Yes, I just wrote the p-word. I heard it way too many times in a Ghanaian song at a Togolese Trade Fair filled with many teenagers. It happens. These same people love Jehovah Most High God and deal with the song personally. Mafikizolo's Khona is a popular in Lome too.

Got a Moov phone number. Using it now in a borrowed phone. "Are you limited? Move to Moov." 097 things. #Lome, #Togo.
— Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 14, 2013

I spent 5000 CFA on this. In hindsight, it's a lot of money. Maybe it was that Moov lady who moved me to do so. But I felt like getting a Togo phone number. I've been able to roam on my Airtel Ghana chip anyway. And +Amen AMOUZOU of +GDG Lomé was lending me a phone. C'est bon!

Ecobank and Bank of Africa have the most customers and income in #Togo.
— Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 15, 2013

I asked Wilfried particularly about this. Thought you might want to know.

#Togocel and #Moov (Etisalat Togo) have the most subscribers and income of telecom networks in #Togo.
— Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 15, 2013

I asked Wilfried particularly about this. You would have googled it? D'accord.

I know how to say "I'm hungry" in French. "J'ai faim!" For dinner yesterday, I had akpan, fried plantain, tilapia, and mayonnaise was used as sauce, in addition to pepper with Wilfried & Amen. The chop-bar didn't have bissap and I don't exactly drink beer I don't know about. So I drank some wine. Lome has huge coke bottles! And not much traffic. Next time, I go bring the #vimride. I met Wilfried's friend Rachel who'd stayed in Ghana for 2 years and could speak better English and even some Twi. I practiced my French with them. Je parle Français un peu. I'm getting better. With Google Translate and all :-)