We set off from Accra towards Togo. After a rather long border crossing (surprisingly large, with no signs indicating which building was which), we finally arrived in Lomé, the capital. We really liked that the main road into the city runs along the coast the entire way. We didn’t see many street vendors in Lomé, so Anna invited us out for a belated birthday dinner—we had delicious pizza and real Italian gelato. In the evening, we went for a walk and ended up in a very charming spot: next to a gas station, a girl was selling cocktails—both alcoholic and non-alcoholic—from a small booth, and the station guards even brought out chairs for us.

Lomé lies right on the Ghanaian border, and at first glance, it felt very peaceful—it didn’t give off a big-city vibe at all. I went for a run in the morning. The neighborhood had a lot of wealthier houses, but all the roads were small dirt paths, and children were already heading to school at 7 a.m.—the city felt more like a village.

We decided not to stay another night in Lomé but to drive on to Kpalimé instead. Before that, though, we wanted to visit Aného, a small coastal town about an hour from Lomé, near the Benin border. (The country is that narrow—it takes just 1 to 1.5 hours to cross it.)

We didn’t have internet access at the time, so we chose our route based on the map. The N1 looked like a good option—after all, it’s the country’s main road, so it should be easy to drive on, we thought. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case: the N1 runs right through Lomé’s central market, where we could barely move at walking speed—or not at all. Vendors had to constantly move their goods out of the way so we—and the few taxis that had also entered—could get through. It took us over an hour to cover the roughly one-kilometer stretch. Many people helped us, but the whole experience was very stressful.

As a result, we fell a bit behind schedule and only made it as far as Agbodrafo, which lies between Lake Togo on one side and the ocean on the other. On the shores of Lake Togo sits Togoville, a town known both for its church and its voodoo traditions. It is the only place in the world where a pope has visited and accepted an animist ceremony. (Voodoo is still widely practiced in most parts of Togo, often blended with Christianity or Islam—we’ll write more about this later.)

We visited the lake, had lunch, and then went down to the beach. Even there—and in the little alleys leading back from the beach—art was everywhere: fascinating sculptures and murals adorned the area, which we really loved.

What struck us most about Togo was its overall sense of calm. Although French is the main language of communication, surprisingly many people speak English too, and everyone is incredibly friendly and eager to talk to us. We were really looking forward to seeing what else this country had in store for us.