Picketpockets take a flying elbow to the ribcage!

I am in Togo West Africa for the second time, (last time was for about 6 months in 2004), and I had never encountered anybody with intentions of stealing from me or hurting me. All that changed today as we were walking through the Grande Marche in the capital city of Lome.

My wife was following behind me as we walked peacefully. I jostled through a slighly busier section when suddenly BAM, my wife throws her elbow into this guy's chest and starts yelling at him. She saw him reach into my pocket and before he could pull anything out she intercepted him.

My wife the superhero. Since the name "Wonder-Woman" is already taken, I'm now going to refer to her as "Great-Girl".

Apparently what happens in the market is a group of guys will swarm you so that you are crowded on all sides, and while you are distracted one of them will pick your pocket. (but not with Great-Girl on the lookout .... KA-POW)

When slow is better than fast

We just came off a whirlwind tour of Ghana. We visited Accra, Cape Coast, Elmina, and Kumasi. We did all of that in just under a week, covering probably 1000 to 1500 km of ground. Now, that might not be too much in Canada, but in Ghana many of the roads are soooo bad that you are only moving about 20 km per hour.

I don't think I would recommend that, as the appeal of Africa is less about it's sights, and more about it's culture.

Since we arrived in Togo a few days ago, we have been taking it very slow and soaking it all in, which is a much better way to go. It takes time to get to know the people. So, that is when slow is better than fast.

On the other hand, internet connections are painfully slow. Add that to the fact the keyboards here in Togo use a different layout (AZERTY vs QWERTY), and typing out a simple blog post becomes quite a painfull affair. This itty bitty post you are reading just took me 30 minutes to write... meanwhile I think my lunch isn't agreeing with me so I gotta jet!

Africa: Things I remembered, things I forgot

A few years ago I spent 6 months volunteering in Togo. I had a girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife. I've made her suffer through hearing many of my stories many times, so now I've brought her back to experience it all with me!

As soon as we arrived, it all seemed eerily familiar, the sights, the sounds, the places and the people. I've fallen quickly back into negotiating for price, finding my way around what is truly a massive maze of a transit network with taxis and Tro-Tros, eating foufou & and reducing my sense of self-preservation while adapting to the bonkers driving techniques of taxi drivers.

One thing that I had forgotten that quickly came back was the smells. Things generally smell quite different here, not bad (usually), just different. The dirt and trees and water and buildings all just have a bit of a distinct scent that I had completely forgotten.

We picked up a cell phone for roughly $40, and then put on $8 is phone credit to use for texting, which should do fine for us for must of the trip. (BTW: Feel free to text us at 233-2400-46347). What a great deal... and this is in Africa of all places. And all I have to do to check my unused credit is text *241# and it immediately tells me my remaining balance! Rogers... you've got some learning to do.

PS: One of our relatives that will remain unnamed sent us the following txt: "Love you too smo glad you are vddejl wel5 6 ok igive vp". Glad to see somebody try to break away from their comfort zone just to get a hold of us, that's true love :)