Mindless Productions is an outlet for the creations and life of Eric and Gillian Mathurin. http://www.mindless.ca 2010-09-08T10:14:03+01:00 http://www.mindless.ca http://www.mindless.ca/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png text/html 2008-12-19T23:00:00+01:00 http://www.mindless.ca http://www.mindless.ca/togo-benin/day-15.html Our flight didn't leave until 23:00 so David, Il and I had an entire day kill while the others had to backtrack to Accra for their flight. The three of us, after breakfast, rode with Einz and Andrea as their entourage the 3 km to the Ghanaian border: they had been in a panic about it because during their first crossing they'd been surrounded by a mob of large men who distracted them and tried to pick their pockets and bags. The Lomé side of the border where we left them was not very busy and apart from a money changer holding a large wad of bills (who I joked with, asking him if it was a cadeaux for me) we were left entirely alone. Hopefully the Ghanan side went equally well for them. The three of us then rode around town for a little bit, stopping at a couple of grocery stores attempting to find some Togolese hot sauce as gifts for friends back home—but without any luck. text/html 2008-12-18T23:00:00+01:00 http://www.mindless.ca http://www.mindless.ca/togo-benin/day-14.html David and I left the hotel at 5:30am and cycled several kilometres around town scouting for breakfast options without much luck. As a group, however, Einz spotted a stall with eggs on the counter so we were saved from a morning of bread and beans for breakfast. We all decided to make a side trip to Togoville, although the Germans were going direct while we went a further route so as to pass through Vogan which has the largest market in the region. The cycling on the secondary road there was nice, although we arrived at Vogan so early that the market was only fractionally full. Still, it was interesting and easy to cycle in and around the stalls. text/html 2008-12-17T23:00:00+01:00 http://www.mindless.ca http://www.mindless.ca/togo-benin/day-13.html I woke in the middle of the night to stifling heat and total silence. The fan was off. The city was off: it was complete darkness outside the window. And I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes while I slept. David, on the other hand, had a mosquito net over his bed. I debated crawling in there briefly before pulling out my own, portable net. It took me over ten minutes of fumbling in the dark to get it together—it had been almost 10 years since I last used it. I finally fell back asleep after a long while of sweating profusely and the distracting whine of mosquitoes around me. I woke tired and hot. I counted well over fifty bites on me that I could see. I couldn't help but think of Lena, back in Abomey, hospitalized for malaria. text/html 2008-12-16T23:00:00+01:00 http://www.mindless.ca http://www.mindless.ca/togo-benin/day-12.html By 5:30 in the morning I was lying awake in bed and ready to go though we weren't to meet as a group until 7:00am. David was up, too, so I cycled with him up the main road looking for a place for breakfast. We found a booth with a young lad who would make us omelets so David left me there so he could get breakfast started. About a minute later the lad burst from his stall and ran up the street and didn't return for about 10 minutes. He had to go buy eggs. As we started to eat Il mentioned, with concern, that her baguette seemed to have ants. I peered down carefully at mine and indeed saw one or two tiny, red ants milling about. I thought about eating it anyway but then, amusingly (since I hadn't yet taken a bite yet, unlike everyone else) we all broke open our loaves to discover they were actually swarming with ants inside. So David left to find some more bread for us. Suggested slogan for the other vendor's bread: ACME Baguettes: Now with 100% Less Ant! text/html 2008-12-15T23:00:00+01:00 http://www.mindless.ca http://www.mindless.ca/togo-benin/day-11.html This trip is turning into some kind of version of Survivor: West Africa. We lost Annie to motorized transport almost from the very beginning; Lena to malaria with Jorgen for company—and today, after our usual omelet breakfast, Andrea and Einz opted for transport instead of cycling the 85 km for today. So today we are 3 cyclists instead of 8: just David, Il and myself. The morning was overcast but the humidity is much worse as we approach the coast. (Clothing doesn't seem to want to dry anymore.) The cycling was very easy: net descending with only a section or two of minor uphill slogging. Best of all, the people were very friendly and there were very few requests for money or gifts.