The Catholic mission was about 15km from the Togo / Benin border. Run by
'Brother Bob', a Ghanian - the mission was funded by Italy and played an
important part in the local community. We had met Brother Bob at the local
village, who kindly invited us to the mission for a cold drink and lunch.
A few years ago, some Italian missionaries embarked on an overland expedition to Togo where they donated five vehicles (four Land Rovers and one truck) to the mission. Currently, only one of the four Land Rovers are in working order. Luca and Sameena were impressed as they recognised that one of the donated vehicles were identical to their first truck.
|
|
|
)
)
|
|
|
)
)
Togo was in the throes of a general election and the mood was volatile. We managed to get through the border on Thursday evening, but it proved rather difficult trying to leave the country the next day. The police had been instructed to close all borders - which meant some intense negotiating by Luca to get us out. 80 Euro later we had received 'permission' to exit Togo. We heard later that the elections caused unrest resulting in 20 deaths and numerous casualties. The result of the election is still pending ...
