This trip was not the best for my photoblog. I visited six countries in Africa : South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, Burundi, Togo and Benin. At each place, the embassy security office cautioned against walking around town and especially advised against taking pictures without permission. People, in general, do not like their photos taken. Moreover, muggers see all foreigners as rich and target them. A sign at the hotel warned people to avoid a beautiful beach five minutes from the hotel in Lome, Togo.
I traveled from Lome, Togo to Cotonou, Benin by road in an embassy car. The four hour drive is the preferred way to get from one city to the other. The road started out pretty good.
And then to very wet roads. Fortunately, this kind of travel was just one hour of the four hour drive. The roads in Cotonou were fine.
Trucks line up for miles at both sides of the border crossing and wait for days for Customs inspection. Everything is taken off the truck and inspected. Truckers wait a minimum of three days and often seven days , or more, to cross the border.
People seemed to put up stands everywhere and anywhere to sell fruit, drinks and other types of food. The truckers , at least, would not go hungry.
This larger food stall area was at the border itself.
The embassy driver was a good customer and got the best deals from this vendor.
