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In October 1970 we drove west from Lagos, Nigeria, through the neighbouring
West-African country, Dahomey, into the next neighbour along the coast, Togo.
This proved to be a pristine, unspoilt country, with a beautiful road following
the coast from the Dahomey (Benin) border right up to Lomé, the capital. These
wonderful atlantic beaches were lined with coconut palms, and not a single
concrete or brick building to be found. There were, however, dozens of straw
huts in the palm forests alongside the beaches, and friendly hospitable people
who offered us cocunuts to drink, after sending their children to climb up
the tall palms to fetch them. We stayed in a hotel in Lomé, as I recall, a
rather dingy, dark and damp place, with no air-conditioning. I imagine it will
be considerably changed these days, with the advent of mass tourism. I
understand the beach-front area of Lomé now has dozens of luxurious, high-priced
western-style hotels. |