We can’t jump off bridges anymore because our iPhones will get ruined. We can’t take skinny dips in the ocean because there’s no service on the beach and adventures aren’t real unless they’re on Instagram. Technology has doomed the spontaneity of adventure and we’re helping destroy it every time we Google, check-in, and hashtag. - Jeremy Glass

23 September 2019, Aného to Lomé, 54.43km
Hotel Alcor 15,000XOF (R375)  

The ride to Togo’s capital, Lomé, was easy terrain-wise, but not particularly pleasurable. As the distance markers counted down to Lomé, they also counted down to the Ghana border, just 55km from the Benin border opposite. One could easily enter Togo at Aného and depart it at Lomé just a few hours later, even on a bicycle. There was nothing really wrong with the road and the traffic was manageable, but the ride was uninspiring and dusty. Once in the city, the road widened to double-carriage with plenty of room for everyone. We were interested to see a long stretch of beach within the city limits and, on the horizon to the south of us, tens of container ships. It must be a pretty busy port…
Just 5km from the frontier, we turned off the N2 which follows the east-west coast, and onto the N1 which we will ride to northern Togo. In time we entered the diplomatic suburbs, with green trees shading the road, and less frantic sidewalks and traffic.
When we arrived at Visa Services in Avenue de la Chance, it was a little after 15:30. In theory, this gave us plenty of time to complete a simple form and hand in our passports to be stamped with our 30-day extensions for collection on the morrow, but it was not to be. First, we were delayed at the boom by security guards who wanted us to park our bikes, complete with all our vulnerable gear, on the pavement. We wanted to put them inside the boom, where there is a sizeable parking area. The guards were insistent until Charl picked up his bike and made to run off with it, adding for good measure, a forefinger wiped across his lips and a huff of breath denoting “GONE”. They relented then… By the time we tracked down the correct window, it was 15:45 - still enough time to complete the form before the advertised closing time of 16:00, but as I stepped up to the window, it was closed in my face. Charl went around to the door to the office, but was told, rudely, that it was too late and that we were to return the following day. That automatically meant two nights in the city…
We checked into the nearby Alcor, and had pizza at the Seven Days, a Lebanese place across from Visa Services.

For today's route see below photos
For overview route, click on ROUTE tab above…