A Day in KpalimeKpalime, Togo West AfricaMarch 19, 2007 Today was a good day, rather hot and I am tired, yet it is interesting to enter a new city or culture. Moving cities means new friends, not people, not interest and new problems and solutions. There was a man Michael from Ghana that stopped and tried to […]

Togo PhosphateKpalime, Togo West AfricaMonday, March 19, 2007 I am about 50 miles north of Lome, Togo, or maybe 80 kilometers. I am becoming increasing interested in some type of mineral, rock, or something I am seeing here. A Lady in Kpalime, working on rocks or making pellets. There is this gray colored, chalk like substance they are […]

Kpalime FromageKpalime, Togo West AfricaMonday, March 19, 2007 I am weak, my legs feel like there are spiders in them, and only because I saw some bad cheese. Kpalime is new to me, there are tons of stores, and so far, I have seen no stores owned by Lebanese people. The stores are locals, and there […]

Lonely Planet author James Bainbridge quenches his thirst and gets green with a random Irish guy - the best type of Irish - all while on the job… I decide to spend St. Patrick’s Day in Listowel (that’s ‘Listooowell’) in the hope that the Kerry town’s history of bar-propping poets will lend my own bender some […]

Frances Linzee Gordon has just completed an unprecedented research assignment in Saudi Arabia for Lonely Planet’s forthcoming guide to the Arabian Peninsula. As the first person ever to be granted a visa to visit the Kingdom as an independent tourist, she kept a diary of her adventures. In the fifth of eight blog posts, Frances […]

Kpalime TogoKpalime Togo West AfricaMonday, March 19, 2007 I am in like Flin; life is good in Kpalime, a change of homes, a change of Hotels, and a different channel. I found a great hotel for 5000 CFA or about 10 US, about the bottom of the deck is 3000. I took a tour of all […]

My Problems in AfricaLome, TogoMonday, March 19, 2007 Problems, problems, Problems the things I have to deal with in life are interesting an mysterious. I just thought I would give a notice, sometimes it is not easy to be me. Then gain, the life is good. I was walking by the home of a couple of friends […]

[Updates at the bottom of the post] All hell is breaking loose this morning as the rather predictable merger between TUI and First Choice is absorbed by the travel and mainstream business media. The deal will see the pair, to be known as TUI Travel, eventually listed on the London Stock Exchange and responsible for around 27 […]

Lonely Planet author Tom Downs braves some wet and blustery weather in Ireland this St Patrick’s day… My plan had been to take a ferry out to Tory Island, reputed to be a nearly uninhabitable rock off the coast with a notoriously eccentric population. But the sea was too rough, so I stayed in tiny […]

Adjidogomé TogoLome, Togo West AfricaSunday, March 18, 2007 Adjidogome with an apostrophe on the e.Sur la route de Kpalime I will leave tomorrow morning by the Peugeot Station wagon method of travel I assume, a collective taxi of sorts and travel to Kpalime, Togo. I am debating about the letter e with the apostrophe on it, it […]

Spring break is right around the corner. I am so excited for a break. We have been blessed with a lot of snow days, but it will be nice to have a whole week off to visit with friends. Remember when I had the speeding ticket and I didn’t know if I would get to […]

Worlds Most Healthy FoodsLome, Togo West AfricaSunday, March 18, 2007There was a comment on the a blog post that was excellent:http://www.hobotraveler.com/2007/03/togo-lemonade-10-cents.html   Andy,That’s a good example. There’s no way to know if anything is really organic unless you work the soil yourself. And no traveler is going to stay long enough […]

Togo Culture IdentifiersLome, Togo West AfricaSunday, March 18, 2007 There are identifiers, small things that explain the behind the scene action in cultures. They are there, small, and signs that all is not as simple as we see. This is the BTCI bank here in Lome, I think the letters are correct, it is probably the best […]

Big Brothers TogoLome, Togo West AfricaSaturday, March 17, 2007 I have a small boy, about 4 years old by the name of Narcisse who has adopted me as his Big Brother or chief person to hug and hold him. This is not so unique in itself, however, the ability of Narcisse to find me is what […]

What Time Is ItLome, Togo West AfricaSaturday, March 17, 2007 I know there is a way, I have just not figure out how, I want to know what time it is in Boston and Indiana, the USA. It is the same time. I use this link constantly, however not much good for other countries besides the USA.http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5/java It […]

Togo Lemonade 10 CentsLome, Togo West Africa I wish to drink more fruit juices, I am trying to healthier. This young man is selling me real squeezed lemon juice for 10 cents US or about 50 CFA. I am not positive, they say they add some sugar and some water, but it appears to about 75 […]

Beta Blog Forwards to NewslettersLome, Togo West AfricaFriday, March 16, 2007 I am teasing with my techie from India, I am telling him, - Forwards goes BETA. - I am not sure what Beta means in technical terms, I do know how they mean or use it, I suppose it has something […]

Just when you thought it was safe to check into a budget hotel, Travelodge has gone and introduced a cuddling pillow for lonely guests, aptly called the “Cuddillow”. The Cuddillow concept follows on research of 2,000 solitary travellers, which found that 57% felt lonely sleeping without their partner when away from home. Sixteen per cent found […]

I Feel Electrically HelplessLome, Togo West AfricaThursday, March 15, 2007 I turned on the air conditioning, just long enough to cool down the room and to give myself a cool easy feeling. Then the electricity drops to an unbelievably low level, I can feel it as the air conditioner comes almost to a complete stop, I can […]

être au régimeLome, Togo West AfricaFriday, March 16, 2007 Régime in the French language is a word used in combination with the to be verb of être to say, I am on a diet or I am on a regime. I say things by using words, we all say ideas or gossip by using words, we mix […]

There is a press release knocking about today which is worth a mention, really as part of a wider debate about online reviews of travel products. Consumer opinion site Reviewcentre.com has named Jet2.com as “Best Airline”, according to users of its travel product section. The site aggregates reviews to give an overall score and also asks consumers […]

Almost OkLome, Togo West AfricaWednesday, March 14, 2007 There are small quality control problems in West Africa, Lome, Togo presently does not have electricity, it is almost ok sometimes. I was in a small panic today as I was preparing to travel up country Togo. I pulled some more money from the ATM as I am not […]

Languages Learned NaturallyLome, Togo West AfricaThursday, March 15, 2007 I am in an ideal hotel, location, situation to learn French, I have an over abundance of people willing to speak French with me so I can practice. My friend Peter from Germany spoke Thai, Spanish, English, and of course German, I am sure he spoke a couple […]

LO to 84 DecibelsLome, Togo West AfricaWednesday, March 14, 2007 Low Voltage and High Decibels. It is 5:52 AM in the morning, I have been playing around for the last half hour or more trying to measure the sound level in my room. I would say I am in a quiet room, then again I am not […]

In the last installment of her Bruce Lee adventure in Mostar, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Lonely Planet author Vesna Maric meets the martial arts star in his final resting place. I’m rushing over to the city park, convinced I am going to see Bruce. I arrive and wave at ‘the woman in charge’ who is standing in the […]

…as Antony Mayfield, social media expert from Spannerworks, often says in his presentations. Anyway, thanks to Heather Hopkins at Hitwise for sending over a link to this handy online gizmo. TouchGraph is a web-based system that allows website owners to explore a visual representation of the network of links between them and other websites, based on Google’s […]

It appears our rumourmill round-up yesterday was right on the button: 1) Travelport’s OTA brands, Orbitz and Ebookers, will seek an IPO on either the New York or London Stock Exchanges. Travelport has just issued a press release confirming as much. The short statement says: “Travelport Limited, the parent company of the Travelport group of companies, announced today its […]

Computer No NoLome, Togo West AfricaTuesday, March 13, 2007 I removed a drawer out of the nightstand, placed on its side and I am using as a small table for my laptop computer. I sit the fan to the left of the bed as I am looking at my feet. It blows down my body and […]

Understanding the CadeauLome, Togo West AfricaTuesday, March 13, 2007 I try to understand the culture of the Cadeau. This is the French word for Gift, however there are many uses and many meaning, it is similar to the word Manana in Spanish, nothing is simple. West African people will ask for a gift or cadeau more often […]

Computer No NoLome, Togo West AfricaTuesday, March 13, 2007I removed a drawer out of the nightstand, placed on its side and I am using as a small table for my laptop computer. I sit the fan to the left of the bed as I am looking at my feet. It blows down my body and […]