Togo - West Africa - page 976

Gay & Lesbian Travellers
Homosexuality is explicitly illegal in 12 out of West Africa's 18 countries; the exceptions are Burkina Faso, Cape Verde,
Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Niger, although remember that even in these countries laws relating to 'offend-
ing public morals' may serve a similar purpose. Maximum legal penalties for homosexual acts range from the death
penalty in Mauritania and possibly Nigeria, to 14 years' imprisonment in The Gambia. In 2009, nine gay men in Senegal
were sentenced to eight years each in prison for 'indecent conduct and unnatural acts', although these convictions were
later overturned on appeal.
Regardless of the legality, however, all countries in West Africa are conservative in their attitudes towards gays and
lesbians, and gay sexual relationships are taboo and are either extremely rare or conducted in the utmost secrecy. In most
places, discretion is key and public displays of affection should be avoided as a means of showing sensitivity to local
feelings, advice that applies to homosexual and heterosexual couples.
In the hotels of some countries (eg Guinea and Sierra Leone), same-sex couples, regardless of whether they are in-
deed a 'couple', will most likely be refused permission to share a room.
An excellent website to get the low-down on local laws and attitudes to homosexuality is Global Gayz
( www.globalgayz.com ), which has links to information about the situation for gays and lesbians in most West African
countries. ILGA ( www.ilga.org ) is another good resource with information for many West African countries. Afriboyz
( www.afriboyz.com/Homosexuality-in-Africa.html ) is also worth checking out.
A US-based tour company offering specialist tours for gay men and women, including to West Africa, is David
Travel ( www.davidtravel.com ) .
Insurance
A travel insurance policy to cover theft and loss is recommended, and some sort of medical insurance is essential. Al-
ways check the small print when shopping around. Some policies specifically exclude 'dangerous activities', which can
include scuba diving, off-road driving, motorcycling and even trekking, and a locally acquired motorcycle licence may
not be valid under some policies. Also, some policies offer lower and higher medical-expense options, with the higher
ones chiefly for countries such as the USA, which have extremely high medical costs.
Hospitals in Africa are not free, and the good ones are not cheap. If your policy requires you to pay on the spot and
claim later, make sure you keep all documentation. Some policies ask you to call collect (reverse charges) to a centre in
your home country where an immediate assessment of your problem is made.
Check in particular that the policy covers an emergency flight home, as emergency air evacuations can be extremely
expensive. Worldwide cover to travellers from many countries is available online at www.lonelyplanet.com/
travel_services . You can buy, extend and claim online anytime - even if you're already on the road.
Internet Access
Internet cafes are found throughout West Africa and there's usually at least one in every large or medium-sized town.
Rates vary but you'll rarely pay more than €1 or US$1 for an hour online. Connection speeds are generally better in lar-
ger towns; some places still use dial-up connections, but services are improving all the time. For things like burning
photo CDs, you're better off using internet cafes in capital and other large cities. If you'll be primarily using internet
cafes, consider setting up a trip-specific email address as viruses and keystroke-capturing software are small but signi-
ficant risks.