Bumpy roads, collapsed bridges, and other ring road tales...
on Sherry in Cameroon (Cameroon), 27/Aug/2009 12:44, 34 days ago
For the last two weeks, I took a break from work... yeah! Only to arrive back on Monday to 147 e-mails in my inbox (98% work related!) though... who knew that was even possible... but anyway... I’m now playing catch up with work, but am pleased to procrastinate by writing a blog entry of the voyage.I was set to leave for the big city of Douala on the morning of Saturday August 8th, my bags were packed... I even made a sandwich for the bus ride. As per usual, I jogged over to the bus station to buy my ticket... but... ugh oh... right away I could tell there was something strange going on. The gates were half closed... people were everywhere... I mean, it’s usually chaotic there, but it was even more chaotic than the usual chaotic chaos... people were missing luggage... angry and confused faces were storming around... so, I tried to listen in to the people speaking pidgin... and noticed the ticket wickets weren’t even open... now... that, was strange!Turns out... a bridge, on the only major road in and out of Bamenda collapsed with all the rains we’ve had, so unless I planned to swim across the river... I wasn’t going anywhere. For a few days, no buses could leave Bamenda. Eventually, they started going, but you had to taxi to the bridge, trek through the woods about 3km, cross the river, and hopefully get on a bus on the other side. It all sounded a little sketchy to me, so I just stayed home. Spent some time with neighbours and watched a lot of movies... even contemplated going back to work out of boredom (but didn’t!)... until finally... a temporary solution was found and my friends from Yaounde were able to drive here for oursecond week plan. Yeah!!!Julie, Tom, their baby Mia, and Nina arrived on the Friday, thus, beginning our adventures through the North-West Region. I think I was sooooo excited to have visitors... that entire day, I cleaned my house and cooked sooooo much food: juice, chapathis, potato curry, veggies, black bean salad... even had spaghetti ready for the next day. You see... life in Bamenda can be a little dull... one must be creative... and I think I’ve at least become a better cook with all this time on my hands. Anyway... we spent a day in Bamenda, showed them around downtown and in the market and took them to my favourite restaurant for omelettes and chips. And, since it was Mia’s 2nd Birthday... we picked up a very sweet, pink, and Cameroonian cake!Next day, we hit the road... on our way to Mount Oku, at 3,000 metres, it’s the second highest mountain in the region. However, we reached the road to Oku and found it to be rather bumpy and muddy... and since we did have a baby with us, decided it better to turn back for the day. So, we returned to the beautiful town of Belo and stayed with our fellow VSOer, Amelita.Belo, thanks to the Belo Rural Development Program and its volunteers, is home to the first “public walk” in Cameroon... a pleasant trail, touring the village, with various sights, farms, and waterfalls to admire.... even sign posts to point you in the right direction! So, we enjoyed that... andjust relaxing, staring out over the cliffs and mountains, covered in green. The only disruption was the odd gunshot throughout the evening, making us jump three feet in the air... as there were some celebrations going on close by.No matter where you are in Africa... there is always someone a few feet away... taking a pee break on the road in the middle of the forest... more tricky than you might think... there’s always someone around the corner, behind the bush, or walking down the road. The people live off the land... they walk far distances to work on their farms... they are everywhere... so you know you are never alone. It’s actually quite amazing... and we never fretted... if a vehicle full of white people, such as ourselves, were to suddenly be caught in the mud, there would be fifteen people ready to push us out in seconds! Luckily we didn’t get stuck.The best parts of travelling are all those random things you don’t plan for, particularly in Africa, one must be open and flexible... and you never know what amazing adventures might cross your path. Thanks to our great connections... we discovered a short-cut road that was incredibly beautiful overlooking the valley and took us up and up and up... all the wayto the village of Babungo... and through the beautiful Ndawara tea estate. We visited a couple friends of mine, working at the tea factory and were graciously offered some Indian snacks, a tour of the factory, and a visit to the tea farm... ostriches and peacocks included. Seeing all the giant, machinery and how the tea is collected and processed and packaged was rather interesting. So much hard work, one major operation! It is a different life up there... hundreds of workers... picking tea leaves each day... three leaves and a bud produces the greatest taste! The views over the valley, the fresh, cool air, and the calm lifestyle of the estate’s village provided a refreshing atmosphere.We settled at another VSO friend’s place in Babungo... where we spent the next couple days relaxing under the sun, takinglong walks up the hills, admiring the greenery... and visiting our neighbours. One day, we decided to drive (another short-cut road, thanks to our connections) to Mount Oku... it was such a beautiful morning, driving up the mountain in the mist and the forest. We reached Lake Oku, surrounded by lush rainforest and continued to the town of Oku... where we could buy fresh honey. We made our way... along another long, bumpy road to Kumbo, where we had njama njama and rice (our local favourite!) for lunch, and explored the town a little bit: seeing the craft shop, cathedral, and Himilayan Institute. By the time we made it back to Babungo... we didn’t want to be in the vehicle anymore... although it’s interesting and beautiful to explore the countryside... it’s a long time in the car over those bumps and mud. It was however, notably different from city life, being in the village allows you to really enjoy the calm and quiet and friendlyneighbours.Our last day, we returned to Bamenda, with a short stop in the pleasant town of Ndop, to see the local pottery factory... and have lunch with yet another, local VSO volunteer, Ryan. We were so lucky to have so many people show us the short-cuts and cook delicious meals for us... it really made the holiday special! Ryan sent me his menu for our lunch by text, who knew there was a fantastic Asian cuisine in Cameroon? ... Here’s what he sent me: “Sherry u eat fish or bif? Here’s my menu: Chinese fried radish cakes, stir fry bif strips n bell pepper and scallions, steam herb garlic fish, oriental vegetable fired rice, fusion of mix vegetables, and for desert, fried Chinese honey apples or a milk custard flan. Hope you like my banquet set menu 4 u guys. Tnx.” Is your mouth watering or what?And then, with a final evening at my place in Bamenda and a quick stop at the food market for that fresh, north-west cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, and green peas... my travel companions were on the road again... back to Yaounde... and my little house felt suddenly quite quiet and empty.