Mount Maroua
on The Road Less Travelled (Cameroon), 25/Jan/2010 05:50, 34 days ago
Mount MarouaToday myself and a group of other CUSO-VSO volunteers went for a hike up Mount Maroua. The group included Doris and Marcel (a couple from Quebec), Marie-Josée (a lady from Quebec), Caroline and myself. Another volunteer’s friend, Helen, who was visiting also joined u.. We all met near the base of the Mountain at 9am for our morning hike.Caroline and I on the SummitIt is called Mount Maroua but I don’t know if it is actually high enough to be a mountain. I am doubtful. If my internet was working as I wrote this I would google it to see if it was actually a mountain or not. Regardless we call it a mountain and it sounds much more impressive when I say I climbed a mountain today than if I wereto say I climbed a large hill.Doris and MarcelWe started out going through a little neighbourhood where 4 little boys decided to take on the task of being our guides. I don’t think they had anything else to do and it meant that we would probably give them a few hundred francs at the end. So they led the way for us through the houses at the base of the mountain to the path that leads up to the summit. They decided it would be faster not to take the path for the firstpart which was a bit difficult because we were hiking on quite rocky terrain which had long overgrown grass on top which made it quite slippery.Caroline overlooking our neighbourhoodI was a bit hesitant and worried at first during the climb because it is not uncommon for a group of“nazzara”, which is what they call white people here, to attract robbers. A few volunteers have been robbed at knife point while climbing Mount Maroua. Usually they are looking for money but they have been known to take cameras, cell phones and backpacks as well. I had brought my camera becauseI wanted to take pictures so I was really hoping we wouldn’t be robbed.Our little guidesThe climb up was quite enjoyable once we hit the path and got into a good climbing rhythm. It took us about 55 minutes to get to the summit. During our hike up we could see all the neighbourhoods of Maroua and about midway up I could even see the roof of my house. The view from the peak was incredible because we could see the other mountains to the north of Maroua, the whole city of Maroua and two other smaller mountains to the south of the city which I hope to also climb at some point.We stayed at the summit for a while chatting, drinking water and eating a few snacks (raisins, almonds and corn flakes). Then we headed down and walk to the other side of town to Doris and Marcel’s house for lunch. She had made a wonderful vegetable soup last night so she warmed it up and we enjoyed it.It was an enjoyable day indeed.