What does a Cameroonian transport breakdown look like?
on Mischa in Cameroon (Cameroon), 17/May/2010 19:58, 34 days ago
This is my bus when the axel broke in the middle of nowhere (even though we were on the only stretch of tarmac between Maga and Maroua). The wheel fell off and rolled so far away that some men actually had to go off into the bush and hunt for it. After about half an hour where the bus driver banged the broken axel hopefully with a piece of metal he finally realised that this wasn't going to fix the damage, and hitched a lift on the next passing motorbike to go back to the bus agency to explain what had happened (there was no mobile signal, as we were in the middle of nowhere). All the other women unwrapped their spare giant sarongs and went to sleep by the side of the road while I sat on my (very small) backpack and tried to calculate how long my water would last (it ran out). That day it took me nine hours to do the 80km Maga-Maroua trip!My transport breakdown last weekend was a bit different- some friends came to Maga for the weekend and we went out on the lake to see the hippos. Unfortunately the boat motor broke after half and hour and we spent the next three hours drifting around in the middle of the lake, while the boatman's assistant (in the picture) baled out the boat, which filled with water every so often. We did finally make it home, with the help of a punt pole and several motor repair jobs.