Cameroon

Apologies for the delay - I expected to receive updates from Andrew sooner but the bulk of his diary entries for Cameroon only came through yesterday, from near Brazzaville in Congo.  He will pass into Democratic Republic of Congo tomorrow - but more on all that later.

I will load country by country (gives me time to type more up while you all catch up!).  Gabon and Congo will follow in the next couple of days.

Happy reading!

20.2.10 – Day 63 – Douala, Cameroon


I crawled with my bike up to ‘mile 4’ to the motorpark to try find a vehicle to take me and my bike to Douala. I immediately met up with Samuel, a very pleasant driver who had a van that I could use. He asked me how much I wanted to pay. I said “35,000 CFA”. He said “40?”. I accepted and that was that. He pulled the seats out of the back of his old minivan and got the bike in and strapped it down. For 70km we drove through rubber, banana and palm oil plantations – all for export. Again, most of this area looks as if it was rainforest until recently. I picked up some hard boiled eggs, peeled with pepper sauce, at a truck stop for my breakfast. Occasionally we passed through road side markets selling fruit, veg, clothes and other foods. More frequently we passed police road blocks. Samuel stopped for some to show his papers, whilst others, he shouted, made some hand gestures, and accelerated hard. I asked him why he stopped at some and not others, but he couldn’t or wouldn’t explain.

We arrived in Douala through dusty broken up roads with heavy traffic on a ‘go slow’. Some guy with a stinger strip accepted a bribe from Samuel – as he hadn’t picked up the piece of paper he needed to drive in Douala. The bribe obviously wasn’t enough as the guy still threatened to burst our tyres with his stinger device.

I am now with Peter and his wife in their wonderful house. I’ve been given my own room and shower and the bike is safely parked up. Some friends of theirs are coming round tonight for a bbq and beers by the pool. How quickly things can change on a trip like this – welcome to expat heaven!

PS – well the rest of the afternoon was spent in the pool with cold beers. This was followed by the most wonderful bbq out on the patio. Tomorrow I’ll get a lift into town with their driver and jump on a bus to Yaounde to get visas.

21.2.2010 – Day 64 - Yaounde, Cameron

Well the bus here was fairly uneventful. The countryside is stunning – huge swathes of rainforest over low, steep sided hills. Yaounde is at 750m so although it is sticky and wet, the temperature is manageable – good thing really after the last day with Peter being air con all the way!

I’ve found myself in a large Catholic mission on a hill overlooking town. There are clusters of old wooden buildings around the courtyards, simple gardens, a small medical centre, wooden church, dining areas and lodging. Below is a huge Basilica made out of local wood. It looks like a cross between the Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool and the Sydney opera house. This afternoon there was a service on and the building was packed with parishioners. The acoustics are fantastic and the singing drifted up the hill – wonderful. I went to dinner tonight in the dining hall to find around 60 nuns sat around tables of 6 or 7, about to start their meal. No man in sight. It is a one-sitting affair, so obviously as I walked in I was given the ‘who’s the white man’ look by the 60 old ladies. One lady eventually sat me down and we enjoyed a meal of tomato soup, rice, fish in tomato, water melon and pawpaw.

All the women were here for a month long meet – most came from Africa but there were representatives from all the continents. After dinner we stood up behind our chairs for prayers before I was allowed to scuttle off! I don’t think I’ll be eating here tomorrow night!

I’ve just met up with the Germans again after 5 days separation – we’ll chat later to work out some plan of action.

22.2.2010 – Day 65 – Yaounde

I caught a taxi early into the centre this morning, intent on getting a certified copy of my passport. This is basically a photocopy of the passport visa and information pages that the police cover in stamps and signatures. After a short walk around the ramshackled city centre I found the main police station. I got asked a few questions at the front desk – a guy appeared from the back office in a red all-in-one baggy outfit and flip flops. I got shown into his office which had a TV blaring out African sitcoms (it seems TV and office work in Africa are compatible!). The guy introduced himself as the “Chief of Traffic” for the Yaounde region. I held myself back from pointing out to him that he’d be better switching off the TV and getting out there to try and improve Cameroon’s appalling traffic record. He called in a uniformed police man to help him with my request. He was wearing a big white holster from his hip. I had a sneaky look into it to see it was empty – no gun! Always good to know these things when driving through a country. This is much better than Nigeria! Maybe the police dogs have rubber teeth?

Next was a meeting with the German couple to try and get a Congolese visa from the Embassy here. Apart from them wanting a huge amount of money for a 15 day visa, the process was easy. Next we headed to a small café for a coffee and bread – both of which they had to go out and buy first. In the café was a guy in a suit having a beer – is was the Central African Republic Ambassador having his morning drink. He asked us if we wanted to come to his embassy to get a visa – we refused politely, rather than saying there was no chance in hell we would head to such a dangerous and unstable country!

It’s amazing how it’s often the most perverse things that we find interesting or amusing. On the way back we saw a coffin going down the road stuck out of the back of a taxi. Funny maybe, but what are you supposed to do? Lunch ended up being a street feast – chopped up pineapple in a bag was followed by 2 small bags of popcorn, a couple of bananas, a pawpaw and a couple of hard boiled eggs. Unusual mix I know, but good for the taste buds.

23-24.2.2010 – Days 66 and 67 – Yaounde

I headed out to the zoo yesterday, as I was waiting around for visas. It wasn’t such a good idea really. Like all zoos I guess it comes as a bit of a contradiction. There was a good selection of big cats, primates, eagles and snakes, all from Cameroon. The zoo is rundown and the cafes are too small, but it does provide education, especially to the children, about the benefits of conservation and the consequences of deforestation and the eating of bush meat, which is all too common.

The swiss on the motorbike arrived in town at lunch and I moved with them to a hotel nearer the embassies and the centre of town. This slightly more upmarket hotel has BBC news and Fox movies, so after collecting my Congo visa it was a TV night – Great!

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26.2.2010 – Day 69 – Douala

Well I caught an early bus back to Douala and arrived at Peter’s house around 11am. I opened the package containing my swing arm for the bike to find some extra treats sent by Tracy – what a star. I strapped all the pieces I needed to fix the bike onto it and gingerly rode to the Yamaha garage. I brought 6 bolts, 1 chain, 1 sprocket, 1 chain ring, cush rubber set, chain links and the rear swing arm with the bearings ready fitted. The chief mechanic took the bike and told me to come back at 5.30pm.

When I returned I could hardly bring myself to believe it – my bike was fixed! Thank God! To celebrate, and as it’s Friday night, Peter organised meeting some of his friends for a sundowner. His driver took us past the flower market - full of beautiful tropical flowers, the craft market then along the dock road past all the oil infrastructure on the quayside. At the end is a peninsula jutting out into the estuary.

The bar is a wooden structure, open sided with a long deck jutting out over the water. The view is stunning – in the distance, just visable, is Mount Cameroon, 70km away and a perfect volcano cone at over 4000m. The banks of the estuary are covered in lush vegetation and we had a full moon. As the local Export 33 pression here is 2500 CFA as opposed to the usual 1000, most of the clientele here were ex pats. For dinner I went for the locally popular ‘captain’ fish which came as a huge steak much like tuna, but larger and white – absolutely delicious.

Many people say it of solo travel or expeditions – it really isn’t a solo affair. Without the help and support of many people along the way, such a trip just wouldn’t be possible.

For the end of this diary entry I’d like to make a few special thanks. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but includes a few people who need a special mention. I still may not make it to Cape Town, but without these people, I wouldn’t have made it this far.

Firstly, Tracy, for being so strong, for supporting me through everything and being the best expedition support and wife. Oche for helping me with my Nigerian visa and Kasey for the introduction. To Rouven , Christine, Andrea and Daniel who stuck with me when I had my crash. Peter Stacey who did so much for me in Cameroon, including welcoming a stranger into his home with open arms. Cactus and Keely who joined me as far as Morocco. Dave Lambert, XT specialist in the UK who provided exceptional service when I needed it. To Boni, the Belgian biker who, even in his own adversity helped me back on the road in Morocco. Alice, who has helped me network in Africas as did John Farmer.

The online networks also need a special mention – particularly The Hubb and from there, Chris Scott (Sahara Moderator) and Albert, the Belgian motorcyclist who is riding through Africa at one hell of a speed – Go Albert Go!

27.2.2010 – Day 70 – Ambam, Cameroon

After heading East and subsequently grinding to a halt, I am finally travelling South again. The first part of the day was heading East again to Yaounde, which felt familiar, but is always different when you ride it yourself. From Yaounde I basically turned South and will keep heading south all the way down to the Cape. I took some back roads to cut across to the North/South road through small villages and rolling hills. The ride from here down the main road to the Gabon border is wonderful. The tarmac is in good condition and the twists and turns through small hills makes for perfect motorcycling.

The countryside is so lush and green and villages are well kept and clean. Most houses are made from timber panels with tin roofs. The windows have decorative shutters and the ground is swept daily outside. All the rubbish is burned here, which makes the cleanliness conspicuous. There are no piles of rubbish, water bottles or plastic bags strewn across the countryside. I went through one town which proclaimed “Ville Propre” (clean town) and it was!

It is Saturday so I passed weddings and funerals – but mainly I passed road side bars full of men and women drinking beer. The atmosphere has changed here – children and some adults are waving and people are more liberal with their smiles. In my very limited experience it seems the happiest people live in areas of less inequality, whether rich or poor. In cities, people become hard – but venture further afield and the human spirit seems to be lifted, even if the living conditions are harsh.

Yes again I’m in a small hotel in a small town. The hotel is simple but clean and is oddly located about 1/2km down a dirt track. The rooms here are definitely rented by the hour! I asked for dinner – the lady of the house came out and offered the ubiquitous chicken and fried plantain. I accepted, as which point she sent out one of the boys to catch a chicken from the yard. He walked through reception with his hand around the chicken’s neck. At least dinner will be fresh, even if it’s not quick!

Tomorrow Gabon – the new chapter has begun, although the difficulties in obtaining an Angolan visa leave a large shadow over this next section of the journey. As my Swiss friend Daniel always says “One day at a time – this is Africa!!”