Our two-week vacation in northern Cameroon begins. Right after Christmas we start, because the dry season in January is a good time to visit. The roads are passable and it is in the north is not too hot.
Wednesday, 12/29/2010
Ruth, Brian and I start with backpacks loaded down by twelve clock from our house towards Bamenda. At three in the clock, we are finally released in Kumbo. The trip to Bamenda I described once before in a report, but we now have an older, bigger, and therefore much slower than usual bus caught. We are being overtaken by other vehicles and hope in time to be in Bamenda, to get the night bus to Yaounde.
The road is, as mentioned before, very dusty. On departure all windows are closed. Only after some discussion, it is clear that the dust comes in through the holes in the floor and the door and you better the window opens again, so the dust out. But that is no better. Everyone sits with cloth over his mouth and nose crushed on half a seat and after some time we are so red-brown, that our skin color of those of the Africans aligning.
In Bamenda, we wipe ourselves with handkerchiefs the coarsest dirt from her face and eat a bowl of rice with beans. There is no problem to find the night bus. However, there is a similarly old van, so we can prepare ourselves for a long drive on. Before you start entering a preacher for the bus. He briefly mentioned how dangerous the roads are particularly at night, but we must not be afraid now to die in a traffic accident, because the love of God we would all go to heaven. Then pray. All Cameroonians to pray! And then the preacher can be plugging in almost all some money.
Thursday, 12/30/2010
clock in the morning we arrive at six in the capital Cameroon, in Yaoundé (Yaoundé queen). It is pleasantly warm and we will go from a friend's brother, Habib, who is studying in Yaounde and we met in Kumbo, picked up. He takes us into his house not far from the bus station where we first get breakfast, tea and bread. He lives in a neighborhood where most live Banso (Kumbo people to belong to the stem at the Banso). Everywhere you can greet on Lamnso or talk in English, a small French Kumbo in Yaounde. The neighborhood has houses of mud brick and electricity, but no sewer. Between the houses meanders a deep ditch. romp in the green-gray water, small fish from the plastic bags and not reporting it very pleasant.
We are looking for a cheap motel for the night and have time to explore Yaoundé.
Now it's probably not writing very interesting what has impressed me. If you come after half a year of African small town in the relatively European Yaoundé, you'll watch, of course, very different things than one Incoming from Europe: the marketing of many large cars, pastry shops and supermarkets! The supermarket in Yaounde is really worth a visit: cheese and meat counter, as in France, apple juice and Nutella. But in the end we only bought a bottle of water, because you really need any of it. After a walk through the center of Yaounde, past the Hilton Hotel and a number of ministries and a visit to the Cathedral (Cameroon over 40 ministries of all sorts) has as good as we have seen all the sights.
evening we do something really special: We go pizza. In a very European pizzeria decorated with several security guards at the door, there is pizza with ham and mushrooms. It tastes good. However, we have after all a bad conscience because we are third in comparison with 18 000 francs (28 €) the monthly salary Kumbo or an employee in the school fees of a child for a whole year eating. Then we go to
Kennedy Avenue, the ceremonial road Yaounde, which is partially blocked for a sort of fair or music show. Admission is 200 francs, and there is ice cream, pancakes, advertising and sale items (eg Maggi with the latest products). We can enjoy life the Cameroonian singer with her dancers. So our evening ends in Yaounde, a small excursion into the European consumer world.
Friday, New Year's Eve 31/12/2010
We have to get up early, to buy the tickets for the night train to the North. Buying a couple of train tickets is already an event. The station is blocked by a fence and several policemen to control the ticket sales. In small groups, the foremost of the long line in the interior of the fence are just where you get to show his passport issued under the train ticket. We are unfortunately a little late, so we have to take place the first, the second class (10 000 FF / 15 €).
clock we meet at four months and their visitors from Germany, Martin, with whom we continue our journey together. But before it goes into the train, we still have to buy food for the trip and New Year. Sufficient food was important because, as we found in the guide, the train can have up to 48 hours late.
Then you go. After we are through the controls and have finally found our car in the forty wagons, we are eager to get going. The train is equipped with front and back of a diesel locomotive and runs every night from Ngaoundere in the north and Yaoundé. Another train will start simultaneously in the direction of Yaoundé. By the Germans started to put the Frenchman finished and developed in the eighties, the railway line with only one in Cameroon and the only good road links to the north.
The second class is really comfortable. It has been there for a whole seat and even a toilet there on the train. Incredible: The train leaves on time from clock at 6:10. Exactly to the minute! Such a thing has never happened to us in Cameroon.
travels through the slums of Yaounde, the train slowly out of the city in the rain forest. It is dark. About every hour of the train stops at a station where you can quickly do their shopping through the window: Bobolo (Fr. baton, that wrapped in banana leaves and boiled cassava), bananas, honey and even whole chairs are on the minds of women and Children at the window carried past.
how we spend our New Year's Eve. At the latest by 10 clock to sleep the whole train. Five German are sitting awake in a car waiting between eighty sleeping Cameroonians and that it is twelve clock. As time has finally come, I open the previously purchased in Yaounde champagne bottle. Actually it's more of an explosion (perhaps the temperatures in the rain forest and the bucking a 30-year-old railroad-related). In any case, the champagne and sparkling around the crack results in our previously sleeping passengers miss the start of the new year.
Saturday, 01/01/2011
After the morning drive through the desert landscape of the North, we are fortunately at eight clock without delay in Ngaoundere. It's like another world. Already on the way to the green hills and banana trees were replaced by dry, grassy areas. Occasionally, you see trees, herds of cattle or the shade of a monkey in the bushes.
Ngaoundere is very beautiful and we want to spend a night here. When looking for a hotel, we rely on the guide. The Hotel is not given, at least not where it is marked on the map, but a small motel. The default is probably not what you would find in Europe, but at least there is a shower head and running water. You can not see our house in Kumbo, because due to dry season the water is only briefly on the day, so you can fill two buckets geradeso. (You can, however, completely washed with 3 liters of water.)
explore After a shower so we Ngaoundere. The roads are not as dusty as in Kumbo, because the soil is very sandy, and also the main roads are paved. What is particularly noteworthy that the city is much cleaner than we're used to from the rest of Cameroon, just throw their garbage and plastic bags just like on the road. There is trash and garbage disposal! We are even a street sweeper kindly requested to connect a piece to the side, so he can return. The thermometer shows 38 ° C.
You experience an oriental flair. Most people belong to the tribe of the Fulani. This is one of the largest ethnic groups in Cameroon, which speaks the language Fulfulbe. They can be recognized, especially on her slender body and delicate features, in addition they are Muslims and wear Muslim robes. Many mosques dominate the skyline.
For lunch we found a small "restaurant", red beans and French bread. Then we will visit the Palace of the Lamido. The Lamido is here in the north something like the Fon in Kumbo, that the prince / king and head of a traditional region. Him so much respect would be met with that the men spit on his hands and rubbed her face with it.
Here one knows how to deal with tourists. After we paid the entrance fee, we are guided by the traditional building of the palace. The walls are painted very nicely and the roofs of grass. We have explained what happened at the places or had happened. Including on the slaves who had the Lamido in ancient times as prisoners of war and sold to slave traders. Or we see the shields of tanned elephant ears, which are used for defense.
We also meet the present eighteenth Lamido of Ngaoundere Mohamadou Hayatou Issa, in a white robe with a cell phone at the ear is sitting in front of a building. may the new palace building, in which he resides, and his own palace mosque visit we do not.
the evening is a lot going on in the streets, because It is New Year. If New Year is not celebrated, so you can see today, all bars and restaurants full. Where we have dinner, I get a beer - just Muslim. But in the bar next door, seated about as many Muslims as Christians and celebrate the New Year with plenty of beer.
Sunday, 02/01/2011
morning we will try to find a car in Ngaoundere, because we want to visit the Benoué National Park. We only know that it exists, but not how to get there. In Ngaoundere all seem to know how to get somewhere, but it is not clear whether it is the Benoué Park. Finally, we find someone who wants us to drive a car. It is difficult to negotiate in French. The price is at 40,000 francs, which seems far too expensive. We therefore decided by public transport to the entrance of the park to drive. There is marked on the map as a major point of a town called Banda, where you will find somebody that drives us into the park. No sooner said than done. While we wait for the bus is full, we drink our first yogurt! Most Fulani live namely, the raising of cattle and therefore know also that you can drink milk and turn it into yogurt.
As we Banda arrive, we see, however, that it is a "city" of thirty mud huts, in which there is no single car seems much less than to give a taxi. Our plan for less from Banda from driving into the park may not seem so to be working.
Once we are there, but there are three motorcyclists approached who want to leave us, but for 60000 francs! This is in our travel budget is not scheduled. As they settled down to act only after several calls and 58 000 and we have asked in the "city" if it is only this one chance to get into the park, we decide the next bus stop and continue north to drive. To our surprise, they go away again.
We sat thus on the road to deal with the children and wait. After half an hour is one of the riders back and says that it us because we are volunteers, etc., would go for 30,000, what do we do it. The bikers are back again, probably they were afraid that we might yet take a bus.
On the thirty miles into the park we see the first antelopes and monkeys. The camp is located really beautiful, right on a river that is only one major stream and on the desiccated bed of sand you can watch baboons.
We take a walk around the camp and may even constitute the first traces of elephants. should
Monday, 01/03/2011
morning it actually give six clock breakfast, so we can start with the sunrise. This works but not quite. So we start at seven clock with our guide. The paths through the park, we place on foot. We walk down the river a bit. On the way we see the first baboons in the trees, Footprints of hippos, hyenas and buffalo black. Finally, we reach a small hill on the banks of the river, of which we have a good view. The rising sun penetrates the mist on the water surface, which we make between the heads of hippos. We can even go down to the shore and look at them up close. Namely the time being they remain in the water. At night the hippos would leave the water and up to 20 kilometers run to eat. At three or four clock they went back into the water because it is too cold outside. 
similar Either way, our guide explained it in French.
We go two miles, because there is a second family. Such is composed of a bull and several females with their children. We are sitting on a promontory in the middle of the river and can also watch a lot of colorful birds. We also observed a baboon colony that resides across the river and whose members come nearer curiously.
The hippos leave the water in succession to the sun on a sandbank, and with a Slowness, you can not imagine. You could stay for hours sitting there and watch nature when the sun would not be getting hotter.
Back at the first hippopotamus family, we now see, three crocodiles basking at least ten clock here.
After a break and a nap, it goes on for three clock. We do want to finally see the elephants, giraffes and hyenas. But you have to walk already have some luck. And so we arrive at six clock back to the camp. We have many antelopes, Termite mounds and the footprints of animals that live else seen here. But we will still visit a park.
Tuesday, 01/04/2011
the morning we let ourselves again early drive out of the park and will enable the Street also like a relatively empty bus to stop Garoua. We notice that you have on the buses in the north much more space and the roads are much better anyway. This is related to that of the first of the two Cameroonian presidents came from the North. In Garoua, the third largest city in Cameroon, we have to change because we still want to continue to Maroua in the far north of Cameroon. Enough time for a little lunch and then it's on already. The landscape becomes more arid. In the rivers, no water is more. Along the way there to buy very different things, such as crackers made from caramelized sesame seeds and the fruits of the baobab / baobab tree.
cotton harvest on the roadside
Once in Maroua, we are equal before the bus approached by a man posing as an organizer Desk. And indeed, his name is also recommended in the guidebook. We can show a cheap hotel and then gather with him to listen to his offer. Since we no longer have as much time to experiment and he sounds trustworthy, we respond to the proposal to rent a car for two days with a driver who drives us in the Waza National Park.
For supper, here in the north are also totally different things than in Kumbo, such as couscous de Riz (Rice Fufu) and you drink black tea flavored with cloves.
We eat fish and salad (!). As we finished our plates of children are cleared. The fish are one of the seller and go to hand her something. But no, the children sat under the tree a little off and chew up the fish bones before they lick the plates. You will notice us more often that one encounters here many begging children. Unlike in the south, there are not many food, which is caused by the long dry season. Indeed, we are already in the Sahel. And of course it creates a country like Cameroon not to bring the bananas from the south to the north.
Wednesday, 05/01/2011
The driver, a jolly old Muslim, on time by the clock at six hotels. After one of filling up the food and the shopping of adequate, it continues in the north. West of the road we see the mountains, which already belong to Nigeria, and east to the border begin to Chad. On the way we also have many overloaded trucks encounter on the way to Chad and motorcycles, each carrying 4 bottles priced gas from Nigeria to Maroua.
After two hours we reached Waza. Upon entering the park, there is a camp of small round huts in the geradeso fit a double bed. We buy our houses and then there're off to the park on the back of our pickup standing can be seen particularly well in the vast savannah of the park. Many bird and antelope species to cross our path and at some point we can also make the first giraffe. Madness! We can get close and go.
To watch the sunset, we climb the small hill next to the camp. It has a beautiful view of the Waza park, but the great African sun sinks in more dust, which is in the air as the horizons. After a dinner of rice, fufu and chicken in a sauce of dried okra, we go to a tea in the city of Vasa.
Thursday, 06/01/2011
morning after sunrise, we drive into the park again, we see many antelope and giraffes, but warthogs and ostriches are moving in the grass. The width of steppe is simply breathtaking.
We go right across the park from the elephant, however, lacks any trace. Our guide, who should perhaps know where we can find it happens a few times in the past on the way elephants detect clusters and professionally that they are dead. Thus we reach the late afternoon Maroua.
But all the other magnificent animals, plants and landscapes, could we see in the Waza park, let us forget that we also were no elephants to face.
Friday, 01/07/2011
the day we shall try to relax. We stroll through town and cross the river, which flows through Maroua. Cross is perhaps too much to say, because a board is sufficient for healing to come about in the river bed remaining puddles. But actually wash themselves in these green puddles, people who have no access to clean water. No wonder that here last fall Cholera has broken out.
We go to the big market. There are things such as buying dates, with Arabic music CDs and snake skin, and the offer of the cutter is different than in the south. Many things have happened over into Chad from the Middle East here.
Then we accompany Mona and Martin to the bus. The drive that is already back today because Mona work on Monday in hospital.
We want three but still something to see:
Saturday, 08/01/2011
Roumsiki is a village in the mountains near Maroua, about 2 hours by car. It is described in the guidebook as a very nice place for tourists because of the rocky cone of volcanic origin. We have again rented a car, arrange a guide and then it goes off early in the morning. It starts with the fact that we run over on the way a sheep that was really stupid and could not wait by the roadside. But these are the drawbacks, if a road is paved and you can drive 100km / h. Once in Roumsiki, we walk through the valley with the famous rock cones. They are really beautiful.
After an hour we are ready. Actually, we expected more and maybe twenty years of our guides are also no pains neither English nor French, nor German, which he can speak just a bit to tell us something, for example, about the religious significance of the mountains. Instead, we are guided by a "tourist attraction" to another, where you can see how the villagers Cotton spinning, make crafts, such as wooden flutes and clay vessels. It is striking how much it is designed to get the money of tourists. Poverty is on display. The people who have dirtier clothes, as seen in any other of my village in Cameroon, although probably by the tourists have a lot more money. All children stretch out their hands and call "Cadeau , Cadeau (Gift). One would have changed from us five euros (that is 3000 francs!). We feel uncomfortable and want as quickly as possible away. From the warmth that you get otherwise met with in Cameroon, is nothing to feel.
We go past the crab magician. For 1000 francs, you can leave here predict the future. An old man sits in front of his round hut. After we have asked a question, small sticks are arranged in a clay bowl filled with sand. Then, a freshwater crab is discussed from the magician, spat upon and held to your ear before they have into the bowl and closes with a cover. The crab is now working. From the position of the poles of the magician can then read the future. Although it is quite funny, but here it becomes clear how much it aimed at tourists.
After a bowl of millet beer, which traditionally here is brewed, let us get back so quickly on the road to Ngaoundere.
Sunday, 01/09/2011
relaxed we begin our journey home. The big tour bus leaves from Maroua by up to Ngaoundere. Again and again he continues to adhere to the Muslim prayer times. Then pour almost all washed to the next mosque, and pray before we can proceed.
Monday, 10/01/2011
morning we are back to early to buy tickets for the train. Ticket sales are a little more relaxed here, not because they want too many people buy tickets, but still everything is strictly regulated by police. When we have the cards, we go have breakfast in front of the station, drinking rice with sauce and French bread, a cup of coffee and watch the arrival of the train from Yaounde.
And then we need to bring about the day. We stroll through the large market in Ngaoundere and try all the bars in the vicinity of the market a try. In one of these bars we sit at a Topampelmous (something like lemonade). At the next table is a rather drunken man at noon at three clock can not sit quite straight. This starts at some point, encouraged by our presence, give loud verbal abuse of himself in French. (. It is good if you at least know a few swear words in French) He yells something like this: "The Sarkozy's friends, the French should leave our country. The assholes have no business here! The all want to rob us. "As long as he is sitting still and sitting still a few men among us, we drink quietly and pretend we would not understand. Eventually, he realizes that we are not French and repeatedly in a fort probably the only German word he knows: "Pig". When he finally stopped independently a motorcycle taxi and drove away is to throw us the rest of Cameroon friendly, embarrassed glances, in the hope that we have really understood anything. What would be probably allowed to listen to a black foreigners by a drunken Germans?
While we wait for the train at the station, joins a football team to us. The boys play in a football team in Yaoundé and are on the way home from a game.
you just sat around us and try with a few words of English to get our phone numbers. The interest lies not only in the white women, but I could give, for example, someone in the German Bundesliga (just because I have such good contacts).
the train of the evening is quite funny. We teach the boys playing cards and get them shown photographs of their children.
Tuesday, 11/01/2011
This time the train arrives on time in Yaounde. We easily get a bus to Bamenda and from there to Kumbo. And so we come despite flat tire by eight clock in the evening at home, where we do have no water for washing. But for us, Jean-Baptiste welcomed with a delicious dinner.
It's really hard to believe that just two weeks we were away. So many new and beautiful, what we saw in that other part of Cameroon. We get to Cameroon as an extremely diverse country know that lives up to its nickname " Afrique en miniature" credit.
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