Douala

Even if i was considering Douala a bit like LA in California: a big, dirty and noisy town where there is not that much to do, and if I said that i would keep this destination for the day i have nowhere else to go (and i never went to LA, menaing that there are many other places to go to in Camifornia!) , i finally went to the economical capital of Cameroon last weekend.

Actually, whereas most of the people I met don't like this city: too big (4 millions inhabitants), too noisy and dirty, too much traffic, too much rain, too hot, and above all, too dangerous, i didn't hate it that much.
Maybe i was lucky to be hosted by a friend in the suburb, it wasn't that hot (no more than 30°C i think) and it was raining only at night. But we did stayed stuck in the traffic twice during about an hour.




Unfortunately i didn't get the chance to visit a lot because my friend was sick (malaria i guess). i just met a nice Couchsurfer who took us in his car and showed us some parts of the city.

Dschang

Yes, Dschang, because I never really write about my daylife in Dschang.
Actually there are not many things to say except that I work hard and spend all my evenings dancing and my sunny weekends diving at the climatic center...
I promise that, as i soon as i can, i'll upload the pictures missing on the last articles of this blog.

Work:
After walking all around the town and asking 200 people what they know about compost, i'm working on an economic analysis for starting a composting site. i got the congratulations from my advisors and i can take a week of vacations in the north :D (but i dont know if i will because i'm afraid of not having time to finish everything...)

Dance:
As i said, i dance everyday. so far i know: rock'n'roll (not the same than we have in france or US), jazz, jive, salsa, congolese rumba, latin rumba, samba, tchatcha, lambada, english valz, viennese valz, french valz and 2 cameroonian traditional dances: bol and bottle dance!
we have a regional competition this weekend, but i won't go bc i'll be in Douala. however, i'll go to the national one, next we in Yaoundé!
i wish i had pictures t show you...

Swimming Pool:
This is where I spend almost all my weekends these days. Because I need to relax, and bc it's usually sunny (at least in the morning, the evenings are always rainy...).
It's funny to think that i couldn't fin a diving board in California, and that i have one here, in a small town in Cameroon!
maybe i'll be able to take diving lessons again when i'm back to france? my level is getting better :D

Bandjoun and Foumban

As I live in THE regions of Chefferie (“Palaces” in English), I realize that I never visited one of them. This is a good weekend to stay in the region and get to know a bit more of “my” culture ;-)

Saturday in Bandjoun
Bandjoun is a small village near Bafoussam, about 1h30 deriving from Dschang, where a volunteer friend lives and doesn’t have much fun…
Even after one year spent there, he never visited the museum of the chefferie, so we decided to go together (the pictures are not mine, remember that I broke my camera…)


Sunday in Foumban
Of course, I don’t use Couchsurfing in Africa as much as in the US. But when I do, it turns out in very interesting and string experiences J
On the suggestion of a Couchsurfer, I went to the west of the West province, in Foumban, where he has his family. I was hosted in the concession (the father had 4 wives), participated to the engagement of the older son, tried local food, and had very intense conversation about religion (this is another Muslim area).

I also visited the Sultana and its big museum, where I learned the entire story from the first king (1392) to the present one (the 19th). Also, the Bamoun culture is one of the most influential in the country, especially for its arts that you can find everywhere. And whereas the Bamiléké have a multitude of chefferies and languages, the Bamoun have only one King and one language, making the things easier!

The family was so nice, that they asked me to stay a night more, what I did, and went directly back to work on Monday!

Kribi

You want another bad news?
As I was spending one of my most relaxing weekend on the coast, eating grilled prawns the feet in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, my camera fell in the water…
No need to say that it’s dead (like my fridge, my laptop, my mouse, and now my external driver…)
So don’t be surprised if there are not that many pictures: I am still waiting for my friend’s ones.

But even without images, iy would be a shame not to describe such a beautiful area, so I’ll try to find the words (and the websites…) and you will imagine ;-)

It starts with a meeting in Douala with Dimitri, a friend from Yaoundé. Even if I left Dschang at 10am, we left Douala at 7pm only, and I was so tired from the night before (I went to bed at 5am after the Gala), that we decided to stop in Edea, a small town where Dimitri has family.
It’s only the day after, at sunset, that we arrived in Kribi, and spent a night in a very nice hotel for half price, Dimitri knowing the people again J

About Kribi:it’s the most touristy town in Cameroun, well known for its beautiful golden beaches and warm water all year long (but personally I prefer Limbé, its brown beaches and green volcanoes…).

The first day, we decided to see Les Chutes de la Lobé (Lobé Falls, from the name of the river that goes straight in the Atlantic Ocean).
You can get to the other side by swimming in a half-salted water, which is pretty nice!

Then you eat fresh grilled prawns and fish (don’t think about the prices, 3 times the ones in Dschang…). But unfortunately, that is when I dropped my camera in the water ‘-(

The fact is that the place was so nice, that we decided to spend a night there, in a small bungalow (just a bed, no shower or toilet, but who cares for 2000 FCFA = 3€), where you fall asleep with the sound of the waves…

We woke up early to go on a pirogue tour on the Lobé, in the tropical forest.
We visited a Pygmée Village, played Tarzan on the lianes, and even saw monkeys in the trees!
What a wild and exciting day J
Then we went back to the town, stopping at the Marina where there was the annual Fishing Race. We didn’t want to stay long and waited for only 2 boats to come back, but one of them was the winner with a huge Merlin (about 200 kg).

Last sunset on the beach…

Monts Bamboutos

Not that much to say about that weekend. As I heard a lot aout the beauty of Monts Bamboutos, a big mountain in the West province, I suggested to a couple of friends to hike there. Unfortunately, it’s been a series of facts that made the day getting worse, from late people, price negotiation, heavy rain, muddy roads and broken car…the good point: everyone is safe! :)
(and a nice and sunny sunday after that to forget everything…)

two weeks of festivities

again: if i can i'll upload pictures, my my current internet access doesn't aloow it :(

Between funerals, cultural nights, campus festivals, and national fest, I can't be bored these days! And there is no need to go away as you can find everything in the area :)

Let's start with the cultural weeks of the different villages around Dschang: each village starts its week with the "Girls Day", supposed to promote the girls's status in the modern african society. Then there are events like sport tournaments and the weeks ends with a Gala. As I have been invited by different friends to all these events, here are some comments:

The Girl’s Days :
I’ve been invited to 2 of them. The occasion to wear my pagne J
The Girl’s day is actually a night where all the people from the village are invited : the chief of course, but also the parents, the students, and anyone willing to enjoy the culture. Traditional clothes and dances, songs in dialects, cheap and traditional dishes…
Here are some pictures, but not that much because of the very bad light L

1. Girl’s Day of Fongo Tongo :
Started 3 hours late because of a power cut…
For the occasion, I made my own cloths from the same fabric they chose for the event.
2. Girl’s Day of Bafou :
This time I was not only watching, but I also went dancing for the chief of the most important village around Dschang !

To close the cultural week, the village’s association organize a Gala. Again, these event are never on time, all of them started at 11pm instead of 8pm. And when it starts, it’s not that fun : you welcome the « important people » (meaning the president of the organization for example), satnding up and clapping (i’ve never been welcomed like this even as a president !) ; then you listen to several long and boring speeches, during which everyone sleeps and get hungry ; then you watch the « artists », students singing and dancing in playback (they love it) while they are covered with bills of 500,1000 and 5000 FCFA (we call it « farotage ») ; then, you eat traditional dishes (at 2pm, next time i’ll think about dinner before !) ; then, finally, you start dancing ! (at 3pm, but you’re so tired that you prefer to leave and go to bed…).

3. Gala of Fongo Tongo :
4. Gala of College St Albert :
5. Gala of Bamendou :

My conclusion : the intention of all these event is good : promote the culture and encourage youth. But if they say that youth will change the country, it’s not by playing over the same game that previous generations ! starting 3 hours later that the hour announced, following the unchangeable « protocole » from welcoming the president like a king, presenting all the « important » people and speeches before serving the food, by order of « importance » allways (you can wait up to 2 hours before eating, standing up, if you are just a simple student…)


After student cultural events, let’s talk about official holidays.
Starting with Labor Day (1st of may). As I’m not a fan of speeches and parades, I took advantage of the 3-day weekend to travel to the North West province (see previous article). But I took a picture of my colleague Benoit, wearing the “official” clothes for the parade (shirt and cap with the city sign), like all the people more or less involved in the Town Hall work. When you think that they don’t have enough money to make good roads, fix the water pumps or buy new trucks to collect the wastes…


May 20th: National Day
If I try to escape again (we had a 5-day weekend with the Ascension Day!), an invitation by the Prefect to his Gala and, especially, a dance show, made me stay for the day.

Starting the parade: the different schools (elementary, primary and highschool), all marching and singing in hope of getting the price of the best show.

Then the clubs (I was with my dance club) and the City services (I refused to wear the shirt of the RDPC party so I stayed with the nautical club where I teach diving).

Again, so much money wasted in shirts…

North West Province - the Ring Road

The title seems attractive, but unfortunately i’ll have to be very brief on the subject, because my laptop just passed away:( (because of the numerous power cuts in the town, the electricity supply is dead…)

So here are some pix of the beautiful and various landscapes of the « Ring Road », which is more a trail (4WD or motorbikes only) that goes all around the North West province.

when the car breaks down on the bad road up the hill...


2 volunteer friends and I were hosted at a friend’s cousin’s house in Bamenda, the capital of the province, 3rd biggest city in the contry after Douala and Yaoundé.

Then we went to Dawara Ranch, one of the biggest of West Africa, with a huge Tea Estate and many animals (30 000 cows, 4 000 horses, goats, sheeps, but also ostrich and peacock)




There, the culture and the religion are well different : the Bororos are the main people, and look more like arabs (the main religion is Islam, as the mosque prooves it)

Driving North, we reached Wum, where we stayed at another cousin’s house. Another example of the Bororo people :

And from Wum, we hired the bikes to drive to Lake Nyos, very famous for the explosion that occured there in 1986 and killed 1700 people. This was due to the persence of underwater gases that are now evacuated, as shown by the fountain in the middle of the lake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nyos

We also saw Lake Wum, smaller but as quiet as the previous one.

On the way back, we got to see again Menchum Falls (that were under the rain the day before).

We finished our trip with the most famous chefferie of the province (and maybe in the entire country) : Bafut Palace. We were lucky because there was a festival that occurs only once every two years ! (and usually, when you want to see traditonal dances during the visit, you have to pay for it…)

Before coming back to this article and writing more about the amazing things we’ve seen and done, i’ll just say that it was a very pleasant trip, both in term of landscape and people, and that i really hope to go back !