Now that I know some people in the city, and because I met another French volunteer working close to Dschang and going to Yaoundé this weekend, I decided to go with him (and an Taiwanese-American girl working for the Peace Corp).
As we had to meet in Bafoussam, I took my Friday off to sightsee a little bit. Children were receiving their grade report for the quarter, before the spring break. They go to school only to get their paper, the uniform is not mandatory that day, and they take advantage of it to dress up.
Less enjoyable, a father told me that to get this paper, parents have to pay 1000FCFA (1.5€) to the teacher, and the same amount is due monthly if you want the teacher to look after your kid (corruption again…).
the 8 days of the week and their meaning in the dialect of Bafoussam: (basically forbidden day, day of mourning, day of market).
I met my friends at the bus station. We decided to take a car instead of a bus, it’s quicker and safer. Foreigner or not, when you arrive in such a place, guys come from everywhere to “help” you and get you a car or a bus, and they fight each other, saying that you are their own customer...(we didn’t pay them anything though, so I don’t really understand why they fight, maybe they are paid buy the drivers afterwards). We insisted to be only 4 (+driver) in the car, otherwise they don’t mind overloading, with 8 people (
The road
Driving in Africa is an unforgettable (and scarry) experience, as well as a real sport!
First of all, you don't want to travel by night, when you know that there is no light and no white line on the road, and that drivers are paid by ride: lots of them take medicines that make them stay awake, and drink alcohol between two ride (alcoholism is never checked on the road...).
But don't think that the trip is much safer by day, as the drivers don't make a break to rest (5 hours in a row to go from Dschang to Yaoundé), answer their cellphone, use cars or buses with broken belt, windows, and speed indicator, worn tires, etc. Of course there is no speed limit (and if there is, no one will tell you that you were over), speed humps are not indicated and drivers drive in freewheeling in the slopes to save gas (more common with motorbikes though)...
Also, as I said it before, they arerly stop, using the horn to warn pedestrians crossing the road or when passing another car. And in case of collision, it's never your fault, always the other: might makes right (even on pedestrian crossing...).
And to show the danger of the cameroonian road (or african in general i guess): last week, a bus and a truck carrying beers collided: everybody died...
A volounteer from AFVP (Association Française des Volontaires du Progrèstold) told me that, among the cases of rapatriation in his program, the most important was not disease but car accident…
Enough fear, I am now going to sgo how interesting and fun a ride in Cameroon can be :)
First you cross many different and beautiful landscapes: forest, fields, mountains, villages (that's for Dschang-Yaoundé, but they are even more interesting when you go to the north or the coast). I didn't take any picture though, because of the high speed...
As the driver stops at the road tolls, kids and women run to your car or bus to sell you grilled arachides, peeled fruits, cooked meat, boiled corn or manioc, and more. The occasion for you to make your trip less monotonous while listening to the people: 'ya la mangue!", "mangez le rat!", and more comfortable while trying various kind of food for a few coins:
juicy and tasty fresh fruits (4 peeled mangos or papayas for only 100FCFA=0.1$ !), meat that you would never eat elsewhere (rat, hedgehog, wild boar, hare, snake, lizard...).
Well, other than that, even if the journey can seem pretty long (5 hours for 340km), when you think that you pay 3000FCFA (5$, price of a bart ticket for Berkeley-SF...), it's not too bad :)
Arriving in Yaoundé, the first thing we did is meeting friend and drinking in a bar, then have dinner, then go to the bar again... welcome to Yaoundé!
The good thing when you know AFVP volonteers is that you can stay in "la case", an apartment that they rent for other volonteers who have to pay only 2000FCFA/night (instead of 15000 for a hotel), in the best neighborhood: Bastos (where most white people live...). more than a cheap place, it's also a way of meeting plenty of people who stay there at the same time, talking, drinking, eating or playing football with them!
This is Bastos, you can see that the houses are way different from other villages and districts...
Downtown Yaoundé
Well, as i was not in Yaoundé for staying home sleeping, like some other volonteers, I left in the morning to sightsee by myself.
First of all, i was surprised to discover that there are public transit other than taxis and motorbikes: a bus! ("THE BUS"). But i didn't dare taking it, because there is of course no schedule...
Boulevard du 20 Mai (May 20th, 1960 is the independance day in Cameroon), with administrative buildings and big hotels:
Place du 20 Mai and Hilton Hotel:
"passports" wall in the Hilton hotel. what they call "passports" are these small masks that once served as ID, the colors meaning where you come from, what status you have, etc.
Place J.F. Kennedy:
Then I met a CS friend who took me to the Bois St Anasthasie, a small but well-kept park in the city.
" payable benches: 200FCFA per couple":
then, Lac Central, where the Prime Minister lives (my friend's cousin is fiancée to his son so we got to enter the house :)
walking all day long make hungry! Ndolé or grilled fish with fried plantains, humm...
even better than in a restaurant, fresh braised fish in the street, that you eat with manioc sticks (on the left hand side of the picture).
Yaoundé Hills
2nd day: I meet my two servicemen friends who take me to the hills to see the Convention Centre:
the Presidential Palace:
and a view on the entire city. as you can see, Yaoundé is very big (only 1 million people but very extended).
the 7 hills, that make Yaoundé as famous as Rome or San Francisco! (actually, if you consider that i take a picture from a hill and that there are others behind me, Yaoundé has actually much more than 7 hills, though it depends what size a hill should be).
Noah Country Club, or wahere Yannick Noah, the famous French-Cameroonian tennis player and singer used to play before going to France:
The club has tennis and basketball courts as well as a swimming pool and a restaurant: (as you can see, mostly white people in vacation again).
Zacharie Noah (Yannick's father), former professional soccer player, now owner of the club:
just because i like trees and strange fruits...
In brief: a nice weekend, spent sightseeing with my friends and drinking/eating with the volonteers!
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