Limbé !

As I'm taking advantage of Holy Friday to take the bus to Limbé, I find myself stuck outside my house by the catholic concession doing its Way of Cross (and stuck again as I'm on the motorbike to the bus station... ah, religion...)

At the bus station, I'm happy to see that the anglophone people are more organized than the francophone ones: you have a seat number and you enter the bus depending on this number, and the vehicle leave earlier. However, always for money issues, they put 3 people on 2-people seats and you're squeezed like this for 4 hours...

Most of the people you this king of transportation to go to different towns to sell their products. Plantains, cabages, potatoes, but also chicken, goats, sheeps and pigs on the roof!
You can imagine that, packed like this, the journey can only be longer... especially when you add the numerous stops for controls (toll gates, police, amry, security...).


On the road, you feel the difference in:
-landscape: from mountains, red clay and forests you reach the sandy coast and big plantations: from hevea to make plastic to bananas for exportation, the cultivation here is much more extended and the family ones in the West.
-temperature: from 1000m to 0 in altitude, you feel the temperature going up from 10°C to 30°C!

Limbé, touristy little town in the South-West province, in the english-speaking part of the country. Second biggest town of the province after Buéa the capital (located at the bottom of the volcano Mount Cameroon), Limbé is on the ocean shore.


Day 1: Newtown

As my friend Dickon and I arrive in Limbé, we meet the CouchSurfer supposed to host us for the weekend. He and his brother inherited from their father a motel and driving school that they started to manage themselves very young. Today it's like a big community with their friends who come for sleeping, showering, eating and with visitors.

Reaching Limbé at 5pm, the first thing we want to do is...to see to the Ocean!


dark sand from the lava (the biggest volcano of Africa is located 30 km away), and fishermans pirogues:

fishermans' village on the water, high tide:

After seeing this, the only thing you want to do is eating fresh fish grilled in front of you!
that's what we have done for dinner :)

Day 2: Seme Beach

Most of the beaches of Limbé are private, owned by bthe hotel, and if you are not a customer, you have to pay for the access. Seme beach is probably the best one, about 30min driving from downtown. Despite the cost of 1500FCFA and the soft drink (sodas...) offered with, all activity is charged (tennis table, volleyball, horse riding, canoe, etc.). We are really in a touristy place! and the number of white people, along with the fancy restaurant, witness it.

ah, the atlantic ocean, warm water, big waves, everything I love! :D




even more: the beach is at the fot of the "Small Mount Cameroon", that makes the sand brown and shining-gold under the sun!


looking towards the horizon, Malabo Island (Equatorial Guinea).

and the oil tankers to remind you that you are on a oil extracting area...


ones you are well salty and black-sandy, what better than jumping in the cold fresh water flowing from the mountains?


the rivers enters the hotel domain and is well equiped for swimmers:





Lava flow from the 1999 eruption (with prices doubled for foreigners, we didn't climb...)


sunset on Mount Cameroon, our next step!


Day 3: Mount Cameroon
http://www.mount-cameroon.org/en/index.htm

The most famous mountain in Cameroon, even the highest one in Africa! But to climb the 4100 meters, better to have 3 days backpacking, during the dry season. As we had neither 3 days nor dry season, we decided to climb at least to the first hut.

In Cameroon (like in Africa in general), always allow some time to get ready:
after being awaken by the christians singing at 4am in the streets (Easter day), you get up at 5:30am, wait for your friends to be ready, catch a motorbike at 6:30am, the a cab, take a bad bumpy road to avoid controls, break down, wait for other cars that will never come because 1. you're on a bad road, 2. it's 7am, 3. it's Easter day, eventually find another taxi, finish the journey with 11 people in the car (4 on the front, 6 on the back with 3 kids), take a last taxi to the tourism office in Buéa, (capital of the south-west province), and there you go, 8:30am, almost on time!

Fortunately, the guide is on time and ready to lead us to Mount Cameroon! starting at 1000m of altitude, we plan to climb another 1000m in the forests and grasslands.


View of Buéa:
Colonial German building:

Entering the tropical forest, already tired... wake up Roland, hiking is better than drinking!







Yes we can! the first hut, reached in 1:30 :) tiring, but ready to go further!

the "bedroom", in case you want to stay for the night...

Reaching the grasslands! in the fog...


After convincing the guide, we got to go to the "top":
We did it!
and the good surprise: the fog goes away, leaving a clear and beautiful view on the mountains grasslands...


... and cloudy forests:



Our guide told us that he used to do the annual Race of Hope: the winner did it (back and forth to the top, 42 km) in 4 hours and 30 minutes! (the price being 3 millions of FCFA). I understand why they can do it walking with tourists without eating and drinking!
http://www.20mai.net/2009/03/02/highlights-of-the-mount-cameroon-race-of-hope-2009/comment-page-1/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Cameroon_Race_of_Hope

Going down, and meeting some interesting species... a Chameleon!



less surprizing but also interesting: the local cows, with their various colors and, big horns and weird back bump.

In brief: a wonderful weekend, too short as always, with nice people invinting you for breakfast, dinner or a drink, and lots of English language! (everybody told me that I speak a good english for a french person, and that I had a strong american accent! some even said that I spoke a good french, before I told them that I was french :) Next step: learn Pidgin, the local language, a mixture of english, french and african dialect: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin