The crab fortune teller of Rhumsiki

In the village itself there is a feticheur, who is contacted by the Animist inhabitants in case of a  problem or if someone urgently needs an advice. This feticheur has got a crab, with whose help he forecasts the future. The crab is put in a calabash with sand and water and covered for several minutes. Depending on where the crab is staying after some minutes, there is already an answer to the question the client had asked. I had asked the crab, whether the remaining trip would go well or whether I must pay additional attention somewhere. The feticheur had to ask the crab once more, as she did not sit exactly to give a doubtless answer. According to the crab the remaining trip will run without any bigger problems, but it might be difficult once a while.


Ah, Nigeria? Quite interesting!
The next day, Vandi and me lent a motorcycle and went to a small market in the countryside. The way out there was more like a path, but I liked this small market much better than the big one in Rhumsiki. Here, there are no tourists and no one is asking for money, candies or presents.
In the afternoon, we drove in the other direction, to pay a visit to the ill grandfather. He lives on the other side of the border in Nigeria. A dried out small river "marks" the border. The more than 80-year-old grandfather had fallen at night and has injured himself, but thank God there were no broken bones. We got a doctor seeing him, who also wrote down a prescription for some medicine. I myself stayed in the meanwhile with the women of the house. We ate dry fruits similar to cherries, which were, what a miracle, quite dusty, but otherwise very tasty.
After we visited many other cousins, uncles, aunts and heaps of friends, we drove back to Rhumsiki.
At the restaurant of my hotel, there was already the roasted chicken waiting for us, which we had bought at the market in the morning.
After two days in the mountains, we went back to Maroua by bike and minibus. In Maroua, there are quite a few things to see also. There is a huge market, a museum and an artists market. Besides, people are very friendly here and very interested in the whereabouts of any tourist in town (not that there are many there). So, I made friends with Yero, who is working in the pharmacy industry. We had quite a few interesting talks and I hope we stay in contact.

Northern Cameroon and the Harmattan

Train to Ngaoundéré

The following morning, I tried my luck again at the train station, and voila, I was able to buy a first class seat ticket for the train to N'Gaoundere the same evening. That morning I found out, that these tickets can be bought the earliest 24 hours in advance. As the train leaves 06.10pm, and however, the ticket counter closes at 06.00pm, there is no way getting the ticket the day before….. If only everything was so accurate in Africa…

Kathrin

When buying the ticket in the station, I got to know Katrin, who is originally from a village on the Ring Road. The last 10 years, she spent in Stuttgart/Germany, where she has got a small beauty saloon! The world is sometimes really a village!
The train started exactly at 06.10pm, which I took as a good omen. Normally, the journey should take about 14 hours, however, sometimes, the passengers sit in the train for three days, as the trains are likely to jump out of the rails….

Harmattan

Shortly after we left the station, Katrin and I began our search for free beds in one of the sleeping cars. It turned out, that a Muslim friend of Katrin knows quite a few of the conductors, and so we headed there to ask for available beds. It took a while, but after one hour, we had two free beds. Apparently, sold out does not necessarily mean sold out. It just depends in whose pockets the additional money is going… Anyway, the journey became so much more comfortable, and all that for just 11 Euros more!
Apparently, I was back on the sunny side of life, as we reached N'Gaoundere the next day at 08.30 am. I was told, that in the same train, there were three ministers travelling, so everybody worked on the fact that this train had no delay. In that case, in the future, I will try to travel all the time with some ministers on board….
In N'Gaoundere, the mainly Christian southern Cameroon and the mainly Muslim northern Cameroon meet. There are many mosques, but also a big cathedral, many Christian shops next to those with prayer mats and Koran stands. Halal butcher shops beside loud DVD players with dubious movies.

Relais Ferngo, Maroua

All that came with a very strange kind of weather, which seemed foggy at first sight, but, actually, was whirled up dust and sand from the Saharadesert, the so-called Harmattan.
In N`Gaoundere, there is not so much to see or to do, but it is still good enough for a relaxed day in a not touristy town and a stroll through the market. Besides, I got to know here quite a few friendly people like Yanick from a Cameroonian newspaper and Patrick and Presley, who were here for a job training and were travelling in the same train.

Restaurant Hilton

My next destination was Maroua. As the road was in good condition, it took us only nine hours for these 550 kilometers including breaks.
Maroua and surroundings were also suffering from the Harmattan wind, which should normally blow between november and the beginning of february. The word climate change is also here not unknown anymore. This wind is transporting fine dust and sand, which dries up the area, which is by nature already very dry. Of course, this is very bad not only for streets and buildings, but also for people, animals and plants. The skin gets dry within a very short time, people are constantly coughing and eye problems become a normality. (Especially great for someone like me, who is not really blessed with great eyes anyway…). In Maroua, I spent the night at a hostel with nice African round huts, called Relay Ferngo.

Rhumsiki

The following morning, I left for Rhumsiki in the Mandara Mountains close to the Nigerian border. Travelling with me was Vandi, the receptionist of Relay Ferngo, as his cousin was about to marry the same day in Rhumsiki.
There is a tarred road all the way to Mokolo, the only bigger place in this area. Here the tarred road ends, as most of the public transport. So, except of market days, all people travel by motorbikes.

Market around Rhumsiki

These motorbike taxi guys speed usually like lunatics completely overloaded on sandy tracks with more potholes one can count. It is quite an experience and after these 55 kilometers to Rhumsiki the least, one encounters is a very sore bottom, but it is absolutely worth it. Dust from below from the road, dust from above by the Harmattan wind, from the side by oncoming cars and occasional trucks, dust of all sides. A backpack is no problem for such a motorcycle taxi, the load is just put on the front, and off we go….

Market in Sir

After 2.5 hours on the bikes, we arrived in Rhumsiki, a village in the middle of an absolutely spectacular scenery. There are rocks and mountains just everywhere, because of the sand in the air, one could only see the ones not too far away. However, this was creating a very interesting, nearly surreal atmosphere, where people seemed very small and somehow lost in the big dust and amid the great scenery…

Market in Sir

Rhumsiki is one of the bigger villages in the area with about 4200 habitants. The main thing here is agriculture and sheep and goat herding, but also increasingly tourism. Currently, there is no season, but there must be quite some tourists in between june and august and november to january. Many tourists come here for trekking, on foot or by horse. Also, there are a few climbers, who try the precipitously rising rocks.
With Costa, a young guide, I explored the village and the market. Here the people belong to quite different religions – there are Christians, Muslims and Animists. All of them are living peacefully side by side and with each other. Actually, really with each other, because marriages between the religions are absolutely usual and normal, the children have the religion of the father.

Wedding

In the late afternoon, Vandi, Costa and I headed to the wedding of Vandis cousin. He was marrying his fourth wife! The brides are paid by the father, normally three cows or their equivalent in money. A man can marry as many women as he wants, as long as he has the money for doing so. In addition to the payment for the bride, there is the wedding itself, which needs to be paid (here were about 400 people attending) and for sure the husband has to give each of his wives the same attendance in time and money.

Wedding

This system is not unknown in Muslim society, if limited to the amount of wives, but it was new for me, that Animists do the same. This wedding was an Animist wedding with traditional music, dance and gifts (mostly money). All this was on open field with a lot of onlookers on the other side of the fence trying to catch one or the other banknote flying through the air….

Northern Cameroon Village

This was a great opportunity to take photos of men, women and children in their traditional dresses. A unique experience and I cannot thank Vandi enough that I was able to attend this wedding not to speak of the other help with buying CDs, getting transport, changing money, etc.

Days, you do not want to have at all...

Around midday the next day, we reached Yaounde and went back to the hostel of the Presbyterian Church. As my friends wanted to travel south, they were in need for a visa for DRC. So, this was the first place we went to. The application for the visa was very straight forward here, but in the middle of this process, there was heavy shouting outside in the backyard of the embassy. Suddenly, there was a man lying there, who did not move anymore! The secretary explained, also shattered, that there were some people, who unloaded this man in the courtyard. He was dead, apparently without any family, and from Congo. This is Africa; nobody knew what to do now. So, no one did anything and this poor man was lying dead in the sun in the backyard of his embassy!
Before we left, Barbara and I covered the man with a sheet, which was lying next to him anyway. This is probably the least, what one can do in such a case!
The following day in Yaounde was an extremely bad one also. Nothing worked out. Barbara and I went to town to accomplish quite a few things. First, we wanted to print out some photos, which we wanted to send by post to some new friends along the Ring Road. As this lasted forever, we decided to go in the meanwhile to the French cultural institute to get the musical tickets for the same evening – unfortunately, nobody had heard about this musical, for which Daniel has seen advertisement somewhere on the street… Next, we went to a sport shop for some t-shirts for Barbara. Well, there were t-shirts, but neither the color nor the price matched. Back to the photo shop – the photos still needed time and were not finished. So, we tried to buy a train ticket for tomorrow going to N'Gaoundere. Completely unsuccessfully, we gave up after being sent from one office to the other for about an hour. These are the days I ask myself honestly, what the hell am I doing here? Finally, the internet cafe, where it took me 30 minutes to open my account, and then there was no connection anymore….
As the others also did not have a great day, we decided to go out for dinner tonight (in the meantime, five tourists). No good idea, as on the way back to the hostel we were attacked by four men with iron sticks and machetes. The first man came from the back and bumped into Barbara and me, apparently trying to bring us to fall. We both knew instinctively on the spot, that there is something going terribly wrong, if an African runs in the dark. So, we started to run as well, another female friend and Daniel did the same. It was maybe another 200 or 300 meters to the hostel. Then, there were another three men jumping out of the bushes, who went after Marcel, who was the last one and therefore had to defend himself. They hit him with the iron stick, robbed everything, he carried. Later, it turned out, that this could have gone out a lot worse, as these sort of bandits are often completely drugged and people get killed for the equivalent of 5 euros or less.
For sure, it meant a lot of running around for Marcel, as he lost a lot of papers, like car documents, driving license, international vaccination card, mobile phone…. We all had to go to the police station for a protocol, which we had to pay. Later, it turned out, that Susanna of the hostel had to pay the police to come at all! But, it was still a blessing in disguise, as no one was really bad injured!

Ringroad

The good old Landy

After four days in Kribi, we headed to Limbe. Limbe is also at the sea, indeed, the view is a little bit spoiled due to some oil drilling platforms nearby. Limbe is the starting point for climbing Mount Cameroon, with more than 4000 meters the highest mountain of West Africa.
However, from Limbe, there is also access to the Ring Road further to the north. As Daniel wanted to climb the mountain, Marcel and Barbara wanted to do the Ring Road, there was a free place in the car!

Village children on the Ring Road

The Ring Road is just 400 kilometers long and is in a very mountainous area near the border to Nigeria. All together we spent five days exploring this beautiful area. The first day, we went partly back on the road towards Douala. However, before reaching this huge city, we turned north towards Bamenda. There are thick banana and palm tree plantations on both sides of the street. Later, it became hilly and, unfortunately, also more and more cloudy. All of a sudden it poured like crazy. Unfortunately, not only outside, it rained also heavily into the car, well, this happens, when travelling in a very old car…
Shortly before getting dark, we reached our aim for today, Bamenda. Unfortunately, the mission, where we wanted to spend the night, was booked up, but according to the GPS, there was another inexpensive option in the old part of town. Strange enough, this hotel, based in the old town was called "New City Hotel". However, the hotel was okay with good beds, private bathroom, each room contained two condoms and a poster on the door saying it is a HIV free hotel…!

Termites house

In the evening, we cooked a delicious dinner with fresh mushrooms bought on the street, a few onions and rice. However, cleaning these forest mushrooms was a major issue and not as easy as our mushrooms back home…. The bathroom did not look that great any more after this extensive washing of our mushrooms… But at least it tasted great.
The next day our adventure on the Ring Road started. The road was in good condition and it was very nice to drive here. After the village of  Wum (what a name) the nice road deteriorated and it became worse and worse. There were gigantic holes in the middle of the road, for sure, it was not tarred any more since a long time, and then there was a really steep gradient, which we made only with the second approach…. We also passed villages with funny names like We, Su Bum and, finally, Bum.

Computer specialists

Shortly after the gradient, we found out, that we lose quite some oil. Somehow, the oil tube got a hole. Now, we had to improvise, as it is not possible just simply to shorten the tube and to attach the remaining piece, as this requires special tools, which we did not carry with us. So we cut a piece of a water hose and created a cover round the original tube as a strengthening. The whole thing we wrapped in firm adhesive tape and hoped this would do till the next bigger village with a garage and some good mechanic…
For sure, the whole action took quite some time and we found ourselves on a bad road in the middle of nowhere and it was soon getting dark. But what for did we carry tents and sleeping bags? So, we watched out for a suitable piece of land. However, in the mountains it is not that easy to find a reasonable big enough place for a car with roof tent and another tent next to it.
Shortly before it was completely dark, we found a more or less convenient, nearly even spot with some grass bundles and whipped our night's lodging.

Ringroad

Our dinner creation was interesting, if not exactly gourmet style, as we involuntarily garnished our rice corn mixture with a few ants and various night butterflies. At least we had two bottles of beer to wash it down….
The next day, the road was not really an awful lot better. Partially, the rain had dug deep channels in the red sand of the track, in parts it was nearly one meter going down – basically in the middle of the street…. Later this day, we read a small note in the guide book saying, that the authors recommend walking this part of the Ring Road… Well, as the name indicates, this road is more or less round, the author fails to tell, how the driver would get back to his car after walking these 20 kilometers… Good fun!

Mechanics

Despite the bad roads, the area is wonderful, very mountainous, many small villages with extremely friendly people, rather unspoiled from tourism. No wonder that there are not so many tourists out here given the road conditions!
The early afternoon we reached Nkambe. A local mechanic tried more or less without any success to repair the leaky oil tube. As it took quite some time and it started to rain anyway, we based ourselves in Millennium Hotel. The room was nice, apart from the curtain rail that nearly killed me, when it fell down, while I was writing my diary. The fact that the wash basin was not connected with the drainpipe was also no problem, as there was no running water anyway.  Instead, a very nice hotel crew brought buckets full of really hot water to the rooms.

Fon Palace

In the late afternoon, we got to know three Belgians, who support a school in a village nearby. They were accompanied by Denis, a Cameroonian, who studies in Belgium and is originally from the village with the school project. In the evening, we squeezed everybody in Denis small car and went to a local bar with attached restaurant for dinner. It was an extremely funny evening, partly, as it took the kitchen nearly two hours to prepare our food. The waiting time most of us filled with quite some beer on an empty stomach…

Fon

The next morning, another mechanic came and tried his luck (skills?) to attach the oil tube. This attempt was a bit more successful than yesterdays one, as it was still leaking, but only a little bit. So, by midday, we could continue our journey.

Fon Palace

The street became a little better now, and we were able to move faster. Along the Ring Road, there are many villages, where people are still living a very traditional life. Here, they still have Fons, village chiefs, who live in palaces and are highly respected men. It is a very men orientated society, as a female tourist one must be careful not to insult the etiquette. In the village of Mbot, we found a Fon palace right at the street. There were several men, who were happy to explain the drawings on the walls and the masks at the door entrances. The Fon himself is a very friendly man who even permitted us to visit the palace and to take photos! Once again a great experience with the spontaneity of the Africans!

Barbara

This day, we went even further to Kumbo and drove to the highly recommended Merryland Hotel. Maybe too much recommendation in the guide books, as neither the employees nor the hotel was that great. Well, it was clean and there was warm water. This is a kind of important at an altitude of nearly 2000 meters, as it was pretty chilly here…. Above all it started to rain again.
The next morning, we found a nice small restaurant with great omelets for just 250 CFA. These are about 35 eurocents per omelet. After that, we headed for the road towards Yaounde. Slowly we lost height and in the late afternoon, we reached Bandjoun. It was another four hours to Yaounde, so we based ourselves in a not quite clean, but okay hotel. At night, however, here I had to fight the cockroach battle of my life. Unfortunately, I had not washed down a dead cockroach. So, consequently, at night the relatives came to the burial, basically, all available cockroaches of the entire hotel were in my bathroom… This was almost an invasion, but these animals do not like bright light, and so most of them disappeared in holes and I simply kept the light on in the bathroom. For sure after flushing the dead one down the toilet….

Beachlife in Cameroon

As easy as it was to cross from Gabon into Cameroon, so difficult it was to get away from this wretched nest on the border and towards Yaounde. It took ages for the shared taxi to get full. After nearly two hours of waiting time, finally, we were six people plus driver. The car was extremely old and in a very poor condition, so I had (entitled) worries that we would make the 26 kilometers to Ambam. Well, the first thing we found on the street was another car, which has driven off the road, then we had to wait for half an hour for a broken, across-standing truck to be removed, finally our right front tire blocked. Notable, during driving! The driver maltreated the tire with a hammer, which in spite of (because of?) the treatment moved no millimeter. However, it was possible to go backwards….

Kribi beach

Well, this is Africa, so we drove the last 12 kilometers through the hills and forests backwards. After the car broke down completely two kilometers before Ambam, I changed to a motorcycle taxi and finally reached the bus station of Ambam after nearly three hours traveling time for 26 kilometers. The remaining way to Yaounde was easy in comparison – just five hours in a coach, which was very full, but had no single breakdown….
In Yaounde, I found accommodation in the guest house of the Presbyterian Church. An inexpensive option, besides, quite centrally situated, moreover, the only possibility in the city for campers. That is the reason, why one can find here a lot of overlanders from all over the world.

Meeting on the campgrounds in Kribi

Here, I got to know Marcel and Daniel from Germany and Barbara from Austria. They started in october last year in Germany in a 31 year-old vehicle and are on the way to South Africa. Our plans were the same for the next few days, thus it was obvious that we do it together.

Womens day, Kribi

Two days later, we went to Kribi, the other three by car (which was so full with the three of them and their luggage, that there was no room for another person), so I went by bus. Kribi is a really nice small place by the sea. The hotel Tara Beach is even a few kilometers from the city on an especially nice piece of beach with quite bright sand. This was exactly what I needed after all these long journeys by bus. Having a rest, doing a barbecue with my new friends, lying on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and finally, reading a book, which had nothing to do with planning the further steps of my travels…. Vacation instead oftravelling!

Albert Schweitzer

Hospital of Albert Schweitzer, Lambarene

The next day, I went by collective taxi to Lambarene. The street winds through very thick rain forest, every now and then small villages or single houses. In Gabon, there are only about 1.5 million people, more than half of them live in the capital. In Lambarene, I stayed with the Soeurs Bleues, Christian sisters, who rent some rooms to travellers. The most important place of interest in Lambarene, actually, also the only, is the hospitalof Albert Schweitzer. Here, there is a museum with photos, old pieces of furniture and various surgical cutleries, machines and microscopes from the time of Albert Schweitzer. At that time today the clinic was apparently better equipped than various other african medical centers nowadays… The clinic is still operating, and people here are treated here for a donation only. Otherwise Lambarene is a town with about 30,000 inhabitants. Life here is rather quiet and contemplative.

Hospital of Albert Schweitzer, Lambarene

During breakfast, I got to know a local, who offered me to bring me to a friend, who speaks German. At the end, it was not German, but English, still it was very interesting, as this man was the prison director of Lambarene. Here, there are 200 people arrested, indeed, the rooms are so incredibly full, that he has decided, that the prisoners may stay outside during daytime. It seems first like a normal village here, laundry is washed, toddlers are supplied – only that the villagers are not allowed to leave the area.

To Port Gentil - by boat

The next day, I took the boat from Lambarene to Port Gentil. Here there is no road, travellers can take either the boat or fly. A kind of strange, that the most important industrial town of the country, Port Gentil, is not accessible by road. However, the trip on the river was wonderful, the river is very wide, but mostly the boat was going along the shore, so I had plenty of time to take in the nice scenery of the jungle. Animals are not to be seen here, but plenty of gigantic trees, bushes, palm trees, every now and then small villages, often with colossal churches. The journey lasts about 7 hours and it was no single second boring.

Towards Port Gentil

Though Port Gentil is the most important industrial town of Gabon, however, it gives a very provincial impression. There are hardly high buildings except of the harbor buildings and the oil pile works in the sea. During the fruitless search for a working internet cafe (no connection because of thunderstorm last night) I got to know Gisela from Germany. She is living since many years in Gabon, is married here with a local and just left her work to drive me around by car! Port Gentil is not exactly blessed with places of interest, but there is a nice beach, the buildings from Total, the harbor area with a view over the oil rigs in the ocean and the new hospital. Thanks a lot to Gisela for a great afternoon with much info about country and people!

Pepes Family

Pepe

The following day, I returned to Libreville via the ocean in a big ferry. After one more night in Libreville, I traveled by minibus to Oyem near the border with Cameroon. In the coach, I got to know Pepe, who is married in France, and who on the way for a brief visit of her parents in Oyem. Travelling with her was two-year-old son Cameron. She offered me instead of staying in a boring hotel to come with her to her family. Things like these are always exciting! The father is divorced from Pepe's mum since a long time and has married anew. Polygamy is here something very normal, he is married with two women and has a somewhat unknown number of children. Place and money is limited and of course everybody must help. Older children from approx. 6 years pay attention to the smaller ones, others cook, wash laundry or dishes or get wood for the cooking fire. I shared room and bed with Pepe and Cameron. Because the bed was not really exorbitant big, I was hit once a while by arms and legs of a not so good sleeping Cameron. After I decided to sleep the other way around in bed, it became more spacious and I also caught some sleep. People here like Pepe and her family are very rich in heart, and I want to say thanks a lot for this very interesting day with your family. I felt treated like a Queen staying in your house and I hope to meet somewhere in Europe next time. The remaining way to the border was easy, also the border itself was no problem and after few minutes I was in Cameroon! If just all borders were simple as that one! In the meantime, I am in Kribi, a small town by the sea and enjoy a few days being lazy on the beach. The next mail will cover Cameroon. Greetings from Kribi, and, as usual, I am glad receiving mails.

Visa shopping and crazy embassadors

Libreville, Gabon

Libreville, Gabon

The first full day in Libreville I spent with organizing the visas for Cameroon and Nigeria. For Cameroon was absolutely unproblematic and done within 1.5 hours. For Nigeria was a little more difficult. First I had to wait quite long because Madame secretary had to eat her lunch just at that moment – about 20 people waited patiently, until she finished. Everybody knew, that this lady is the important one for getting the visa. So, whether one is angry or not, you have to remain quiet and polite, otherwise you already failed before you get to see the ambassador himself…. The ambassador wanted to see a letter of invitation, which I could not present, of course. Where should something like this come from, the few Nigerians from Regensburg I know, might be better not to mention at all… In any case, I tried to convince him, that I work in tourism and I try to get into contact with other agencies in Nigeria to bring finally the amount of tourists into Nigeria, which this beautiful country deserves…. He apparently liked the answer, in any case, I was allowed to fill my request form, deliver two photos and pay the enormous sum of 50,000 CFA, about 75 euros. Whether the ambassador is known for being eccentric or not, I do not know, but up to now I never had to paint a colorful map with my travel itinerary for a visa. But well, there is a first time for everything. So I copied a map from Lonely Planet, bought some nice pens in four colors and started to paint. Actually, I wanted to travel around only the northern part of Nigeria, but as the ambassador was from the south, I had to plan the itinerary in such a way, that his regions are also represented. Proudly I presented in the afternoon my work, which was fixed to the other documents. The next day, I went back as told at 12.00 o'clock. And there was a wonderful, richly colored visa in my passport, and there was an ambassador really proud of his work of the day… As I was into organizing visas now, I just continued and went also to the embassy of Benin.