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| 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…
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| 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….
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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….
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| 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…
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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….
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| 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.
