Adamawan Adventures!

After finishing my big camp project (which was stressful and time-consuming for months), getting strep throat and a cold and too much stress acne, I decided I needed a recovery adventure. So I declared July to be "treat yo self!" month and off I trundled!

First leg of the trip: Bansoa - Bafoussam - Yaoundé. Normally this trip isn't too bad, but one never knows how traveling will go here, and I got unlucky. There were extra checkpoints set up by the central government along the entire route, making my normal taxi ride into Bafoussam two hours instead of one. You see, these checkpoints charge 5000 CFA (a lot) if cars are "surchargé" (over-filled, which is all taxis in the West if not the country). So the taxi driver took the circuitous route through 4 different villages and rough dirt roads, only crossing the beautifully paved road we normally take, and slipping through mud as deep as the axles. At one point, we are spinning our wheels in the thick sludge, slipping sideways, and I am watching a large tree rapidly approach my window… But all the men got out of the car and pushed, so we made it through that tricky patch without incident. (This was one of the few times I was happy to be a woman here; I didn't need to get out and muck up my shoes and work up a sweat. #winning). It wasn't until I arrived in Bafoussam, irritated and thoroughly thumped around, that I realized if we could get around all the checkpoints, then I might draw the conclusion that unsavory individuals *cough Boko Haram cough cough* are equally capable of avoiding them. Oh well… The rest of the trip was uneventful, though prices were high because of the grand vacances (no summer here!) and the government's decision to end gas subsidies.

Once in Yaounde, Colleen and I made the long trip across town to pick up our train tickets. She had made the reservation earlier; though the trains are new, the system to buy tickets is painfully anachronistic.

The next day, July 2, we hung out and waited for 7pm Departure Time to roll around. An hour before departure, Colleen, Liz, Travis and I climbed into our wagon lit - a train car with 2 bunk beds and not much space elsewise. We began our slumber party by rocking out to Enya, which was being played over the loudspeakers by a mysterious someone. It would be a long trip, so we'd stocked up on cookies and snacks (and beer).

We finally arrived in Ngaoundéré around 10am on July 3, having traveled about half the length of Califonia(prompting my mother to ask: "What?! Is it a train pulled by horses?!"). Ngaoundéré is the capital of the Adamawa region, and is supposed to mean "belly button" - so named for the bizarre rock perched precariously on top of a mountain. These odd rocks stuck in weird places were all over town; I wish I had pictures, but unfortunately my camera was misbehaving.

Culturally, the Grand North (Adamawa, North, and Extreme North) is shockingly different from the Grand South (everywhere else). It is primarily Fulbe and Muslim; people look different, dress different, speak different. My first reaction to Ngaoundéré was: It's so quiet here! It was probably even more quiet because of Ramadan. There were few if any taxis, with motos being the main form of transportation. I even saw three boys racing horses down the street! They have lamidos rather than chefs, and rarely shout "les blancs!" at us. They eat tons of beef and sell beautiful leather products in the marketplace. I felt like I was in an entirely new country!

Cameroonian-style henna, called "sifa", on my footsies

Then - 4th of July - we PCVs carved our own enclave of America out of the rest of Cameroon. Somehow, being out of the U.S. and surrounded by étrangers magnetizes us to each other and turns us (for a day, at least) into jingoistic, flag waving patriots. Burgers were grilled, beers were imbibed, guacamole and salsa and homemade tortilla chips were served, lawn games and drinking games were played. And, of course, everyone dressed in red, white, & blue. It was a most excellent celebration!

After a day like that, a day of recovery is generally necessary. But when you're on a sight-seeing mission, rest is not an option! Instead of lying around all day, Colleen, Lara and I travelled east to Dibi and Ngaoundaba Ranch. I am at a loss for words to describe the ranch. You take a moto about 5k out of Dibi into lush green forests and pastures, passing the funny hump-backed cows. When you arrive, you hear nothing but birdsong. It was beautiful - peaceful - a real escape. Since it's rainy season, we couldn't go hiking around the lake, but we could go rowing on it! An employee took us, sitting in the front of the boat and rowing us backwards in a big loop so we could admire the giant leaping fish and lily pads and birdies. We followed up our non-exercise with a luxurious meal of the best steak I've had in country, along with green beans in butter and fresh salad and fruit salad for dessert. It was, quite simply, a heavenly day.

The next stop on my trip was visiting Colleen in her town, Meiganga. I say town, not village, for a reason! It had lots of shopping, restaurants, noisy people and noisy motos. But walk about 10 minutes from her house and you are truly en brousse (in the bush), again with the hump-back cows and noisy birds and grasses taller than your heads. Visiting Colleen was great - she fed me so well and we even had spa night (I've never smelled so good in country!) with white box wine (Pena Sol, don't worry, it's classy) and the movie Out of Africa. To be fair, Colleen did a lot of work while I was there, and I even managed to help a little with two days of her camp. Talking about puberty and pregnancy, of course.

Veiw of Mount Ganga from Meiganga

Made it to the top! 

A much more fun version of the original pin the tail on the donkey:
Pin the name on the female reproductive anatomy!

The last place I visited was Mbarang, Will's village. And here I saw village for a reason… To one who lives in the West and is used to all habitable space being inhabited and/or farmed, it seemed waaaaay out en brousse. While on the back of the motorcycle I was taking to Will's house, about 30 minutes into the ride, I began to wonder if I'd accidentally hopped on the back of a Boko Moto… But not so! We eventually got to Mbarang, and I was enchanted. But then I had to find Will's house, which I had never seen and had neglected to ask him how to get there. In typical Cameroon fashion, I just had the driver stop and ask all villagers where the American lived (which he translated to the nassara, or "white person" in Fulfulde). Worked out great and in less than 5 minutes I was there! I found Will, Anna, and Hannah sitting on his floor drinking coffee. Not being one to like sit around, I got them to rally and we went off to explore. We found what appeared to be the beautiful green hills of Ireland, a hidden gem in the middle of nowhere, complete with 5 lakes (built by the Germans), half a million sheep, and a million goats. I asked him: How could you ever leave this place?! He told me: The only things I can buy in village are beef and tomatoes. Me: Ah, I see.

But all good things must come to an end, and I had to go home at some point. So Aly and I took the train back to Yaoundé, a trip which started off auspiciously with Aly & I catching the train less than 10 minutes before it left and barely missing a torrential downpour thunderstorm. But it did not continue in the same vein, as we were motionless form 3-6am and 7am-noon due to a derailed cargo train. Comforting? We ended up spending 23 mind-numbing hours on the train, thankfully broken up by good company and bad movies.

Though I had intended on powering through and getting home that same day, we got in to Yaounde too late for me to continue on. So I ended up just hanging around Yaoundé, saying goodbye to several friends who finished their Peace Corps service and headed home. We're missing them already - but they were thrilled!

I can't imagine how it will feel when I am in their shoes, over a year from now; but I also can't believe that I've been in Cameroon over 10 months now! Time has dragged, time has flown, and I only hope I fill the rest of my time with as many adventures as I've had already.

Will, Hannah & Anna in Mbarang

Will loves dem baby goats.