February 12, 2011

February 12, 2011 – Saturday
--We were up and on the road early. Thomas is a very good driver, careful to avoid the potholes without jerking us around, we felt safe and enjoyed the scenery. We drove a couple of hours, traveling through the very arid region, seeing baobab and other desert trees that don’t grow in Arizona, many more compounds of round adobe houses with thatched roofs, long-horned cows, goats, women carrying things on their heads walking beside the road, lines of school children walking home from school, people resting in the shade of large trees, roadside stands selling everything imaginable.
--In Garoua we stopped at a nice internet café, then turned on a rough dirt road to Roumsiki. This is a quaint village situated on the hillside s amidst large and scenic volcano cores nearby. All along the way saw more and more of the baobab trees and compounds of round and square rooms. Lots of cotton and millet are grown in this area. Roumsiki in the very remote, rugged, and beautiful far northeastern edge of Cameroon – you can see Nigeria across a small valley. We stayed in a buckaroo, ie, at a resort that features round huts with thatched roofs for the guest rooms – we were more than comfortable and loved the gorgeous canyon-edge view. Our room is charming, African prints at windows, beds, table covers, etc. etc. We were more than surprised to find the place has a swimming pool, and the guests included sun-bathing French girls on the cool deck!
--There were lots of people, donkeys, goats, pigs, cows – kids everywhere, too much to see! Two little ones scrambling up a hill yelling at 2 pigs that didn’t want to be caught were very entertaining! A mom noisily chastising her 2 toddlers who’d escaped with a water bucked – she drove them home ahead of her brandishing a switch to hurry them.