February 2, 2011

February 2, 2011 - Wednesday
--We're headquartering in Bamenda for the next 5 days, staying at the Cameroon Baptist Convention-Health Board (CBCHB) rest house.  Its very clean and all our creature comforts will be nicely met here. A special bonus is that people stay here from all over the world.  We were up and off by 8 am to begin meeting the northwest region of Cameroon, we've read and heard how beautiful and interesting it is.
--We drove north on a segment of the Ring Road which quickly changed to VLBDR.  A quick stop in Belo to order a meal for when we return in the afternoon, and we drove away only to discover that we needed petrol for the truck.  A stop at a shop brought a man and several jugs of fuel which he poured into the tank, and off we went again.

The Non-Gas Station Fill-up

--We drove over 4 ranges of very tall, steep and rocky hills that are terrace-farmed by the local Fulani people - it has taken centuries to move the millions of rocks and create the hundreds of garden terraces that cover virtually every steep hillside.  Long, long ago their forebearers migrated south from the Senegal area of northwest Africa.  Here there are fewer and shorter trees, and tall grasses grow on the hillsides. This part of Cameroon is known as the grasslands; this is the region from which the majority of Cameroonian captives were taken and sold to European and US slavers in the 18th and 19th centuries.



The Grasslands of northwest Cameroon

--The visible industries are cattle-raising and subsistence farming.  Neat gardens formed in high rows produce various local varieties of yams, coco yams, manioc, corn, and ebodje, etc.  This region is differently vegetated than farther west.  The villages look like National Geographic photos – houses made of adobe bricks with roofs of grass thatch. The cattle also are from The National Geographic with long horns and humps.

Mud Brick Houses with Thatched Roofs

Community Meeting House

Fulani Cattle - Horns and Humps

Last Year's Garden  - Ready to Burn

Burning Last Year's Stubble in Preparation for Planting

--Its the dry season now.  The hillsides have lost their rich green and the grass is dry and wheat-colored.  The remains of the previous garden are being burned in preparation for the next planting season – plumes of smoke rise up from all the hillsides and valley floors. Bundles of dried grasses and are tied in readiness to re-thatch the roofs. 

Dried Grasses Tied, Ready to Rethatching the Roof

People look as if they work very hard – they are weathered, lean and very, very strong.  Most of the men wear traditional garb:  long flowing tunics over matching pants with a skull cap.  Women wear either various African dress styles or western clothing.  
--Today is market day, so in the early part of the day we passed streams of primarily women carrying their market goods on their heads, and in the late day we passed streams of men, boys, women, and girls on their way home carrying their purchases on their heads – the loads were large and heavy, and the trek home was very long. They chatted and laughed among themselves and waved as we passed them, calling out "You are welcome!" as we've learned that Cameroonians say readily.

Women Going to Market

Women Carrying Wood Home for Cooking Fires

More VLBDR for another 8 km, and suddenly we were at a federal guard shack with a soldier asking for our passports.  Passports were checked, pleasantries exchanged, then we hiked down the hill Lake Nyos.  
 

In 1986 a gas eruption from Lake Nyos sent a huge cloud of CO2 over the valleys in the surrounding area killing 1700 people, their livestock, and all the area’s wildlife and plantlife.  Njoke was working here then, and with his task completed he had left 2 days before this disaster! Today the lake is bright green with algae and there is no evidence of other life.  It partially flushes itself annually from the heavy rain runoff that causes the water to run over the spillway in torrents down the valley below.  A Japanese research institute monitors the water content and quality with instrumentation and periodic sampling.  A local man who had hitched a ride with us early in the day was knowledgeable and provided interesting commentary on the depth of the lake, etc.  After musing about the impact of the explosion, we hiked back - the guard asked me for antibiotics and/or pain medications.  I gave him 10 Ibuprofen tabs from my backpack, taught him how to take it and that he can buy more at any pharmacy, and he was very pleased. 

Njoke, Barbara, Joe, Npho at Lake Nyos



 









--We drove back to Bamenda, holding on as we bumped along, filled with confidence in Npho's skill to get us home safely despite the washouts, detours, big rocks, deep ruts, steep hills, sliding gravel, etc.   Supper in Belo was a wonderful treat of Cameroonian style fried chicken, fufu and spicy greens.  Npho saved me from embarrassment by having me wash my face before I went inside to eat - it was black with a thick dusting of the volcanic dust.  My shower was especially welcome before falling into bed.