February 6, 2011

February 6, 2011 – Sunday

--Our laundry is all clean again, thanks to the helpful rest house staff.  All our belongings were loaded, and we and left Bamenda by 7 am, going generally south for a couple of hours  We stopped at a roadside place for breakfast of locally grown spicy black beans and rice, and avocado that we brought with us – I can’t say enough good things about this meal!  Back in the truck and on down the road, paved nearly all the way, to Bafoussam and then on a little farther to Foumban to visit a large Fon's palace.  Along the way the houses changed from flat or thatched roofs to tall tin pyramids.

Paved Road between Bamenda and Bafoussam

Near Bafoussam - House with Tall Tin Pyramid Roof

The Fon's Palace in Foumba

The palace is a UNESCO Heritage Site; we were not allowed to take pictures inside, but we did tour the palace museum.  This huge palace was built by the ruling Fon in 1913.  Its 3 stories are constructed of red clay bricks with interior stairs and floors all of hand polished dark wood; the architectural style shows how important the British influence was then.  This dynasty's Fons are documented back to the late 1300s, and there are artifacts associated with most of them.  Beautiful carvings, feather capes, beaded capes and masks, locally forged and skillful ironwork and statuary.  Perhaps we should not have been startled by the very graphic displays of weapons and trophies that depicted the cruelties done in earlier times to enemies – but we were.  As we considered a little more, we realized that what we saw here has been done by people to other people the world over – man is really not a peaceful animal.

Stairs leading to the Palace Museum

We had a flat tire leaving Bafoussam, so Joe and I waited with the truck for an hour while Njoke and Npho took it in a push cart to a tire repair shop.  We happened to be near a small interurban bus stop, and watched an over-full 9-passenger van add 4 more passengers, and up to the top went 4 goats complaining loudly, 2 very large woven fiber bags of live chickens, 3-4 big heavy stalks of plantains, a few suitcases, and about half a dozen long large heavy bags of goods.  Everything was secured with ropes, another passenger climbed in, and off they went – the goats looked very unhappy.  An apparently mentally ill man who seemed to be responding to internal stimuli stood across the street; he stared at us, chanted loudly, did something with a piece of metal in his mouth, held his arms outward for a long while, and kept his eyes on us – people walked around him as if he were a signpost.  Dozens of the little motorcycles that are used for taxis darted past us within inches, picking up and depositing passengers.  A man was steam-washing a large tanker truck a dozen yards away.  There was a market 100 yards up the street – people carried everything imaginable on their heads as they streamed by, the traffic was unending.

Where We Waited in Bafoussam for the Tire to be Fixed

Woman Shopping

Taking the Tire to the Tire Repair Shop

Putting the Tire Back on the Truck

--Npho and Njoke returned with the tire, paid the boy who had volunteered the use of his cart, the tire was back on the truck in no time, and off we went, good as new.  We drove and drove on a good paved road, heading for Yaounde, and stopped at a "truckstop" for late lunch of hot grilled fish, roasted plantains, spicy sauce and Export 33.  The fish and sauce were indescribably delicious to us who typically don't enjoy fish – oh my gosh!  Eating with our hands, we savored every last bit, then washed away the last traces in a basin or water.  These meals are always amazing – we arrive at a very unlikely looking roadside place, Joe and I find seats on a bench at a wooden plank table, and a waitress appears to wash the table and take our beer order.  About the time that the beer arrives, Njoke shows up – he’s been shopping the many food vendors between our eating establishment and on down the road for our food.  The waitress brings a basin of cool water which we share in turn, washing our hands there at the table, generally we either share a towel or there is none.  Then someone else turns up from one or more of the food stands nearby with platters that we share, or sometimes plates are provided, frequently there is no silverware and we eat with our fingers.  The basin is provided again after we've eaten. --Njoke explained why he didn’t choose the roasted meat that looked good as we passed a brazier – “too many flies, it didn’t look good – it was probably cooked 1-2 days ago and the woman couldn’t sell it all so she kept it (unrefrigerated) last night and made to look fresh today by pouring palm oil on it, you have to be very careful.”

Likely a  Good Place to Eat

Man doing laundry beside the road in the outskirts of Yaounde

Outskirts of Yaounde

We drove on, holding tight and praying that we'd arrive safely - Cameroon drivers aren't known to be cautious and there are many very serious accidents on this road.
 








As the twilight and then darkness gathered, we drove into Yaounde – the capital of Cameroon, population about 1 million.



Traffic is heavy:  people on foot with loads on their heads, mototaxis, people pushing or pulling carts, yellow taxi cabs, huge trucks, personal vehicles – its loud and congested.

Early Evening in Yaounde

Njoke knew precisely where we were going and took us to the Hotel Azur where we were expected.  No elevator – the bellhop carried all our large and heavy bags on his head 2 flights up the stairs.  We were very grateful for his help, and he appreciated our tip.