February 8, 2011

February 8, 2011 – Tuesday
--Njoke was at the train station at 7 am this morning, and purchased our tickets for the night train to Ngaoundere, estimated departure 6 pm with estimated arrival 7:30 am tomorrow morning.

--We spent the morning sight-seeing around Yaounde, sometimes called the City of Seven Hills.  Yaounde is the capital city of The Republic of Cameroon.  In every sector city we passed governmental office buildings with a significant military presence; it is forbidden to photograph them and the soldiers were convincing, so we didn't.

Downtown Yaounde

President Paul Bia's Palace

We could not help noting the dramatic contrasts between the rich and poor neighborhoods.  Yaounde seems to be cleaner than Douala – Douala is a huge industrial city that has grown too much, too fast.  In both cities, the poor neighborhoods are far more apparent because they’re not situated in the most desirable areas; the poorest neighborhoods are right along the highways and train tracks, and they sprawl a long way on both sides of the traffic.  The poor neighborhoods are dirty, crowded, and seriously congested.  On a high bluff over-looking Yaounde, in a luxury housing neighborhood, below we marveled at the large and beautiful homes surrounded by high walls, each with a uniformed guard at the front gate.

Looking Out Over Yaounde toward Bia's Palace

We had lunch again at Les Sorciers, ie, the Sorcerers’ Corner, enjoying crisp roasted pork and cold beer, and people-watching until time to go to the train station.

Our Beer Waitress

Njoke Buying Our Lunch

Mobile Plastics Wares Sales

Taxi Stand

After waiting an hour in a comfortable lobby at the train station, with very clean restrooms, we boarded and waited another hour – we slowly pulled away from the station in the 6:20 pm twilight, heading north.

--Almost immediately Njoke was greeted by Fr. Felix, a Holy Father he’d met at the train station this morning.  They’d talked, helped each other with the ticketing process, and Njoke gave Father a ride somewhere.  Tonight they found their seats were together!  we learned that Fr. Felix has worked in parishes throughout northern Cameroon for the past 30 years and knows everyone.  He said the Diocese of Garoua has a large rest house associated with the parish there, and it also runs rest houses in other cities that we’ll visit.  Fr. Felix called the sisters and made reservations for us, and he left Njoke with names and phone numbers in case we might need them.  His graciousness is consistent with the way we’re received everywhere in Cameroon.

--It was hard to sleep sitting up despite the very generous leg room.  The train stopped at about a dozen villages along the way where passengers got on and off, and at every stop hawkers came to the windows and through the aisles selling manioc, bananas, chewing gum, Cameroon maps, phone cards, soft drinks, clothing,  pastries, etc., etc.  The 2d class section would have been far more chaotic with the vendors and the passengers' loud nonstop music, crying babies, numerous conversations all around, and less leg room.  Initially all the windows were wide open but coolness came gradually through the night and people closed them and put on heavy jackets – folks here are acclimated differently - we found the cool breezes most welcome.  We were advised not to eat the food prepared in the dining car so we bought soft drinks and snacked on things we had with us.  The Toilette was reasonably clean with no toilet seat (a common finding) - it was tricky to balance while the train was swaying along...  There was little to see along the way since it was dark outside, but I can tell you what the train stations look like at night along the way!  And sunrise was lovely.