The Ring Road: Kumbo, Ndzenshwai, Wvem and Oku

This is 2 out of 3 posts. 

Click HERE to journey from the beginning.

As previously mentioned: 

I would like to use these next couple of blog posts as not only a memoir for me but also as a guide for future travelers to the regions that we went to. I also hope to inspire those on the couch reading to take the big leap and JUST DO IT: TRAVEL. The memories you make are worth the jump!

Although I was only on the road for two weeks, it was a great reminder that traveling is not easy. It requires serious patience, flexibility, street smarts, and a good sense of humor. Most importantly, it reminded me that you don’t travel just to see things; you travel for the relationships you make along the way which actually end up becoming more than half the story you remember. Like they say,

"Life is not about the destination, it’s about the journey."

 

The Ring Road: Kumbo, Ndzenshwai, Wvem and Oku in Short:

People: Man at the car park in Bambili, Edwin, Alison, Gilbert, Mary, Divine, Roland, Hassan and Bonafice.

Places/Things: crammed car ride, travelers inn, coffee shop, waterfall outside Shisong, 2 waterfalls and 2 caves in Wvem, soccer game, Oku palace, ‘museum’, lake and waterfall, hassan’s lovely houses on the Oku Mountain side, torrential downpour, Kati Kati, Anten, Nollywood films.

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Bambili was a village where we would take a car to Kumbo, but as I earlier mention, we needed to wait for our car to fill up. We paid our seats, and waited. Because one can never tell how long it will take for the car to fill, you can't go far from the area. Therefore, we …. can you guess? … sat at a bar and waited for the car to fill.

Side note: During the trip thus far, I was actually speaking more Pidgin English than English when conversing with others. Honestly 90% of conversations with others were in full Pidgin. People were really impressed and it made me feel good! I am moving towards fluency!! I am still working on the conditional tense and there are a lot of vocab I don’t know as well as metaphors.

There were some funny guys at the bar drinking palm wine out of horns (sign of status) and a very kind man who just chatted with us while we waited. He also helped ‘shoo away’ those who wanted to bother/harass us. Before we knew it, the car had filled and the funny man who works at the car park who had also confessed his love to me and asked me to marry him had come to inform us ‘moto don flop’ meaning, the car is full. And yes, he was correct. Full was an understatement.

This was the front seat. I am positioned squished next the the window and the guy in the plaid.
Then there is the driver furthest in the picture with another man sandwiched in his seat.

 Picture this: a 2 door car, 4 people in the back (including 2 mamis that are pretty heavy), me and some guy carrying a TV on his lap, or should I say our laps in the front seat and then one man squished to the right of the driver in his seat. Yup, the car was definitely full.

Twas a beautiful drive...

 

Anytime the car/bus/van stops alone the road, you can bet that within 2.3 seconds the car will be swarmed by young street hawkers trying to sell you things. They will yell out the product and the price until someone calls for it. Here you can see mango and miando (pounded cassava tied in banana leaves and boil)

We passed villages like Babungo, babessi, Jakiri and then finally reached Kumbo or should I say Kimbo…or wait maybe Banso? Why so many names you ask…

This main village has three common names:  Kimbo (the native and original name); Kumbo (the name the whiteman gave when he butchered the original name); and Banso (name in the local dialect called Lamnso).

We found a good hostel for called Travelers Inn right downtown and opposite the first ‘coffe shop’ we had come across. One night was 5,500fcfa. We ended up staying in Kumbo for 3 days (longer than planned) and we went to the coffee shop 7 times – you do the math.. the coffee was real, cheap and rich. What more could you ask for? There was even Mocha where he brewed fresh coffee and pure cocoa! Simply amazing. I might have to make another trip to Kumbo just for the coffee house!

Amazing mocha coffee!! Simple things make my day.

 Our first visit to the coffee house proved quite rewarding as we met a Peace Corps volunteer named Alison. She told us about an NGO called Green Care which guides people on hikes (to local waterfalls and/or longer hikes around the whole area through several villages). She had been in Cameroon a few months short of a year and her main focus was creating a museum in Kumbo – how fascinating!!  After visiting the Mount Febe Museum in Yaoundé and buying their book, I have a new love of museums and learning about each an ever artifacts purpuse and representation. I think a project like that would be great to work on… it would also bring out my love for anthropology.

Proceeding breakfast we hopped on the back of a moto bike and headed to Shisong – it is sometimes considered a neighborhood inside of Kumbo but sometimes its also known as its own separate village outside of the city. Here we wandered for just a few seconds before finding a small signpost reading “Green Care”. We passed some men outside the office sipping on what I thought was palm wine but turned out to be honey wine. We entered cautiously unsure of what to even say. “Hello. We were directed to come here for a tour to the waterfalls. I don’t really know if we are in the right place” Gilbert, the founder and director of the NGO assured us we were in the right spot. Another young woman was there, Mary, who is working for the NGO as well. Their office was made up of two small rooms: the first containing several desks and a MASSIVE book collection with a wide variety of topics such as: women empowerment, environment, bee keeping, rural development, micro finance, climate change and more. I could have actually stayed reading those books for the entire day and left happy.

Gilbert in the office. Notice the honey wine to the right : it's the NGO's main source of funding
and explains why all the men outside were drinking.

Wobbly little foot bridge

We casually strolled through a few villages, or maybe neighborhoods, because reaching Ndzenshwai where the waterfall was located. We started hiking into the bush. Fortunately, it wasn’t full on rainy season so we were able to walk comfortably and cross small man made bridges with no problem. Unfortunately, it was full on rainy season so the waterfall ironically was lacking water. Nevertheless it was still a beautiful hike. We passed farms, streams and even palm wine taps! It was my first time to see the way they actually tapped the tree for the wine, not all that different than tapping a Maple tree for syrup!

Palm Wine anyone??

Palm wine house

I swear there was water you just cant really see it in the picture... It wasnt quite wet season
so there isnt a heavy flow of water.

A "secret society" house :: in other words, a place where notable men gather to drink palm wine.

Cutest little farm and family compound ever!

 Before returning to the city center, we dedided to stop and see the Fon's Palace. We arrived in the court yard and didnt really see any signs about 'tourist' or 'tours' so we just strolled slowly observing the outside and taking photos of interesting looking things.

For Queens only!!

Area were the Fon will address his people for announcements.

We kind of figured just wondering around wasnt the best idea, but we didnt know what else to do. Soon we saw an angry looking man charging towards us in his 'public works' shirt. I knew there was about to be trouble. To lighten the mood I smiled and greeted him like nothing, "Good afternoon, sir!" This only distracted him for a second, "What is the problem here?" he replied. I really wanted to say "YOU" but instead I acted dumb "Oh nothing, we are just looking at the palace, its beautiful!" Then he continues to tell us how we can just do that, we need to pay money (its always about money) blah blah. So we just left and went on our way...

Statue of the current Fon.

Palace Bar. Motto The Fon is Always Right.
He is 'Infailable'
I dont actually know that infailable is a word, but I guess it is now :)

By the time we reached back to the city center, it wasn’t that late in the afternoon so we asked around about some ‘caves’ we had heard about. Again, the coffee house came to our rescue – Ediwn called a friend who called a friend who live sin Wvem village and takes people hiking to the two caves and waterfalls in the area.

This place, Wvem village, was quite far and out of the way. We were directed to go to Tobin, which is a neighborhood in Kumbo to find the drivers that knew the roads to Wvem. Not just anyone can drive on those roads so we had to be picky on who we went with, for safety. The man who would guide us around was already in the village and he said he would wait for us there. The bike driver and our guide knew each other so we were on our way passing through villages like Kai, Faku and Fakui.

Bike guys at Tobin

Back of the bike we took!

 

Soon we arrived at the Rural Transformation Center which was run by our guide, Boniface Litika since 1992. This place was amazing. Not only was the view stunning but the work they were doing was also great. He showed us around the whole premises including the classrooms in which they had lectures on medicinal plants and medicine as well as workshops training local farmers to make their own all natural fertilizer. Throughout the past he has had a lot of international support mostly from Canada. He showed us his chicken coup, his goats grazing and the guest rooms where people can stay while volunteering or participating in the workshops.

View from the Rural Transformation Center

We took a short bike ride and parked the bikes. From there we hiked and hiked and hiked. The first cave/waterfall combo was called eterie (I could be spelling that wrong… there was no sign post). 

Here is a trap for rodents! When they enter through the sides under the wood, the triggers the sticks to fall/move which triggers the rock to fall on the wood which crushes the rodents! How creative!!

View from inside the caves.

The second was called Kidzemen waterfalls. Both falls were quite small and lacking water due to the season but they were still worth the trip! We had to watch out for army ants and midgies (similar to mosquitoes but harder to see) which were biting Megan left and right.

Caves are behind it and hard to see.

By the time we reached Kumbo it was getting to be dark out so we had our dinner of puff puff and beans for 200fcfa and went back to the hotel for a bit of rest. There was a big football (aka soccer for the Americans) match that night: Manchester United vs Bayer. There were huge crowds outside of every single bar in Kumbo that had a TV. Bayer won.

"For me to live is Christ"
Just a random store in Kumbo. People are what most people in the US
would consider to be 'very very religious' here.

The next day we woke up early, had our coffee and breakfast at the coffee house and headed straight away to Oku. Again, we had to go to Tobin to find a proper bike rider which was 2,000fcfa. Gilbert from Green Care had given us the number of a local guide in Oku named David. Along the way we called David and arranged to meet him at the Fon’s Palace. We passed villages like Yungkui, Tadu and Elak on our way. He was late, as expected here, and then proceeded to tell us that any tourist that comes to Oku needs to pay 5,000fcfa. This fee includes visiting all of the ‘tourist’ sights around the area (palace, mountain, lake, waterfall, museum, etc). We really didn’t have any other choice but to pay… but boy was that a disappointment!! He showed is literally ONE thing that related to the Fon and his palace which was a chair he sat on to address the community. Then, he took us to a museum that wasn’t actually a museum, it was just a workshop where wood carvers made and kept their crafts. He arranged a bike rider to take us up the mountain a little ways and then down to visit the lake and lastly the waterfall.

The single one thing we saw in the palace.... total rip off of money!

Check out the right green plate reading "Fon of Oku"

Just another day... carrying firewood to the house.

Outside the 'museum'

The next three photos are of the juju's in the Museum:

 

The bike riders name was Roland and he was really sweet. First we went up more than half way to the summit of Mount Oku. You could really feel the fresh, cool, crisp air from that high. The view was stunning. We ran into Hassan, a Fulani herder who lived in the area with his 2 wives and father. They each had their own house on the hill. Truly a breathtaking sight.

This is Hassan on his land!

After, we went to view the lake. There was a nice path down to the shores so we hiked down for a better view. David told us that there would be forest guards who would demand our documents proving we had paid. There was no forest guard. Anywhere. It was a total rip off of money and I am still pretty bitter about it. In the future – Just ask the bike riders to take you to visit the lake and waterfall. We paid in all for the driver 5,000fcfa for 2 people. 

Lake Oku

There wasnt really an opportunity to get much closer. But it looks like a great swimming place in the dry/hot season!

We noticed clouds quickly approaching so we tried to hurry up and get to the waterfall. Raindrops were falling as we approached the waterfall. We took some photos quickly and headed back onto the bike to go back to Oku town. Then… it hit. Torrential downpour. There was really nothing we could. As the rain stung our faces and bare arms on the back of the bike, all we could do was laugh. I felt bad for the driver – I couldn’t even have my face up in the rain let alone drive. It got so bad we pulled over and tried to see if it would pass. We thought it had, got back on the bike, and then it hit again. We were already soaking wet and nearly to the town so we just told the bike driver to “Keep going!! Hurry!” Finally we made it back to town. We waited out the rain for about 20min and then started walking towards the town center to look for a restaurant that served Kati Kati which is njamanjama (a green leafy vegitable similar to spinach) with chicken that is prepared in a special way and fufu corn.

We stumble across a nice little place that had recently opened. The woman who owned it, Prudence, was so kind and sweet. She could see we were very wet and cold so she prepared us ‘fever grass’ tea, njo’oh meaning ‘for free’. Her Kati Kati was amazing!! I could have ate two plates! And the tea, wow it really hit the spot; we were rather chilly so it was very comforting. As we were chatting about life, travels and our work in Cameroon, upon realizing we lived and worked in Buea, Prudence ask us to pass a message to her long lost childhood friend who lived there. She explained that her friend owned a restaurant called “Obama Restaurant” which is a big restaurant in Bonduma (a neighborhood in Buea) right off the main road. I have passed it a countless amount of times but have never actually eaten there. I was really happy to be able to deliver Prudence’s phone number to her friends; life is short and the world is a small place.

We rushed to finish eating because we wanted to take a car to Foumban that night. Once we reached Tobin (we took a car not a moto bike back to Kumbo) Megan headed down to the bus park and I headed to the hotel to fetch our bags. Megan called shortly after I got out things together… There were no more cars going to Fumbon that evening, it was already 5:30pm and the last car had went some hours before. So I guess all we could do was pass another night in Kumbo!!

We were advised by several locals to go to “Anten” which is a place in Kumbo verrrrry high up above most of the city. They said it was the best view of Kumbo, you could see the whole town, which was surprisingly big. As we reached the top, the view wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, but I’m sure on a really warm and sunny day it’s a great place to have a cold drink and just relax. It was already drizzling so we hopped back on our bike and headed back down to town. We called it an early night since we had to be up and to the bus park by 6:30am.

Side Note: For the three nights in Kumbo, the hotel we were staying in had a television. Usually I am not the biggest fan of TV, hell I haven’t even owned one for the last 5 years. But, these three nights were an exception. There was a channel called “Nollywood” which is the name given to the film industry in Nigeria. Nollywood produces hundreds of films a year and is the 2^nd largest film industry in the world (behind Bollywood and in front of Hollywood). At first when I moved here, I laughed at the films, their plots and even the actors/actresses…but now, I found myself addicted. I couldn’t sleep without finishing the movie I had started.

Add caption

 

 

I decided to describe The Ring Road (aka The Grasslands) like this:

"Endless rolling checkered hills with crops of all kinds amongst cliffs dotted with herds of grazing animals."

I know, kinda cheesy but its so true. The entire trip I kept waiting for the captivating beauty of the region to stop…it never did.

 

 To Be Continued... 

The Ring Road: Bafut, Wum, Fundong and Belo

This is 1 out of 3 posts. 

I would like to use these next couple of blog posts as not only a memoir for me but also as a guide for future travelers to the regions that we went to. I also hope to inspire those on the couch reading to take the big leap and JUST DO IT: TRAVEL. The memories you make are worth the jump!

Although I was only on the road for two weeks, it was a great reminder that traveling is not easy. It requires serious patience, flexibility, street smarts, and a good sense of humor. Most importantly, it reminded me that you don’t travel just to see things; you travel for the relationships you make along the way which actually end up becoming more than half the story you remember. Like they say,

"Life is not about the destination, it’s about the journey."

The epic ‘tour du Cameroon’ was in the making for a couple of months and became more solidified just the week before our departure. There was a possibility, depending on time, of crossing through 7 out of 10 regions. A friend of mine Megan and myself had planned out our next 2 weeks+ of travel throughout the lower half of Cameroon. Our plan was this:

Of course we didn’t stick right to the plan, we made some small alterations which you will read all about in this post and the ones to follow.

The Ring Road: Bafut, Wum, Fundong and Belo in Short:

People: My Bamenda family (mumi, dadi, angel, JP, and all the rest), Lionel, Derek, Vera, Queen Mary, Price Desmond, Price Allen, Prince Elvis, Epie, Vera, Pius, Vivian, Paul Nguo, Oliver, nice papa who served tea, Joshua and Ina.

Places/Things: Family house, cabaret, best cappuccino and Greek salad in all Cameroon at PresCafe, Bafut Palace, Mayor's brother's funeral, Prestige (the bar), Wum and the 2 lakes, countless moto bike rides, RUDEC.

For future reference: 500fcfa = $1.

First, we took a night bus from Buea to Bamenda  [5,000fcfa] which is the capital of the Northwest Region (the only other Anglophone region in Cameroon). We thankfully got a ‘coaster’ (picture a big grey hound style bus) instead of a regular bus (picture a 14 seater van that crams 20 and flies around like a bat out of hell). This bus was even equipt with a television which played Elizabeth Teke music videos for the first couple house and then switched to other local Cameroonian artists. We finally left around 10:40pm and reached Bamenda around 6am (Friday). I was so sleepy I don’t even remember the “break” that all busses take in Melong (about half way).

I have family in Bamenda so when we arrived we visited them and were welcomed with fresh local coffee! You have no idea what a treat real coffee was - I drink nescafe/instant coffee with instant milk everyday. I visited with the family for a few hours and caught up. I brought them pictures from the last two times I visited so they could add them to their collection. Photos are very prized possessions here. If you are invited to someone’s house, or if you pass by for a visit, the first time you come, there is a very good chance that one of the first things they will bring to you is their photo album for you to look at. Photos show the good times; they make you forget about the suffering and the struggling that is inevitable at some point or another over here. They were very pleased with the photos, it brought a smile to everyone’s face. We didn't have too much time in Bamenda so in the early evening we left the house and said goodbye.

My little sister Angel and I at home in Bamenda.

Since we didn’t have time to go to Mamfe, I had a couple a friends come and visit me from there (only a couple hour drive). The evening was spent going to some local cabarets and dancing to familiarly melodies from Richard Bona and other popular artists (check out the classics HERE).

After an early breakfast and a failed attempted to find a tour operator or even anyone that could direct us to some local caves which we read about, we took a bush taxi (small car that crams 4 in the back, 2 in the front passenger seat) to Bafut for 400cfa. Bafut is a town or village which is also a traditional fondom and a modern commune in the Mezam sub division. It has around 80,000 inhabitants and is famous for having preserved its structure as a traditional kingdom AKA "fondom" which is under the leadership of the Fon of Bafut. Its traditional power structures operate in harmony with its modern local government council. It’s so interesting to see places where traditional law and statutory law coexist peacefully.

When arriving in Bafut the driver dropped everyone else off and offered to take us to the palace which was where we had told him we were heading. We told him that was a nice offer but we weren’t prepared to add anything on top off the price we paid. He literally drove us another 100 meters and told us that the price of the taxi was 2,000fcfa each. These sort of things happen all the time, they try to charge ‘whiteman’ more money because they think we don’t know the price and they think we are made of money. Because Megan and I have been in this situation in the past, before we even found the taxi we had asked some locals how much the taxi was so we couldn’t get dooped on the price. After whipping out a little bit of Pidgin English and showing my knowledge of the culture, language and price, we paid the correct price and took out bags out of the taxi.

A few young guys were outside of the palace and they offered to get us a guide. Megan and I privately discussed the price we would be happy paying to get a tour. When the guide told us the price, 2,500fcfa, we were a bit surprised and tried bargaining. Unfortunately, this was one of the only kinds of situations in Africa when you cannot bargain -- it was a set price. So we paid the price and began our tour. Since photography was an additional 2,000fcfa, we opted out of that and instead snuck photos when no one was looking. Our guide ended up being one of the 48 queens living in the palace. Her name was Queen Mary and she was an exceptionally delightful woman. She gave half the tour in Pidgin English and the other half in regular English.

We walked through the Bafut museum which was filled with several rooms containing artifacts dating back to the 17^th century. There were several wars between the Bafut people and the Germans who have now in return given money towards the construction and maintenance of the museum. Seems like some sort of a: “Sorry for slaughtering your people and attempting to destroy your culture” gesture, not all that different from all the foreign aid going to Rwanda after the genocide: “Sorry we knew genocide was going to happen and didn’t do anything then turned our backs and allowed more than million people to be slaughtered – here is a couple million to rebuild some roads.” 

Inside the palace.

We also were shown around the Queens, Princess and Princes living quarters. Each Queen had her own small house. As I mentioned, the current Fon has 48 wives, several which were inherited from his Father who was the last Fon and died in 1968. The current Fon has been ruling since then and is only in his 60's now (if I am not mistaken on what the Queen told me)  meaning he was really young when he came into power. 

Statue in the Museum of Bafut

Halls of the Museum of Bafut

Along the tour, we were asking the Queen where we could find some good Achu or Kati Kati (two of the main local dishes of the people in the Northwest region). To our surprise, she said that she cooks and serves Achu (yellow soup inside an eatable bowl. You eat it by swooping your fingers around the bowl while scooping a little of the bowl [called 'going around the world'] and then you dip it into the yellow soup sitting in the middle. Its a serious technique) at her house and we could come eat there after the tour. While we were eating one of the boys who was chatting with us outside the palace gate entered. I offered him some Achu and we all ate together. All of us were just discussing when this boy, Allen, offered to take us to a funeral where the Jujus would dance. A Juju is a fetish, charm, or amulet of West African peoples. Depending on the Juju and the tribe, there are countless significations and reasons for the juju. They can be good or bad. They can bring peace and unity or in some cases, they can bring infertility if seen by a woman when it is forbidden. 

Outside the Palace.

Bafut Museum

Without hesitation we accepted and were on our way with our new friends. Queen Mary allowed us to leave our bags at her house. The funeral was that of the Mayor's elder brother meaning it was quite a ‘big man’ in the village. As we sat around and watched friends and family dance in their ashwabi (a matching traditional African fabric that unites a family or group for a certain occasion. It is sewn differently by each person but the fabric remains the same and unites them as one. Also used for weddings, church groups, women’s associations, etc), I noticed some Jujus approaching from behind where everyone was gathered. I knew the festivities were about to begin. 

 

If a juju gives you something, whether it be a blade of grass or his staff which he carries, you must return it with a gift (money). I forgot to bring change, so half way through the dance I had sent a small girl to the roadside with 2,000fcfa to get my change so that I would be able to pay. It is also seen as good luck and protection if you give the Jujus money. After about an hour or so, Allen advised us to go or they would bother us the whole night for money. Alas, we left the funeral and headed to a local bar (one of the only pastimes in Cameroon). A couple of other people showed up and we were all just chatting away, sharing stories, telling jokes and talking about our lives (work we do, where we come from, how we see Cameroon, etc). Soon, we started talking about the palace and the Fon – one of them states “well you are sitting with Princes” – Megan and I looked at each other in a surprised way. Yup, three of the guys we were sitting with, Desmond, Elvis and Allen were Princes of Bafut. We were already enjoying ourselves but that just made it that much more interesting.

 

Traditional Dress of the Northwest people

Soon Queen Mary came around looking for us. She told us that we could stay inside the palace at her house since our things were already there. WOW! We all danced the night away listening to Davido, P-Square, Stanley Enow and other popular hits (for a fun list of Cameroonian hip hop artists click HERE). The memories made in Bafut will not be forgotten. 

Queen Mary and I

Another Princess. She liked me. No one thought she would sleep,
but she ended up falling asleep on my chest after I covered her eyes.

 We ended up sleeping INSIDE the palace at Queen Mary's house!!

Queen Mary's Princesses and Prince and a neighbor Princess

In the morning Prince Desmond and Prince Allen took us out for breakfast and Desmond walked us to get a bush taxi which would bring us to Three Corners. From Three Corners we tried to find a moto bike to take us to Wum for 3,000fcfa (the normal price) but since the bikers saw ‘whiteman’ no one would go for less then 10,000fcfa. In the end, we waited for a car to come from Bamenda with a few open spaces. Prince Elvis saw us waiting and hung out with us until we left. We paid the driver an extra couple hundred francs to stop by Menchum Falls for a couple of minutes so we could take some pictures.

Menchum Falls in the dry season.

We had arranged to stay with my friend Laglan’s brother, Epie, who lives in Wum. Wum is a town and commune with a population over 80,0000 people. It is the capital of Menchum division and is actually the third biggest town in the Northwest Region. Its situated on a plateau around 1100m. The dialect of the Wum people is called Aghem or Wum.

When we called Epie he was actually out of town but on his way back to the village so when we arrived in Wum we just wanted at a place called “Guinness Bar” situated at the main round about for him. Once he arrived, we shared a drink and met some of his friends: Pius and Vivian. As the sun was beginning to go down, our friend Pius who is by day a moto-bike driver took the 4 of us to Lake Wum with another moto-bike driver.

Lake Wum as the sun goes down

The next day was Monday and Epie had to work but he left us with his girlfriend, Verra, who took us out for cornchauf (corn, beans and tons of oil) for breakfast. We met up with Pius again and the 3 of us went to visit Lake Elum, another crater lake a bit out of town. We drove drove drove drove and then stopped on the side of the road for a nice short hike up a big hill to view the lake.

Lake Elum

Vivian wanted to cook us the traditional meal of the area, Kati Kati which is njamanjama (a green leafy vegetable similar to spinach) with chicken that is prepared in a special way and fufu corn. Because Megan and I didn’t have all the time in the world and the meal takes a while to prepare, we opted to just find a good place to eat it, and chop together. So, Epie, Verra, Pius, Vivian, Megan and I all went to a small ‘mami putam’ they called Mama G’s. It was actually the best Kati Kati I had ever had. A ‘mami putam’ is what is referred to as a small room that is used during the day as a restaurant type place. The ‘mami’ who serves and cooks food usually prepares at home and brings it in giant flasks for food. She serves all day until her food is finished. You can ask her to ‘putam’ (meaning put it) for nearly any amount. For example, she can put beans and rice for 300, 500, 600, etc. You can ask for an extra piece of meat or another piece of fufu for additional prices. 

Wum Village

After we finished eating, we went to the bus park to look for a car to go to Nkambe which was our next village on the ring road. After much debate….we concluded that the only way to get to Nkambe was to take a bike for 20,000fcfa each ($40) or to rent an entire car just for the two of us for 30,000 ($60) because we were the only passengers wanting to go. The way taxis work here is, they wait until they ‘fill up’ with passengers. Each seat has a set price and the driver won't leave until all the seats are taken or someone offers to pay for an extra seat. Megan and I were not prepared to spend that kind of money so instead we took bikes into the heart of the ring road heading towards Fundong for 5,000fcfa each.

A bit more than half way there, we started to feel rain drops. We were right on the verge of wet season so we had been dodging sporadic rain showers. It started to get a bit heavier so we decided to pull over an wait it out in the nearest village which was called Bavmen. When we arrived, got off the bike and took off our sunglasses to look at each other, we both busted out with laughter. The road had been soooooo dusty that out faces were covered with red-orangish dirt. I had put chapstick on before the ride so I had a solid ring around my mouth.

We missed the torrential downpour by like 45seconds. As soon as we unstrapped our bags from the back of the bikes it really started to rain. Like nearly everyone else around, we all huddled under the nearest shelter available, a bar of course. 

Rain has stopped and everyone is back to work in Bavmen

Our drivers knew some of the people there so they got offered a beer (just one, don’t worry!) and started chatting. Soon we were pulled into the conversation and offered a drink. We started discussing wet season vs. dry season. Many people actually prefer wet season because there are less illnesses. Because of the amount of dust on the road, people get serious lung and respiratory infections and illnesses. This really got me to thinking about life expectancy not just here in Cameroon (which is 51 years by the way), but in all developing countries. We (Westerners) usually assume its things like HIV/AIDS and hunger that attributes to most deaths, and while yes they are major contributors, so are the poor poor living conditions and consequences of the poor infrastructure. Dust and other toxins caused by vehicles that have literally black exhaust can cause serious problems when breathed in day after day. Everyone was saying how even if someone from the village who became rich wanted to fix the road, the government would not allow them. The government would want the rich person to give the money to the government so that they could hire their own people who would in the end pocket money and do a terrible job. Meehhh....corruption. 

Side Note: In my YAN classes, I have a student researching corruption - she found that Cameroon was rated the most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International in 1998 and 1999. It's rampant here and gravely hinders development.

Our divers must have really wanted to get back to Wum because they found us two other bike drivers to take us the remaining way to Fundong. One thing that never got old alone this trip was the drives -- the scenery was gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. Megan’s driver, Paul Nguo, was extremely nice and showed us around Fundong once we arrived since it was his village and where he grew up. He was great! Fundong is a town and commune in Cameroon . It is the capital of Boyo Division and has a populatoin of about 20,000.

On the road towards Fundong

It was so very cold that night so after we settled into the hostel Paul took us out to find some hot tea. While drinking tea we met two more memorable fellows, Oliver and the Papa who owned the small café where we drank tea at. We all waited for the papa to close the store so the 5 of us could go…yes…you guessed it, grab a drink somewhere.

Side note: The drinking culture is just unreal here. It is actually all there is to do. I am not saying that you always have to be taking alcoholic drinks because I surely do not but that is all there is to do. Go to a bar and drink. From 8am-8am the next day. In between the drinking (whether its alcoholic or not) you can also go to eat somewhere. Most bars have a mami who comes to sell food during the day anyways, so you don’t even have to leave the vicinity. Also there are football (aka soccer) games the play all the time and most Cameroonians are serious fans.

We called it an early night because we were both tired and headed back to the hostel to sleep. In the morning we found puff puff and beans and ate for just 200fcfa. Puff puff is pretty much sugary fried dough in the shape of a circle and then beans are just regular cooked brown or black beans (with tons of oil and Maggi). Following breakfast and a stroll around the small village, we found a bike that would take both of us for 2,000 to Belo. 

One bike. Two massive bags. Three people. :D

On the way to Belo

In Belo I had arranged to meet with with Joshua Chiamba who is the director of an NGO called Rural Development Center (RUDEC). In winter 2012 when I was researching an NGO to do my 6 months internship in 2013 I stumbled across this organization and applied. It didn’t work out for me to work with them, but we had been in contact since and I thought it would be great to stop, visit the place, and meet the man that I had known virtually for over a year and a half. Not to mention, RUDEC is part of the Omprakash network and as part of my responsibility to them, I am supposed to find current partners and see who they are doing as well as search for new potential partners.

Joshua and RUDEC were great! We met a new volunteer from Florida named Ina who was teaching English and working with the orphans. Joshua is a genuine guy who has a real passion for the work he does. Please, see their work on their website and if you know anyone interested in volunteer work, this would be a great place to work. Belo is a beautiful village situated close to Bamenda and the NGO has projects for everyone, teaching (tons of subjects), eco adventure tourism, climate change awareness, several youth programs community empowerment and more. For those who can't get over to Belo, Cameroon for the hands on work, there is also an opportunity to sponsor an orphan. This I can vouch for – while I was there I met Valentine who was a sponsored orphan learning how to weld for a trade.

Joshua (Director of RUDEC) with Valentine (one of the sponsored orphans)

Since Ina was still pretty new, I wanted to take her out to eat some Kati Kati and try a Booster (whiskey cola drink that’s very popular here. It comes already botteled and mixed). The 4 of us went to a local bar/restaurant and enjoyed a meal, a drink, and a great discussion about Cameroon. Then in the blink of an eye we were in a taxi heading to our next destination....   

Ina outside of the new RUDEC office in Belo.

To Be Continued....