(part three) My Holidays: Bumpy Dusty Roads, Mystical Twin Lakes, HOT DRY SUN, and Fulfulde!!

Part One
Part Two

The Village: Rhumsiki (with pit stops in Mokolo, Kossehone, and Mogode)

We were scheduled to leave at 7am (whiteman time) Monday, but didn’t get on the road until 8am! There was hardly anything open so Megan and I had a hard time finding food. When we finally found some and headed back to the hotel, our guides had left to go fill up with petrol.

The drive from Maroua to Mokolo was short and sweet! Although it was only an hour on a newly paved road, we still managed to get a flat tire. As Njida changed the tire the three of us decided to stroll through the village on foot.

Yellow Millet

Millet is a major crop in this region. It is literally EVERYWHERE – if its not growing in the fields it is drying on top of a roof, in storage or being eaten. There are several kinds of millet and they grow in different seasons. While we were there, red millet had just finished and yellow millet was growing in the fields. 

Children were just let out from school while we were walking.

They LOVE seeing their photos!

Because we had had a flat tire, we stopped in Mokolo so Njida could get it patched before we got on the ‘bush road’ heading from Mokolo to Rhumsiki. Charles, Megan and I walked around the small town until it was fixed. We had heard of this ‘bili-bili’ drink and wanted to try it. Charels took us near the market and we found a mami who brewed her own bili-bili, a millet beer. She poured it from a massive ceramic pot into a small calabash for the two of us to share. I was happy to try it, but nothing to write home about.

Trying the bili-bili

Some photos from the drive...

 

Behind this cement block is Nigeria!!

We managed to get another flat tire in Kossehone, a small village that wash hosting its weekly market which we stopped by to see. After munching on some sugar cane, we were all ready to go when all of a sudden POP the tire just blew. So we munched a bit more on sugar cane and waited for the tire to be changed, again.

Above is just a short clip of something we saw while walking through one of the villages. Apparently, someone had died. The women were on their way to the deceased person's house. 

Soon we arrived in Rhumsiki! The entire drive was one of the most picturesque drives I had ever been on in my life. The only other drive I can think of that matches it would be the Avenue of the Giants in Northern California. The view from out room was absolutely stunning.

We ordered the local traditional meal, Folere. Folere is actually the name of the green plant which is then put with a groundnut sauce and meat or fish. Then you use couscous (which is french for fofo) to dip in the sauce. It was phenomenal! We then did our first hike in the valley.

Necklace worn by young girls who are trying to find a suitable husband (no shirt worn, just necklace)

The following day we worke up extremely early to watch the sunrise on top of a large hill near our hostel.

Trying to fight the morning cold by huddling in a ball.

Then we hiked around for 5-7 hours visiting surrounding villages. We met some local craftsmen and women who carved statues, made necklaces, dolls, pottery, mini guitars and much much more. 

Here are some photos from our hikes through the Mandara Mountains 

and villages surrounding Rhumsiki!

Cute little girl who was selling her handmade doll for onlye 100cfa (20cents)

Traditional house

A fortune teller who uses a crab to see the future.

 

 

 

Jujub berry bush

Mamis picking jujub berries for us to buy from them.

Looks like a face in the tree!

Last Two Nights in Maroua:

At first, I was a bit intimidated and slightly concerned about how Megan and I would be perceived in the North and especially Extreme North considering all of the ruckus hat has been happening over the last year or so. Several robberies, kidnappings etc. And, just in general – it’s a very conservative Muslim population and we are two White westerners not all that familiar with their customs. I hope you all will be happy to hear that that worrying was all for nothing. We were received in the North with an abundance of hospitality just as if we were their next of kin.

We noticed that many women in these three regions had hennas! They were ‘beautified’ (as the locals say) for the New Year. It is a Muslim tradition here in Cameroon, and other parts of West Africa, for a woman to draw henna for any special holiday or festivity. Megan and I loved the designs so we went on a hunt to get one ourselves! This was a challenge in and of itself because neither of us knew the word for henna in French. So after using body language and describing it best we could in French, we finally found someone who knew where we could go to get one. We hopped on his bike and next thing you know we were in some family’s compound waiting. Soon, Ayissa Tu arrived, the woman who would be doing our hennas. We explained what we wanted and then suddenly got the idea to have her also cook her traditional meal (folere) because that was what we wanted to eat anyways. We agreed on a price and made a date for later that night.

We started out the night by eating folere! 

Work in progress

Part of the family

Like most families in the North, Ayissa Tu had tons of siblings from several different wives and one father. Her brothers and sisters crowded around the door as Megan and I took turns getting our bodies pained with what seemed to look like black Chinese hair dye.

Megan, Ayissa Tu and me!

The final product!

The outcome was fabulous! I just wish they would last longer, it has been less than a week and mine is fading fast.

Here is a sweet little reminder of the weather back home in 

Wisconsin, USA vs Maroua, Cameroon:

 

Major Differences Noted:

• We saw a lot less albinos. In Southern Cameroon, I see at least two a day and even up to five. They are just more common. The entire time North I saw two total.
• Dry, dry, dry dry soooo very dry! It was so hot but you didn’t even sweat because it was so dry!
• The insane amount of dust surely contributes to the low life expectancy.
• The north is seriously less developed than the rest of the country. To be honest, it was like two entirely different countries. I took the time to ask one calabash vender why he thought that was. He went on a huge rant about the President and how he doesn’t care about the North or put any money into developing it. Paul Biya has been in office for over three decades.
• The country is divided with major religions – statistic varies but about 50% Christian, 40% Muslim and 10% Animists. Where I live, and most places in the South – it is like 90% Christian because they majority of the Muslims are in the North.
• Nearly everyone was wearing traditional wear (the African printed fabric, the long flowing Islamic robes calle boubous) as opposed to the more Western dress of the South (jeans and tshirts).
• Nearly every single man that we met had multiple wives. We all know that polygamy is sometimes practiced in Islam, but I was surprised to see it was that common.
• We always saw men outside just hanging around but rarely women.  

Part One

Part Two

(part two) My Holidays: Bumpy Dusty Roads, Mystical Twin Lakes, HOT DRY SUN, and Fulfulde!!

Part One
Part Three

Welcome to the Northern Regions of Cameroon 

“Bonne journee, bonne soiree, bonne annee, bonne vie!”

“Have a nice day, have a nice night, happy near year, have a nice life”

Another poor map of my Norther journey including the cities of:

Ngaoundere, Garoua, Maroua, Mokolo and Rhumsiki.

The next leg of my holidays was with Megan, a Canadian who will spend nearly one full year in Buea working for an NGO called Human IS Right. When she gets back to Canada, she will attend the very same school and study the same subject my amazing Aunty Patty has recently completed – International Development at Humber College. We had been planning this trip for over a month but didn’t make the dates and transportation final until just days before our departure. Megan went to Yaoundé a day early so she could buy our bus tickets from Yaoundé to Ngaoundere on December 29^th so that we would arrive the next morning. She waited for hours at the ticket office two days in a row to be sure that we would get the cabin room with beds. I had taken the train once before in First Class and it was miserable -  totally impossible to sleep. Thankfully, all of her waiting and determination paid off because 2 people who had reserved tickets the day before in the beds, did not pay – so we got them! I met her in Yaoundé that Sunday and we traveled that night.

From here on out – nothing by French and the occasional Fulfulde (language of the Fulani people). Pretty much everyone in the North speaks Fulfulde and if people are educated to some extent they will speak French.

The Adamoua: Ngaoundere

The train departs every day at the same time. The train stops several times all along the way. Megan and I had our own little room – we played some music, drank some wine, read our books and soon fell asleep. At about 1 or 2am the train came to a sudden jerky stop. And it was stopped for over two hours. We aren’t sure if it was derailed of just a break down – both are quite common. Then an hour after we had another break down. This would have been miserable had we been in First or Second class, but since we had beds, we just slept. The train usually arrived at 7am in the morning, but we did not reach our final destination until noon. This was my second time in Ngaoundere and a main reason why I wanted to go back was to visit a good friend of mine Walid who is probably the most generous and kind man I have ever met. He is Lebonese and has been living and working in Ngaoundere for just about 7 years. We stayed at his place for the few days we were in town.

Welcom to the Lamido's Palace!!

A Lamido is a term used to refer to a ruler. In the Fulfulde language it is properly spelt laamiido and is derived from the verbal root "laam-" meaning "to rule or to lead", and hence may be translated more specifically as "leader". The title "Lamido" has been used by the traditional leaders of certain Islamic communities in West Africa, originally as head of states, nowadays persisting within post-colonial republics. His name is Mohamadou Hayatou Issa and he has been ruling since 1997 with 7 wives and 35 children. It was interesting to see a tradition like this last through colonialism. There were special areas for the Lamido to get his hair done, to rest, a place he hosted very very important guests and of course one large hut for each of his wives.

I cannot explain the sheer glee and excitement when we heard there was
a place that served banana splits and homemade ice cream!
BEST.DAY.EVER.

 

Walid is quite popular with the Peace Corps Volunteers so a big group of us (10-12) all went to Ranch de Ngaoundaba for New Years Ever. The night started out pretty terrible – our friend from the Peace Corps was robbed by a moto bike while she was walking from the PC office to Walid’s house – no more than 100meters away from each other. She didn’t let that damper the mood too much, but it definitely put everyone on red alert – especially Megan and I since we were continuing our travels. At this ranch, we were spoiled with a four course meal that started with smoked salmon and ended with brie cheese. During the meal there was some sort of mini fashion show and afterwards a small dance party. It was not the most eventful New Years Ever of my life but surly one I will never forget.

Me, Walid and Megan on New Years Ever!

Grand Mosque

Preparing for afternoon prayers.

The North: Garoua

We bought our tickets with Touristic Voyaguers on January 2^nd to travel first thing the following morning to Garoua. The man at the ticket office told us the bus leaves at 5:30am and we should arrive by 5am. In Cameroonian time, this actually means the bus will leave about 7am, still, we didn’t want to chance missing the bus. We woke up at dawn and arrived at the bus station shortly after 5am. Everyone had warned us about the sun and how hot it was going to be in the North, but no one mentioned how cold it got at night!! I was shivering waiting for the bus. Finally after 45min of waiting with no busses or anything, I asked the man at the ticket office about the bus. He told me the tickets were sold out. I explained that we had already bought our ticket. He proceeded to tell me that we had missed our bus which left at 4am and would have to wait for the next one.

We were on the road by 7am – not bad. A friend of mine who had recently traveled to the North and Extreme North had warned me about the dust on the roads. She had gotten sick because of it and advised me to wear a mask to keep the dust out. I nearly forgot, until a young man came on the bus with a pack of them selling them at 100cfa each – If he came on the bus to sell them, and several people were buying them, I knew it was going to be dusty. It was about six hours on the road so we arrived early afternoon giving us time to check into our hostel and go out to explore the town.

Another form of dust prevention.
Some young man came onto the bus before it left selling the masks... thats when you know its dusty.

Women selling fruit along the roadside

Traditional houses along the drive

Garoua evolved in the 18^th century and has been steadily growing in recent years to now exceeds 300,000 inhabitants. The main agricultural product in this region is cotton which provides income for more than a million people. Besides this, locals also depend heavily on the trade of petrol from neighboring Nigeria. There have only been two presidents in Cameroon, the first one was

There wasn’t all that much to do in Garoua. We spent most of our time chatting with locals (usually asking questions) and walking around the market. This city was more of a pit stop on our way to the Maroua.

Vibrant colors at the market!

Those working at our hostel told Megan and I that it wasn’t necessary to buy our bus ticket to Maroua a day in advanced. So on the 4^th we woke up and took our time getting ready, packing and then heading out for some breakfast. Soon we found ourselves waiting in a ridiculously long line at the bus station for tickets. Then: they were all sold out. The woman told us to come back at 1pm because there could be another bus going. We went back at 1pm, no news yet. So we decided to try other bus agencies. National Voyaguers, another company, had tickets for a bus that was supposed to be leaving at 6pm and arriving at 10pm. The last thing we wanted to do was travel in the night – we had been warned by so many people about the instabilities during the night. They call them couper de route. Those who forcefully stop busses in the night to rob them and their passengers. We didn’t really know what to do – so we flipped a coin. And the coin said to go on the bus. Megan and I were a bit uneasy about this night travel, so just to be safe, we stuck all of our important things (money, iphone, ID) into our bras, just in case!

The EXTREEEEEM NORTH: Maroua

As we waited for the bus there was a family sitting on a mat – there were 2 grandmothers, 3 mothers and 15 or 17 children (both times I counted I got different numbers because the children were scattered on the mat and around the bus station). We left just after 7pm and surprisingly arrived around 11pm. This road was even more epic than the road to Garoua!! We were launching off mini cliffs and nearly tipped over trying to avoid a road block. There was a passenger who would get out of the bus and move rocks put in the road as a road block so that the bus could pass. It was kind of funny but also a with unsettling. I was worried about arriving late and finding a ride to the hotel but we had no problems and thankfully our hotel was just across the street from the bus agency.

The most interesting part of Maroua was no doubt the markets! But it wasn’t just any market, it was supposedly the largest Craft Market in Cameroon. Here, you really have to haggle for a good price – they are tough negotiators, but you must learn to be tougher! Don’t ever show weakness! 

Marche d'Artisanal de MarouaMaroua's Artisanal Market

Inside the market

A beautiful traditional dress I bought... will be great for teaching.

Taking a break from haggling and enjoying some Chai tea (containing far too much sugar)

Clichie (pronounced cleeshy): dried cow meat aka beef jerky!

This region is surprisingly densely populated with about 20% of Cameroon’s population yet is also the poorest region with a high rate of illiteracy and lower than average life expectancy. They call the US a ‘melting pot’, right? Well, you could also call this reach a melting pot – the region includes the dominant Fulani, Kirdi, Mofu, Choa, Moundang, Toupouri, Mafa, Kapsisi and Mousgoum people. And those are just the inhabitants – think about those who move from other regions of Cameroon for work.

Busy Maroua

My friend who had recently traveled here had recommended a guide for Megan and I for when we traveled. We had made arrangements while we were in Garoua and scheduled two days and one night in Rhumsiki hiking through the Mandara Mountains. We met our guide, Charles and our driver, Njida, Sunday afternoon to ask questions, get ourselves acquainted and discus details of the trip.  

Part One
Part Three

(part one) My Holidays: Bumpy Dusty Roads, Mystical Twin Lakes, HOT DRY SUN, and Fulfulde

Part Two

Part Three

The title of the blog post, Bumpy Dusty Roads, Mystical Twin Lakes, HOT DRY SUN, and Fulfulde, pretty much sums up everything I have been doing since my last days of teaching.

A poorly traced map of the first leg of my journey. From Buea to Douala to Melong to Bangem
then back to Douala, Buea and up to Kumba!

The first leg of my journey started in Douala. Douala is known to have the best night light in the entire country. Here you will find not only bars on every corner but also a slew of night clubs that are open until dawn and tons of cabarets that play some of the best music ever. Since we were going to Bangem and had to change vehicles in Douala anyways, we just decided to go a night early and enjoy the city. My friend Laglan and I went to meet some friends who live in Douala. After eating some amazing grilled fish, we went out for a night on the town to listent to the ever so popular Makossa music.

Makossa music is 100% Cameroonian and 100% amazing! It is the most popularly played musica at cabarets and dare I say night clubs as well. Makossa actually means dance in the Duala (ethnic group in the Center Region) language and originated from the Duala traditional dance called the kossa. It uses strong electric funky bass rhythm, horn sections, and vocalists to create a unified sound which urges the dancers to move in rhythmic motion. This rhythmic motion is NOT east – trust me, I’ve been studying it and watching Cameroonians dance for 10months and I am still not capable of doing it properly. It takes real skill. Some modern day popular Makossa musicians include Hendri Dikonge, Petit-Pays, Lady Ponce and many others.

 

We were on a bus by dawn to head towards Melong which is also the same town that busses stop in when driving to and from Buea to Bamenda. From Melong we headed towards the Bangem bus park where we found a ‘bush taxi’ that would take us to Bangem. The road was more like a dried up four-wheeler trail that had been washed out by heavy rains and never repaired. It took nearly two hours but we only had one break down.

We Made It: Bangem

Bush Truck, loading up to head to the village.

Dust prevention: Everyone told me I needed to wear a plastic bag

over my head to prevent 'dust from entering and spoiling my hair'.

Bangem is one of the two Bakossi ‘villages’ the other being Tombel both located in the Kupe Muanengouba. I say ‘village’ because they are actually the two major towns that are surrounded by hundreds of Bakossi villages but the two main towns are often referred to as villages. For example, if one person asks a Bakossi person where they are from, the person will respond with either Tombel or Bangem. If the person is familiar with the area they will ask for a more specific village such as Nyasoso which apparently the crater of all Bakossi civilization. Once we finally arrived in this dusty village, our friend met us at the main corner and took us to his place. Laglan is Bakossi and has lived in Bangem before so we had several friends to see and places to stay.

The main purpose of coming to Bangem was to visit the infamous Twin Lakes! These two stunning lakes are said to be closely linked with Bakossi heritage and their ancestors. This is not an easy task. I thought the road to Bangem was bad…the road to the lakes was 10x worse plus seriously steep sections. We could only access the lakes by moto bike – but only the best of the best riders in town were skilled enough to take passengers up that road. It was a good things we had friends who lived in the town because they were able to show us which guys were the best drivers in town.  There is one female lake and one male lake. The female lake is the larger of the two. There is a nice path down to the base of the lake where you are permitted to swim, fish and walk around. This lake is relatively harmless and has a beautiful blue color.

Female Twin Lake

Male Twin Lake

The male lake on the other hand is feared by all who knows its power. This is the lake where I was told if you throw a stone into it, it will throw it back out. As you can see in the picture there are trees all around but a leaf will never drop into the water. From where we were sitting, we could hear some sort of small waterfall or stream entering the lake yet there was no evidence of any moving water. There is no path down to the lake, it is only observed from a distance. Some say that there are nothing is capable of living in this lake and those who touch its waters will be cursed. Notice the color difference below.

Here you can see the small road/path which separates the two Twin Lakes. On the far sides you can see just a tiny

bit of each of the two lakes. The male is on the right and the female is on the left. Notice the stark color difference?

It's like night and day!

 Ho Ho Ho! Off to Kumba We Go!

On Christmas Eve we planned on heading back into Melong to take a bus to Douala, then to Buea and then up to Kumba for a couple of days. Unfortunately, there was no car leaving Bangem that day because there were not enough passengers, therefore we had to take a moto bike. The only good part about this was the ride was shortened to about 45min instead of 2 hours but I will say I feared for my life a number of times.

After we switched cars in Melong, and then again in Douala I was finally home in Buea. But only for a couple of hours. I baked two cakes and grabbed a bottle of wine to bring to the family house in Kumba.

Note: It is tradition and good manners here to always bring gifts when you are visiting friends of family. The size of the gift is not too much of concern but it is expected. Also, if you are living with a family and you travel somewhere, even if it is not far, you are expected to bring something back for the family – even if it is just bread from the bakery. They will always ask, “What did you keep for me?”

Christmas in Cameroon: Ok so here it is…everyone has been asking me all sorts of questions about Christmas in Cameroon. “Are there Christmas trees? Do they sing and play Christmas music? Is there snow? Do they know what Christmas is? Etc!” Surprisingly there are Christmas trees, they just aren’t real. People put up small decorations in and around their house but not nearly to the extent of that in the Western world. I think we can all agree that it is a unnecessary and almost as if people are competitive with their decorations. The radio plays Christmas music and everyone goes to church Christmas morning. Same like in the US and I am assuming other parts of the world, Christmas is a time where family and friends come together to celebrate first and foremost the birth of Jesus Christ. The major difference I saw was that there was no physical gift exchange. But we did exchange love, laughter and food!! Although there was something missing, a bit of an empty feeling, when I woke up and we didn’t sit around opening gifts,  I will say it was a bit of a relief to see that Cameroonian Christmas is not commercialized! …Yet. One thing I did really like was the way that everyone in the neighborhood shared their food. People cook a lot of food and everyone brings everyone a plate of it, sometimes even a beer to go with it! Here in Cameroon, sharing food and drink demonstrates hospitality and trust. It’s a beautiful thing. This country and its people (and quite possible all of Sub Saharan Africa) survive on generosity. That is a fact. In Cameroon, you pretty much just eat and drink. There was a lot of eating and visiting with friends/family/neighbors then everyone stays in their neighborhoods close to him and drinks.

Achu and Njamajama: The traditional dish of the Bamenda people. Achu is the yellow soup which is put inside of an eatable bowl. You use your fingers to go 'around the world' scooping up a bit of the bowl before dipping it in the yellow soup and then grabbing a bit of njamajama (the green leafy vegetable). It takes some serious skills to eat this food - but I have mastered it. People tell me, you bi bamenda pikin (I am a child of Bamenda

Barombi Mbo Crater Lake

This crater lake is easily accessable from Kumba - only about a 5-8min moto bike ride to the entrance. You then have to walk for about 30-40min to get to the lake but it is not a strenuous walk at all. Along the way, we passed several villagers carrying fire wood on their head and other heading into town for work in their nice suits. The entrance fee is 2,000cfa but luckily, Laglan is from Kumba and happen to know those who were taking the entrance fee so we got in for less! The walk to the lake is filled with lush and thick rainforest. Once you arrive at the lake, you can see massive ancient tropical trees surrounding the lake along with other plants. Barombi Mbo is most famous for its unique fauna and is one of the most studied lakes in Cameroon. There are 15 fish species and the lake measures 2.5 kilometers across and over 100 meters deep!

Laglan was telling me about a game that the local boys play called "first to the net": The fist boy who swims to the fish nets (which are in the middle of the lake), catches a fish with his hands, puts it in his mouth, and swims back to shore with it wins! This lake is considered sacred and it is the subject of many stories about people disappearing at the hands of some sort of mystical creature which drags them down. 

While I was in Kumba I was lucky enough to be able to attend my ‘sisters’ wedding. When I went to her cousin’s wedding back in April, she had told me that her fiancé was in South Africa and they would wed in December, God willing. Well, God was willing because the fiancé made it back to Cameroon for the first time in five years to wed his beautiful wife! I was really happy I could be there to share the special moment with both of them.

The groom and bride together at last! :)

Here, there are not one, not two but three weddings for each couple. First you have the traditional wedding which is held at the wife-to-be’s family house. Here there is a lot of traditional/ceremonial activities such as libation, bride price, dancing, and eating. Then there is the court wedding where they go to court and are legally wed on papers by the Mayor and lastly there is the ‘white wedding’ AKA the church wedding. After all of these, there is usually some sort of animal slaughtered by the wife’s side of the family and given to all of the male members. 

Part Two

Part Three