After spending the night in the unknown small town we squeezed into another uncomfortable taxi and travelled to the closest big town of Bamenda. There we had to wait a full day at the bus station before we could catch the night bus to Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Yaounde was only 373km away, and the road seemed ok, but it took most of the night to get there.
By now the team was increasingly tired and our patience started to run thin. When we were surrounded by a few drunk men on the bus who ended up sleeping all over us we had nothing left in us to handle to situation properly. Finally the bus driver threw them off a few hours later.
Tired and exhausted we arrived in Yaounde with the first rays of light and waited for Arsene, our host, to come and pick us up. Johan, the youngest member of our team was very tired and had the ability to sleep in any place, in any position. He sat on the ground, positioned his pillow on his crossed legs, and fell asleep. So much so that by the time Arsene arrived we struggled to wake him, and he probably never really woke up for the rest of the day.
And to be honest, all the rest of us wanted to do was sleep as well. Arsene took us to the house of the lady we would be staying with. It was a tight squeeze but we could all fit into the tiny bedroom and sitting room that was the house. We rolled out our mattresses, flopped down and only woke up in the late afternoon. Feeling much better already.
By this time, if I can remember correctly, Detlef started showing Malaria symptoms and a quick blood test confirmed it. He was the first to have Malaria. Later HP and Wayne got it and a few months later, in Zanzibar, Madeleen also became sick with it. Detlef was promptly put on medication and spent most of our time in Cameroon holed up in the small room, trying to recover.
That evening in church we had a welcome like never before. One thing is certain- Cameroonians know how to make music and how to dance. The church was filled with so much spontaneous energy and dancing it was completely overwhelming and felt like something from a club scene, rather than a church! But the joy was infectious and soon we found ourselves dancing and singing with everybody else. It set the stage for a wonderful, fun filled 3 weeks in Cameroon.
Photos: Top: Arsene preparing fried banana, or planten. A local delicacy and food fit for kings! Middle: Arriving in Yaounde at the bus station, early morning. Bottom: trekking up from the house we stayed in, the closest one.
