Cameroon
Day 140 22/05
Prestbyterian Church Centre, Bamenda
12 468 miles
We've entered steamy, jungly Cameroon. From the border we followed a dirt road cut through the middle of the jungle with some very big mud puddles. We camped the first night at Lac Ejagham next to some deserted buildings. It was a beautiful spot with this huge pool of water in the middle of the jungle. The next day we headed for Bamenda and the ring road while Julie and Kieth went to Limbe. The road to Bamenda was mountainous and beautiful, although very slow going half the way and great tar for the other half. Bamenda itself is a lovely town, there is a great market with good veg. and the Church centre is a wonderful camp site.
Day 144 26/05
Prestbyterian Synod Office, Buea
12 817 miles
What would we do without the Prestbyterians? From Bamenda we headed to the ring road up and down some more steep hills. It is wonderfully cool up here and a great change from the humidity at lower altitudes. We stopped at the Prespot pottery which was very interesting and then wild camped at a roadside quarry for the night. We were next to a farm and the farmer came to see what we were up to just after we pulled up. We explained that we wanted to camp the night and he said that was fine. He then said 'I'll go and get you some mangos'. We convinced him that wouldn't be necessary so he went back to work. Later as we were making a potjie for dinner one of his kids arrived with a bundle of wood for us. We felt really bad as we couldn't use the wood as it was in huge lumps and we couldn't cut it up - but so nice of them. The next day we managed to get all the way to Limbe as the main road was good tar all the way.
Limbe is a nice little town, although the camping is expensive so we only spent two night there before heading for Buea. We have organised a guide for Mt Cameroon so plan to head up the mountain on Monday.
Day 150 1/06
Le Foyer Prestbyterian, Yaounde
13 033 miles
Yet another Prestbyterian mission and the worst one, although an oasis in the city of Yaounde. We had a foray up Mt Cameroon although we didn't make it to the top. The weather and our own fitness levels conspired against us. After packing everything the day before and arranging an 8 am departure with Anthony, our guide, we were up early on Monday morning. I was just getting the last minute bits and bobs sorted out when an almighty storm hit us. In the process of getting everything back under cover I was thoroughly soaked. Meanwhile, Campbell hadn't yet made it out the tent so he was pinned down for the duration of the storm. I, dripping wet, sheltered in the guest house building and was taken pity on by a local lady, Rose. She invited me into her room and gave me a traditional dress to wear while I waited out the storm. 4 hours later the rain eventually stopped and we could emerge from our hidy holes. Anthony made an appearance a little while later with all his gear. He assured us that it was still possible to climb the mountain in 2.5 days but we'd just have to do a shorter route. Eventually at 2:30 pm we got going. We walked for 3hrs the first day and climbed 800m. It was strenuous, to say the least, and very hot trekking through the rainforest on the lower slopes of the mountain. The next day we were up early as the plan was to walk to hut 2, dump our kit, climb to the summit and return to hut 2 for the night. All went well until we hit a 500m almost verticle climb. They don't believe in zigzags here, it was straight up for 2.5 hrs. Thankfully hut 2 was at the top and we got to have a rest and some lunch. Anthony assured us that the next section was not as steep and that we had plenty time to get to the top and back before dark. So we set off after lunch on some very tired legs and although the climb was no longer verticle it was still very steep. We did some calculations and realised we still had 1000m to climb and decided to turn back as it was getting late and we didn't think we'd be able to make the return journey before dark. Anthony and Chaolin, our porter, still wanted to go to the summit so we parted company and we went back to the hut. A coupkle of hours later and two very wet Cameroonians arrived back at the hut. The weather had closed in on them and they hadn't made it to the summit either. That night it rained heaps so we were very glad to be in the hut. The next morning it was time to head down again and another difficult day of walking. In the 5hrs we spent walking only about 100m was level the rest of the time we were walking downhill and it was pretty steep most of the time. What a relief to get back to the guest house. We've had stiff, sore legs for three days now. Despite the hard work it was an enjoyable climb. It's a pity we hit it in rainy season because I'm sure we would have made the top if we'd had the three full days walking as planned.
Now we'e in Yaounde and applying for our DRC visas. We paid an extra £10 each for an express visa, issued the same day, as we don't want to hang about for the weekend. We plan to head for Gabon tomorrow.
ameroon Summary
We really enjoyed Cameroon. It's been nice to get a bit of variation in scenery and the coolness of higher altitudes.