Douala Daytripping

We went to Douala yesterday with the intention of doing some shopping. We got a lift from Amelia's brother Sam and all we had to pay for was the petrol.

Douala is the main port of Cameroon, it's massive with over 1 million inhabitants living out their lives. There's people selling everything on the streets, i'm sure with enough determination you could purchase a pink cadillac and a baby rhino on the same day. It's mad.
The roads are like the rollercoaster you were always afraid of when you were a kid, you find yourself pushing an imaginary break on the floor and making the occasional squeak, wincing i got out of the car and rubbed my tense knuckles which were white with terror.

There were big commercial buildings and banks and building societies (i saw a lot of white people) and the old German buildings from the early 1900's. It had a certain charm and i liked it.

There is one way to describe the heat and climate though......rude!. It was like walking about with a hairdryer on full pelt blowing into your sweaty face. It was extremely uncomfortable and it made me so glad to be in the relatively cool climate of Buea with it's high altitude and mountain
keeping the weather bearable.

There were a few places we wanted to go and Sam obliged without a grumble and negociated traffic jams without a murmer, but maybe with a blast or ten of the car horn.

We went to the 'marche de fleur' which is a big, bustling indoor market with many stalls/shops. This place was for the tourists and all the traders seen us coming. All the stalls were adorned with handmade artifacts like masks, maps, musical instruments, more masks, giraffes, tables and bowls and a couple of masks as well. Everything you'd ever need to take home basically and all your mask requirement needs met admirably

The place was alive with trading and i thought it had an incredible atmosphere. The salesmen were a bit pushy which the other volunteers didn't like but i thought it was wicked bartering with them. And man, can they barter. Everyone thinks i'm a millionaire here, especially these guys.

I was looking at these Kandindsky style paintings that this guy had painted when he seen me and smiled. I noticed he was rubbing his hands feverishly.

"that's beautiful, how much my friend" I inquired.
"40 000 francs" he said hopefully and rather coyly.
"pppffgh".
"okay my friend, name a price".
"8000 francs" i said to wind him up.
"pppffgh" was his mirrored response.

And on and on it goes, i love bartering, there's a certain patter involved, especially when guys are trying to sell to you at white man prices. I bought a few things but can't tell you what they are as they are for you guys. They're all really beautiful though and charming too.

After going to a few more places we went to citysport and i bought a Cameroon football shirt, which is wicked and is already starting to draw a few jealous stares from passers-by.
We also went to this amazing bakery which sold pizza, it was the greasiest, soggiest slice i had ever eaten and they were stingy wuth the cheese too, but it was like some kind of strange, forbidden luxary that i'd never tried before. I stuck four slices in my face. It was very, very good.

We came back in the afternoon and managed luckily not to be stopped by the police looking for bribes.

It was a cool day and lovely to see the place without visiting the airport and not worrying about my pants being returned to me.