Hello!. I'm writing this from Yaoundé (ya-oon-day) the capital of Cameroon. it's a very lovely and mysterious place, evrybody speaks french, and the keyboard i'm typing this on is french too with all the keys in the wrong positions (Inès would be so proud of me for the amount of franglais i've been speaking.)
Aloys, Ernest and Meredith from the Buea school for the deaf came here on Sunday on a mission to meet ministers and delegates and other important people, and i tagged along with them. We've been staying with Aloys' uncle and wife and their hospitality towards us would be adequate for royalty.
We leave today for a visit to Kribi on the coast qnd then back to Buea (boy-ah) by night. I hope the journey going back isn't as eventful as the one coming here, we drove past the scene of a horrendous accident, i don't really want to talk too much about it here, all i'll say is it was the most gruesome thing i have ever seen.
Enough about that i'm having a wonderful time in Yaoundé and we've met a lot of the right people who may be able to help with the deaf school. I shall write about my adventures when i return to Buea.
Au revoir.
Tuesday 29 April 2008
Saturday 26 April 2008
Fascinating facts about Cameroon
- The name Cameroon comes from the Portuguese word for prawns; cameroes, which were found in abundance in the Wouri river when the first European explorers arrived.
- Cameroon covers an area of 183,638 square miles, some of which is water, so it is roughly twice the size of the U.K.
- In a 1999 census of the country there was an estimated to be 15.5 million poeple, of which 50% live in rural areas.
- Cameroon is one of only two countries in the entire world to have two official languages; English and French. The other bi-lingual country is Canada.
- There are 275 ethnic groups in Cameroon, other than the official languages there are 167 different dialects spoken.
- Mount Cameroon is the tallest mountain in West Africa at 4095m.
- Cameroon is home to the Goliath frog which at 0.3m (0.6m with legs outstretched) is the largest frog in the world
- Cameroon encompasses many geographical lanscapes that are similar to the whole continent, lush rainforest in the south to scorched desert in the far north, great volcanic lakes and vast savanna planes. It is for this reason it is sometimes dubbed 'Africa in miniture'.
- Debundscha, at the base of Mt. Cameroon, has an average annual rainfall of 405 inches. It is the wettest place on earth.
Here are some cool websites i've found that give a flavour of the country and the continent.
www.cameroonnews.com
www.camnet.cm
www.wwfcameroon.org
www.cameroon-tribune.cm
www.misscameroon.org
www.africa-geographic.com
www.ethnologue.com
www.southerncameroons.org
www.irinnews.org
www.africanews.org
www.allafrica.com
www.bakwerilands.org
www.africaonline.com
www.usafricaonline.com
- Cameroon covers an area of 183,638 square miles, some of which is water, so it is roughly twice the size of the U.K.
- In a 1999 census of the country there was an estimated to be 15.5 million poeple, of which 50% live in rural areas.
- Cameroon is one of only two countries in the entire world to have two official languages; English and French. The other bi-lingual country is Canada.
- There are 275 ethnic groups in Cameroon, other than the official languages there are 167 different dialects spoken.
- Mount Cameroon is the tallest mountain in West Africa at 4095m.
- Cameroon is home to the Goliath frog which at 0.3m (0.6m with legs outstretched) is the largest frog in the world
- Cameroon encompasses many geographical lanscapes that are similar to the whole continent, lush rainforest in the south to scorched desert in the far north, great volcanic lakes and vast savanna planes. It is for this reason it is sometimes dubbed 'Africa in miniture'.
- Debundscha, at the base of Mt. Cameroon, has an average annual rainfall of 405 inches. It is the wettest place on earth.
Here are some cool websites i've found that give a flavour of the country and the continent.
www.cameroonnews.com
www.camnet.cm
www.wwfcameroon.org
www.cameroon-tribune.cm
www.misscameroon.org
www.africa-geographic.com
www.ethnologue.com
www.southerncameroons.org
www.irinnews.org
www.africanews.org
www.allafrica.com
www.bakwerilands.org
www.africaonline.com
www.usafricaonline.com
Thursday 24 April 2008
Newsletter blues
So i'm feeling a lot better. The malaria and typhoid have vacated my system like a couple of unwelcome gate-crashers. I'm sorry if my descriptions of the nasty wee diseases were quite vivid and graphic, but i'm telling the exact truth in this blog, i'm not a fan of censorship in life, so i'm certainly not going to pull any punches here. I do have to censor my expletives though as my granny and grandad are reading this, hypocrite. I am sorry if you're condsidering coming here and it has scared you though, but there are precautions you can take,and not everyone is unlucky enough to contract these illnesses.
I'm back at school and i've been busy drawing up worksheets and tests for the vocational department, and i've started drawing up their final english and maths exams that i will hold at the end of May.
Remedial reading has been a bit of a false start as its been off for holidays then i got sick, so three weeks have elapsed and that's enough time to make the wee dudes think that classes have finished. So on monday past one kid showed up (well he was playing in the school yard and i nabbed him) i said the classes were still on and if he spreads the word and gets a minimum of 10 kids here on wednesday, i will buy him an ice-cream, essentially bribery i'll admit, but yesterday sofie,berit and i turned up and there were 10 children waiting. The wee dude got his ice-cream.
Music class has been going well and with the help of Steven we're going to put on a performence on music day at the end of term. I've written my first childrens song, which is called 'Cameroon sun' and the children love to sing it. They've got incredible rhythm too, so hopefully the performence will be a success.
I've also been busy typing up a UAC newsletter at the request of David at Africa Trust. I did it by interviewing Mr Orock then i padded it out in my best english. It's been an absolute nightmare typing it up though, i was typing as fast as i could on Dan's computer at the Orock house, i'm not the slowest typer in the world but i'm not the fastest either. After two hours i was almost finished when the power cut off, my brain nearly exploded with fury!!. Luckily microsoft word retrieves documents and this was the case, unfortuneately it only saved half of it, so i began re-typing.I finished it when the power cut off again!! I actually started inventing new expletives, i was raging. When the power came back on it again only save half of it. I gave up and stuck in my USB stick to save what i had, but dan's computer would not recognise it. If i had had a gun i don't know what i would have done to that computer, i hated its digital guts!!. Anyway after turning it off and on again 300 times and doing the classic of blowing into the USB port, it finally saved it and i typed the rest of it at the UAC computer room. Meredith has a cool programme and all my photos on her laptop, so she has helped me draw it up. The only problem now will be sending it...
Went out for some delicious fish with Ines, Meredith, Sofie and Berit the other night, i had my first beer in 17 days!!!!!!!!!!!! I must be on the road to recovery.
I'm back at school and i've been busy drawing up worksheets and tests for the vocational department, and i've started drawing up their final english and maths exams that i will hold at the end of May.
Remedial reading has been a bit of a false start as its been off for holidays then i got sick, so three weeks have elapsed and that's enough time to make the wee dudes think that classes have finished. So on monday past one kid showed up (well he was playing in the school yard and i nabbed him) i said the classes were still on and if he spreads the word and gets a minimum of 10 kids here on wednesday, i will buy him an ice-cream, essentially bribery i'll admit, but yesterday sofie,berit and i turned up and there were 10 children waiting. The wee dude got his ice-cream.
Music class has been going well and with the help of Steven we're going to put on a performence on music day at the end of term. I've written my first childrens song, which is called 'Cameroon sun' and the children love to sing it. They've got incredible rhythm too, so hopefully the performence will be a success.
I've also been busy typing up a UAC newsletter at the request of David at Africa Trust. I did it by interviewing Mr Orock then i padded it out in my best english. It's been an absolute nightmare typing it up though, i was typing as fast as i could on Dan's computer at the Orock house, i'm not the slowest typer in the world but i'm not the fastest either. After two hours i was almost finished when the power cut off, my brain nearly exploded with fury!!. Luckily microsoft word retrieves documents and this was the case, unfortuneately it only saved half of it, so i began re-typing.I finished it when the power cut off again!! I actually started inventing new expletives, i was raging. When the power came back on it again only save half of it. I gave up and stuck in my USB stick to save what i had, but dan's computer would not recognise it. If i had had a gun i don't know what i would have done to that computer, i hated its digital guts!!. Anyway after turning it off and on again 300 times and doing the classic of blowing into the USB port, it finally saved it and i typed the rest of it at the UAC computer room. Meredith has a cool programme and all my photos on her laptop, so she has helped me draw it up. The only problem now will be sending it...
Went out for some delicious fish with Ines, Meredith, Sofie and Berit the other night, i had my first beer in 17 days!!!!!!!!!!!! I must be on the road to recovery.
Monday 21 April 2008
Jungle fever
9th of April 2008.
A parrot woke me up this morning; the shrillness of it seemed to demand that I get up.
We began walking along another path that would hopefully take us to some monkeys. Straight away I felt tired after the strange nights sleep I had had on what was effectively a block of wood. I had jungle fever too, man the sweat was just pouring off me, pretty uncomfortable and to tell you the truth I wasn’t enjoying myself.
Then suddenly we stopped as Joseph was craning his neck skywards, we looked up in vague interest as this was the twentieth time he had done this, then we heard the loud call of monkeys and rustling in the canopy above. I fumbled for my camera and looked and looked, the noise was surprisingly loud considering how high above us they were, and then I seen the unmistakable shape of a monkey silhouetted against the pale-blue sky, its tail curled as it leapt from branch to branch. It was a Red Colobus Monkey which are highly endangered so Joseph was pleased to see them, not as pleased as me, I was ecstatic. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a photo but I had a new found respect for these people who film Attenborough documentaries.
We walked along the path and I felt somewhat invigorated by my simian sighting, but this feeling of elation was quickly quashed by the many empty shotgun shells we found strewn along the way. The illegal bush-meat trade coupled with rangers who get paid very poorly, so poorly in fact they accept bribes from poachers they catch, has resulted in a drastic depletion of many rare species in the park. I found myself cursing humanity as I stumbled along wondering what it would be like if I, nor any other human had ever walked this path.
So tired, I wanted to lie down and drink cold water until my stomach burst, my eyes were stinging from sweat and it felt like my breath was only reaching my skin “how much further Joseph?.” We eventually made it out after seeing countless more butterflies, but alas, no forest elephants. We crossed the Manu suspension bridge for a second time and I felt a deep, pleasurable relief to be stationary.
We got back to the Boseme Café and had a much deserved beer and some more delicious food prepared by our chef Tobias. I had an interesting chat with him about the bush-meat trade and he said it was awful in Mundemba, he could take me to the market or any restaurant near-by and I would see bush-meat being sold in abundance. I agreed that while I’m here I’ll write to WWF who are based in Limbe and send as many e-mails as possible to the right people. He said this would be good as all the park needs is a small constant supply of money to keep good rangers on a salary. I think though there needs to be more education on the dangers of hunting rare animals for bush-meat. I understand that a family must eat but I didn’t see any chickens, goats or pigs in Mundemba, attitudes must change as well as practices.
A thunderstorm rolled in gray and heavy and I watched the rain and sipped on my icy-cold beer. Some German botanists and marine life experts showed up and we chatted to them about the park. They were on a mission to collect fish from all the countries on the 13th degree line of latitude. There was also an Estonian guy visiting the park for his PHD, he was collecting rare mushrooms that grow on the roots of trees, he chatted away in a stoical manner about mushrooms and I feigned interest, he was a nice guy but there’s only so long you can talk about mushrooms in my opinion. I sat back and listened to the group chatting in English with accents and I felt very European. I went to bed feeling rinsed.
Now in my previous blog I told you of the road to Mundemba and the death mobile, well we had to do it again, but this time we were all in the back and there was no rotund lady taking up a lot of space. I rode the whole journey with my head out the window and I felt totally free as children shouted ‘white man’ at me, the pitch changing with the Doppler Effect as we zoomed by. We were stopped at every check-point by strange men looking for handouts. I’m afraid you’re not getting a bribe off me pal, here is my passport and here is my yellow fever certificate, I’ll be on my way shall I?, thanks……..
A parrot woke me up this morning; the shrillness of it seemed to demand that I get up.
We began walking along another path that would hopefully take us to some monkeys. Straight away I felt tired after the strange nights sleep I had had on what was effectively a block of wood. I had jungle fever too, man the sweat was just pouring off me, pretty uncomfortable and to tell you the truth I wasn’t enjoying myself.
Then suddenly we stopped as Joseph was craning his neck skywards, we looked up in vague interest as this was the twentieth time he had done this, then we heard the loud call of monkeys and rustling in the canopy above. I fumbled for my camera and looked and looked, the noise was surprisingly loud considering how high above us they were, and then I seen the unmistakable shape of a monkey silhouetted against the pale-blue sky, its tail curled as it leapt from branch to branch. It was a Red Colobus Monkey which are highly endangered so Joseph was pleased to see them, not as pleased as me, I was ecstatic. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a photo but I had a new found respect for these people who film Attenborough documentaries.
We walked along the path and I felt somewhat invigorated by my simian sighting, but this feeling of elation was quickly quashed by the many empty shotgun shells we found strewn along the way. The illegal bush-meat trade coupled with rangers who get paid very poorly, so poorly in fact they accept bribes from poachers they catch, has resulted in a drastic depletion of many rare species in the park. I found myself cursing humanity as I stumbled along wondering what it would be like if I, nor any other human had ever walked this path.
So tired, I wanted to lie down and drink cold water until my stomach burst, my eyes were stinging from sweat and it felt like my breath was only reaching my skin “how much further Joseph?.” We eventually made it out after seeing countless more butterflies, but alas, no forest elephants. We crossed the Manu suspension bridge for a second time and I felt a deep, pleasurable relief to be stationary.
We got back to the Boseme Café and had a much deserved beer and some more delicious food prepared by our chef Tobias. I had an interesting chat with him about the bush-meat trade and he said it was awful in Mundemba, he could take me to the market or any restaurant near-by and I would see bush-meat being sold in abundance. I agreed that while I’m here I’ll write to WWF who are based in Limbe and send as many e-mails as possible to the right people. He said this would be good as all the park needs is a small constant supply of money to keep good rangers on a salary. I think though there needs to be more education on the dangers of hunting rare animals for bush-meat. I understand that a family must eat but I didn’t see any chickens, goats or pigs in Mundemba, attitudes must change as well as practices.
A thunderstorm rolled in gray and heavy and I watched the rain and sipped on my icy-cold beer. Some German botanists and marine life experts showed up and we chatted to them about the park. They were on a mission to collect fish from all the countries on the 13th degree line of latitude. There was also an Estonian guy visiting the park for his PHD, he was collecting rare mushrooms that grow on the roots of trees, he chatted away in a stoical manner about mushrooms and I feigned interest, he was a nice guy but there’s only so long you can talk about mushrooms in my opinion. I sat back and listened to the group chatting in English with accents and I felt very European. I went to bed feeling rinsed.
Now in my previous blog I told you of the road to Mundemba and the death mobile, well we had to do it again, but this time we were all in the back and there was no rotund lady taking up a lot of space. I rode the whole journey with my head out the window and I felt totally free as children shouted ‘white man’ at me, the pitch changing with the Doppler Effect as we zoomed by. We were stopped at every check-point by strange men looking for handouts. I’m afraid you’re not getting a bribe off me pal, here is my passport and here is my yellow fever certificate, I’ll be on my way shall I?, thanks……..
Saturday 19 April 2008
Jason in the jungle
8th of April 2008.
This was the first morning of my life where i woke up and thought to myself, 'i'm going to the jungle today' but it was certainly so, it was a fact.
We drove to the visitors centre and chief Adolf waved us off. It was about 8km away through a massive palm oil plantation and i was very excited. In my giddyness i tried to remember everything Ray Mears had taught me.
Joseph, our guide, pointed to a rickety suspension bridge spanning a wide river and informed us that was the entrance. My stomach did a dance like a butterfly. As we crossed the shaky constuction over the Manu river, vertigo tickled my mind in a sadistic way. It seemed sturdy enough but the length of the bridge coupled with the space in between the slats revealing the jaggy, coarse rocks below were enough to make my mind jitter.
Ww made it across and we were now in Korup National Park, a primary rainforest that has stood far longer than the time us crazy humans have been on the Earth. It's big at 1260km2 and it straddles the border between Cameroon and Nigeria. Its many endemic species and rich bio-diversity persuaded WWF to lobby for its establishment as a national park in 1986.
After growing up hooked on David Attenborough documentaries i was so excited to be in a place such as this, Joseph told us that Attenborough himself had been here filming in the past, which i thought was very cool. He has not been the only celebrity to grace the forest, we came across a plack that told us 'Prince Charles trecked this far in 1989' We were 200m in for gods sake! I wonder if he got someone to carry him back.
The track was a well-beaten one so there was no need for machetes to chop vines from our path, knotted tree roots and meandering streams were our only obstacles. It was so humid and i felt like i was evolving gills as we trunched along the forest floor. Grand, humungous trees were everywhere and small, spindly ones climbed them in an advantagous way in the search for light, there were mushrooms of vibrant colour on every piece of rotting wood, a thin slice of light shone on an exotic butterfly and high above birds called to eachother in a beautifully melodic manner. I was in the jungle. But then the sweats came, wow we were all drenched within an hour, it was crazy.
Our destination for the evening was Chimapnazee camp, it was 9.7km through the jungle and at times i thought unreachable, as i felt i may evaporate at any moment. We came across the aptly named 'Big Boulder' which was the remnants of a billion years of volcanic activity and erosian, it was an absolute monster!! We climbed up on top of it and there were trees growing all over it, which really confused my sense of reality.
We reached chimpanzee camp in just under four hours, i felt like we'd stumbled onto the set of lost, there were other people living here from the smithsonian society researching rare, endemic flowers (there have been many plants found here that have been used for promising malaria and HIV/AIDS treatment). We walked into the deserted camp of wooden huts perched on conctrete pillars. The feeling of fatigue was on me and there was Edith Piaf playing on a tinny radio, it was without doubt the most surreal moment of my life.
There was a beautiful little bathing spot in a little stream next to the camp. I stripped from my sweaty clothes and left them to dry in the baking hot sun and went down and floated in the cool water. There were echoes of birds and crickets all around me as i floated on my back amongst the tiny wee fish and gazed up at the canopy, i could've fallen asleep, i've never felt such a strong sense of peace as i did at that moment, it was perfect.
After a bit of rest Joseph said he'd take us up to the look-out point, it was only 1.8km away but it was a pretty vertical climb and absolutely exhausting to reach. So worth it though as the boulder was at quite a high point of elevation and it presented us with an awe-inspiring view of the lush, green canopy. I stared at it for an hour and felt the tranquility of a man in deep meditation. It was heart-breakingly beautiful, i coul've stayed there forever.
We returned back to camp somewhat refreshed and we cooked our spaghetti and munched our apples. The food was delicious and i felt very happy. Hopefully we would be lucky enough to see forest elephants and monkeys tomorrow, a very nice thought to go to sleep on.
This was the first morning of my life where i woke up and thought to myself, 'i'm going to the jungle today' but it was certainly so, it was a fact.
We drove to the visitors centre and chief Adolf waved us off. It was about 8km away through a massive palm oil plantation and i was very excited. In my giddyness i tried to remember everything Ray Mears had taught me.
Joseph, our guide, pointed to a rickety suspension bridge spanning a wide river and informed us that was the entrance. My stomach did a dance like a butterfly. As we crossed the shaky constuction over the Manu river, vertigo tickled my mind in a sadistic way. It seemed sturdy enough but the length of the bridge coupled with the space in between the slats revealing the jaggy, coarse rocks below were enough to make my mind jitter.
Ww made it across and we were now in Korup National Park, a primary rainforest that has stood far longer than the time us crazy humans have been on the Earth. It's big at 1260km2 and it straddles the border between Cameroon and Nigeria. Its many endemic species and rich bio-diversity persuaded WWF to lobby for its establishment as a national park in 1986.
After growing up hooked on David Attenborough documentaries i was so excited to be in a place such as this, Joseph told us that Attenborough himself had been here filming in the past, which i thought was very cool. He has not been the only celebrity to grace the forest, we came across a plack that told us 'Prince Charles trecked this far in 1989' We were 200m in for gods sake! I wonder if he got someone to carry him back.
The track was a well-beaten one so there was no need for machetes to chop vines from our path, knotted tree roots and meandering streams were our only obstacles. It was so humid and i felt like i was evolving gills as we trunched along the forest floor. Grand, humungous trees were everywhere and small, spindly ones climbed them in an advantagous way in the search for light, there were mushrooms of vibrant colour on every piece of rotting wood, a thin slice of light shone on an exotic butterfly and high above birds called to eachother in a beautifully melodic manner. I was in the jungle. But then the sweats came, wow we were all drenched within an hour, it was crazy.
Our destination for the evening was Chimapnazee camp, it was 9.7km through the jungle and at times i thought unreachable, as i felt i may evaporate at any moment. We came across the aptly named 'Big Boulder' which was the remnants of a billion years of volcanic activity and erosian, it was an absolute monster!! We climbed up on top of it and there were trees growing all over it, which really confused my sense of reality.
We reached chimpanzee camp in just under four hours, i felt like we'd stumbled onto the set of lost, there were other people living here from the smithsonian society researching rare, endemic flowers (there have been many plants found here that have been used for promising malaria and HIV/AIDS treatment). We walked into the deserted camp of wooden huts perched on conctrete pillars. The feeling of fatigue was on me and there was Edith Piaf playing on a tinny radio, it was without doubt the most surreal moment of my life.
There was a beautiful little bathing spot in a little stream next to the camp. I stripped from my sweaty clothes and left them to dry in the baking hot sun and went down and floated in the cool water. There were echoes of birds and crickets all around me as i floated on my back amongst the tiny wee fish and gazed up at the canopy, i could've fallen asleep, i've never felt such a strong sense of peace as i did at that moment, it was perfect.
After a bit of rest Joseph said he'd take us up to the look-out point, it was only 1.8km away but it was a pretty vertical climb and absolutely exhausting to reach. So worth it though as the boulder was at quite a high point of elevation and it presented us with an awe-inspiring view of the lush, green canopy. I stared at it for an hour and felt the tranquility of a man in deep meditation. It was heart-breakingly beautiful, i coul've stayed there forever.
We returned back to camp somewhat refreshed and we cooked our spaghetti and munched our apples. The food was delicious and i felt very happy. Hopefully we would be lucky enough to see forest elephants and monkeys tomorrow, a very nice thought to go to sleep on.
Thursday 17 April 2008
The road to Mundemba
7th of April 2008.
To get to Korup National park you must first travel to Mundemba via Kumba. We set off for Kumba at 10a.m along a road which straddled round mount Cameroon to the north, it is due for completion in 2011 (it is being funded by the E.U). We sped along in the land cruiser and made it to Kumba in one hour, Mr Orock assures me it used to take four. Kumba seemed like a tranquil little place with dirt roads harbouring the biggest pot-holes i've ever seen in my life. We traversed through them and stopped at a supermarket to get esssential provisions, apples, buscuits, water, sweets, snickers, more buscuits and one heinekin and a cigarettes (jungle food). I was very excited when we headed to the bus station to get a car to go to Mundemba, the mouth of the jungle.
The bus station was a frenzy of mad-faced men shouting place names in my face, people dangerously over-loading the boots of their cars, music pumping from a distorted speaker and little girls selling pineapples perched on their heads. I felt pretty alive. We quickly found an old toyota to take us there for 6000CFA and soon our belongings were being stuffed into the boot of the car with what seemed like a lot of extra luggage. Chris, Sofie, Berit and I tried to alll get in the back but our friendly driver Eric had other ideas. It was Chris and Berit, another man and his boy and shall we say, a large lady in the back. In the front there was Sofie and i, a woman who had the audacity to fall asleep on my already cramped arm and our driver Eric. 9 people!! Shocking, but that's the way it's done here.
We rolled out for the four hour drive and i immediately became claustrophobic, i eased this tension in my by cracking hilarious jokes like "are we there yet?" Now i've been in a car with nine people before but only for five minutes on the short ride up to the Buitingi school. After one hour in the death machine i actually began to fear getting deep vein thrombosis, it was an absolute nightmare. Only three hours to go.
We rolled into a small village amusingly named Ekockdu Titi and stopped for fuel. We fell out of the car feeling like the victims of some heartless people trafficing cartel and i did one of the least dangerous things i did that day; had a cigarette in a garage. We stood around desperately trying to massage a sembelance of life back into our bums. Eric assured us cheerfully that were was just one hour to go. I though to myself, this jungle better be beautiful.
The road to Mundemba is a sorry, pitiful dirt track aspiring to be a road. Cars drive along it but i wouldn't grant it road status. It's a charlatan pretending to be a road. A lorry learnt this all too well when it had become stuck in a massive mud-hole. We jumped at the chance to fall out the death mobile and massage our bums once more. We watched as the poor sap toiled to become liberated from the thick, golden goop. I felt pretty far from home until i seen a guy wearing a soundgarden t-shirt! That snapped me back into reality.
Once again we were off and it started to rain quite heavily so the road became even more treacherous. We finally rolled into Mundemba in just under four hours and went straight to the Korup vistors centre. We were told to wait for the chief who would be with us shortly.
Chief Adolf, yes, that's right, seemed an officious man who'd seen the likes of us before, "these white people are always rubbing there bums" he probably thinks to himself. We went through costs and he gave us his much rehearsed speech about the many endemic bird, simian and tree species in the park. We arranged for one porter and the mandatory guide. I noticed he kept eyeing me suspiciously as we chatted, i realised later that i had sun-burn on half my face and i had bad truck drivers arm, the final indignity of a tortorous drive. We'd stay one night in the boseme cafe in Mundemba, head to the jungle which was 8KM away early in the morning and stay one night there, then return the next day and stay in Mundemba one more night. OK let's do that then. Eric said he'd pick us up in the death mobile when we were ready, he was to make the journey back to Kumba a furher six times before he seen us. A thought i couldn't even entertain, my bum feeling the way it was.
We were dropped off at our hotel which was very clean but the barhroom smelt of nightmares. Our guide Joseph came to meet us and we chatted about what we can aim to see in two days and one night in the jungle. He then took us for some more provisions of pasta and onions and sauce. He said he'd bring the pots. Before bed we were prepared a delicious feast of rice, chips and a hot tomato sauce by our chef Tobias.
Tomorrow i go to the jungle.....
To get to Korup National park you must first travel to Mundemba via Kumba. We set off for Kumba at 10a.m along a road which straddled round mount Cameroon to the north, it is due for completion in 2011 (it is being funded by the E.U). We sped along in the land cruiser and made it to Kumba in one hour, Mr Orock assures me it used to take four. Kumba seemed like a tranquil little place with dirt roads harbouring the biggest pot-holes i've ever seen in my life. We traversed through them and stopped at a supermarket to get esssential provisions, apples, buscuits, water, sweets, snickers, more buscuits and one heinekin and a cigarettes (jungle food). I was very excited when we headed to the bus station to get a car to go to Mundemba, the mouth of the jungle.
The bus station was a frenzy of mad-faced men shouting place names in my face, people dangerously over-loading the boots of their cars, music pumping from a distorted speaker and little girls selling pineapples perched on their heads. I felt pretty alive. We quickly found an old toyota to take us there for 6000CFA and soon our belongings were being stuffed into the boot of the car with what seemed like a lot of extra luggage. Chris, Sofie, Berit and I tried to alll get in the back but our friendly driver Eric had other ideas. It was Chris and Berit, another man and his boy and shall we say, a large lady in the back. In the front there was Sofie and i, a woman who had the audacity to fall asleep on my already cramped arm and our driver Eric. 9 people!! Shocking, but that's the way it's done here.
We rolled out for the four hour drive and i immediately became claustrophobic, i eased this tension in my by cracking hilarious jokes like "are we there yet?" Now i've been in a car with nine people before but only for five minutes on the short ride up to the Buitingi school. After one hour in the death machine i actually began to fear getting deep vein thrombosis, it was an absolute nightmare. Only three hours to go.
We rolled into a small village amusingly named Ekockdu Titi and stopped for fuel. We fell out of the car feeling like the victims of some heartless people trafficing cartel and i did one of the least dangerous things i did that day; had a cigarette in a garage. We stood around desperately trying to massage a sembelance of life back into our bums. Eric assured us cheerfully that were was just one hour to go. I though to myself, this jungle better be beautiful.
The road to Mundemba is a sorry, pitiful dirt track aspiring to be a road. Cars drive along it but i wouldn't grant it road status. It's a charlatan pretending to be a road. A lorry learnt this all too well when it had become stuck in a massive mud-hole. We jumped at the chance to fall out the death mobile and massage our bums once more. We watched as the poor sap toiled to become liberated from the thick, golden goop. I felt pretty far from home until i seen a guy wearing a soundgarden t-shirt! That snapped me back into reality.
Once again we were off and it started to rain quite heavily so the road became even more treacherous. We finally rolled into Mundemba in just under four hours and went straight to the Korup vistors centre. We were told to wait for the chief who would be with us shortly.
Chief Adolf, yes, that's right, seemed an officious man who'd seen the likes of us before, "these white people are always rubbing there bums" he probably thinks to himself. We went through costs and he gave us his much rehearsed speech about the many endemic bird, simian and tree species in the park. We arranged for one porter and the mandatory guide. I noticed he kept eyeing me suspiciously as we chatted, i realised later that i had sun-burn on half my face and i had bad truck drivers arm, the final indignity of a tortorous drive. We'd stay one night in the boseme cafe in Mundemba, head to the jungle which was 8KM away early in the morning and stay one night there, then return the next day and stay in Mundemba one more night. OK let's do that then. Eric said he'd pick us up in the death mobile when we were ready, he was to make the journey back to Kumba a furher six times before he seen us. A thought i couldn't even entertain, my bum feeling the way it was.
We were dropped off at our hotel which was very clean but the barhroom smelt of nightmares. Our guide Joseph came to meet us and we chatted about what we can aim to see in two days and one night in the jungle. He then took us for some more provisions of pasta and onions and sauce. He said he'd bring the pots. Before bed we were prepared a delicious feast of rice, chips and a hot tomato sauce by our chef Tobias.
Tomorrow i go to the jungle.....
Tuesday 15 April 2008
Typhoid
So i woke up yesterday and my whole body creaked like a shoody deck-chair. When i got out of bed i actually thought i had dislocated my patella as my knees cracked like a whip when i straightened them.
I went up to the doctors and she took more blood for testing. When i got the results back i was informed that the malaria had gone but now the typhoid was having a wee go. She had been treating for the typhoid as well as the malaria but it managed to slip by like a silent, dangerous hitch-hiker that you'd forgotten you'd picked up along the road.
I came back and resumed reading an amazing Bertrand Russell autobiography, at one point my attention was roused when i seen a tiny black frog jumping about my room. Startled, i leapt out of bed to find something to butcher the beast with, but when i turned round, he had vanished. I entered a dreamless void of a sleep and when i awoke there was a giant millipede lying by my face. I actually screamed until i had a closer inspection of what it was; my black beaded bracelet had broken off and shed its beads like millioins of millipede eggs. So i've been hallucinating quite wildly, which is nice.
Throughout all this i have been lucky enough to have an insatiable appetite and unquenchable thirst, if i didn't i'm sure i would be a lot sicker than i am. Now the Doctor is giving me butt-shots for the typhoid, i'm off for one now, bye.
I went up to the doctors and she took more blood for testing. When i got the results back i was informed that the malaria had gone but now the typhoid was having a wee go. She had been treating for the typhoid as well as the malaria but it managed to slip by like a silent, dangerous hitch-hiker that you'd forgotten you'd picked up along the road.
I came back and resumed reading an amazing Bertrand Russell autobiography, at one point my attention was roused when i seen a tiny black frog jumping about my room. Startled, i leapt out of bed to find something to butcher the beast with, but when i turned round, he had vanished. I entered a dreamless void of a sleep and when i awoke there was a giant millipede lying by my face. I actually screamed until i had a closer inspection of what it was; my black beaded bracelet had broken off and shed its beads like millioins of millipede eggs. So i've been hallucinating quite wildly, which is nice.
Throughout all this i have been lucky enough to have an insatiable appetite and unquenchable thirst, if i didn't i'm sure i would be a lot sicker than i am. Now the Doctor is giving me butt-shots for the typhoid, i'm off for one now, bye.
Sunday 13 April 2008
Malaria
Let me tell you about malaria. It's a bastard (pardon my french Granny and Grandad).
I thought i had suffered headaches before now but those were just petty, sappy love-taps from a baby compared to these mosquito-induced bad boys. I felt like i had one of those industrial-sized elastic bands fitted snugly round my brain and every so often like some sadistic, adavistic torture it was pulled back for the inevitable snap onto my cranium. My skin felt like wet leather and to touch it was to evoke the sensation of peeling yourself unstuck from a block of ice. My eyes felt like foreign bodies in my skull, begging to be scratched from their ocular prisons. My tongue felt like a squatter-slug unnatuarally dry within my mouth. And the fever was hotter than Douala in the daytime. And to top it all off i had typhoid too, which made my digestive system march to a sick, sardonic beat with the toilet being my metronome master.
To tell you the truth i didn't get it half as bad as Meredith, but she's from Texas, the land of George Dubya, so she's tough - like a cowboy.
Before you travel to a malaria hot-zones you must seek medical advice on which anti-malarial prophylactic to take. Although none of them are 100% effective, doxycyclin has failed me personally, and if it were to stand up in court, i would sue them (oops, that's some bitterness creeping in there). There are other preventive measures you can take against contracting malaria. Don't wear bright colours as mosquitos are attracted to them. Cover as much skin as possible (impossible actually, it's far to hot for that). I choose to douse myself in insect repellent (apparently not that effective either). I have screens on my windows and i sleep under a mosquito net, so indoors i think i'm safe, it's outside where the danger lies (or should i say flies?).
The terrible terrorists love the puddles that sporadically decorate the road. The brown, mirky water is perfect for the blood-thirsty bleeders to breed. They attack at dusk or dawn like tiny vampires and you don't feel a sting or a thing till after (wow i'm bitter right now, i've noticed when i'm angry and i write, i use a lot of alliteration and rhyming for effect) There are deadly strains of the disease here in Cameroon, which if left untreated can be fatal, the sad thing is not everyone can afford the medicine.
Dr Njemba, the volunteers doctor, has been my saviour, she really has. As i write this on Sunday afternoon i'm feeling a lot better than i was. I've had two infusion cocktails passed through my bloodstream and they had the jaundiced colour of urine, they made me look as sick as i was. They scared me too as i had never had one before, much to the amusement of Dr Njemba, she said she will never forget me, so many questions. She's prescribed all the relative drugs to kill the intruding parasites within me, and all in the comfort of my own room. Thanks doc.
When i've been tethered to my bed Meredith has brought me coca-cola and sympathy, Sofie has been bringing me my dinner and wee Cynthia has been fetching me bananas like i was an invalid. So it's not all doom and gloom being sick (note to self, try and end on a positive note).
I thought i had suffered headaches before now but those were just petty, sappy love-taps from a baby compared to these mosquito-induced bad boys. I felt like i had one of those industrial-sized elastic bands fitted snugly round my brain and every so often like some sadistic, adavistic torture it was pulled back for the inevitable snap onto my cranium. My skin felt like wet leather and to touch it was to evoke the sensation of peeling yourself unstuck from a block of ice. My eyes felt like foreign bodies in my skull, begging to be scratched from their ocular prisons. My tongue felt like a squatter-slug unnatuarally dry within my mouth. And the fever was hotter than Douala in the daytime. And to top it all off i had typhoid too, which made my digestive system march to a sick, sardonic beat with the toilet being my metronome master.
To tell you the truth i didn't get it half as bad as Meredith, but she's from Texas, the land of George Dubya, so she's tough - like a cowboy.
Before you travel to a malaria hot-zones you must seek medical advice on which anti-malarial prophylactic to take. Although none of them are 100% effective, doxycyclin has failed me personally, and if it were to stand up in court, i would sue them (oops, that's some bitterness creeping in there). There are other preventive measures you can take against contracting malaria. Don't wear bright colours as mosquitos are attracted to them. Cover as much skin as possible (impossible actually, it's far to hot for that). I choose to douse myself in insect repellent (apparently not that effective either). I have screens on my windows and i sleep under a mosquito net, so indoors i think i'm safe, it's outside where the danger lies (or should i say flies?).
The terrible terrorists love the puddles that sporadically decorate the road. The brown, mirky water is perfect for the blood-thirsty bleeders to breed. They attack at dusk or dawn like tiny vampires and you don't feel a sting or a thing till after (wow i'm bitter right now, i've noticed when i'm angry and i write, i use a lot of alliteration and rhyming for effect) There are deadly strains of the disease here in Cameroon, which if left untreated can be fatal, the sad thing is not everyone can afford the medicine.
Dr Njemba, the volunteers doctor, has been my saviour, she really has. As i write this on Sunday afternoon i'm feeling a lot better than i was. I've had two infusion cocktails passed through my bloodstream and they had the jaundiced colour of urine, they made me look as sick as i was. They scared me too as i had never had one before, much to the amusement of Dr Njemba, she said she will never forget me, so many questions. She's prescribed all the relative drugs to kill the intruding parasites within me, and all in the comfort of my own room. Thanks doc.
When i've been tethered to my bed Meredith has brought me coca-cola and sympathy, Sofie has been bringing me my dinner and wee Cynthia has been fetching me bananas like i was an invalid. So it's not all doom and gloom being sick (note to self, try and end on a positive note).
Friday 11 April 2008
You gave me fever
Hello! I have returned from the jungle. It was amazing and i'm going to write some blogs on my tales soon. Now though i am feeling rather sick and i'm not up to it.
The day before we went to the rainforest i woke up with a crazy bad fever. Steam was pouring from my face and i could melt ice with a firey glance. Anyway, the volunteers doctor came out and said i may have typhoid and possibly malaria. She presented me with a multitude of drugs of every colour, malara suppresants, anti-histamines, painkillers and a rehydration pill for good luck. In all i had to pop 14 pills in my face!!.
"Eh, are you sure it's okay to mix all these drugs?" I inquired apprehensively.
"Yes, of course it is. They will make you better, now take these for your fever" She said bossily.
"So you think i won't get sick in the jungle?" I begged.
"No. You will not get sick, oh don't take those yellow ones!!!, they will make you very sick" She blurted as i was raising them to my mouth.
"Oh" I said as i glanced down at these apparent suicide pills in my hand. "Why did you bring them?" I asked.
"A mistake" she said absently as she reached for more pills.
So after popping half the contents of a chemist i went to the jungle. I must say i felt fine, although the humidity of the rainforest may have consealed my fever. We got back yesterday and again i felt alright, but last night i started shivering (a very weird experience in Africa, i sleep with a fan on me at night and if i had the choice i'd go and kip on a block of ice!)and then the fever came back with a beezer of a sore head as a wee treat too.
So now here i am in the cyber sweating buckets after seeing the doctor for the second time. She took some of my blood and she is going to run tests on it. I don't feel too special to be honest. I just hope it's not malaria though, as my friend Meredith had to go to hospital with it last week. It's not very pleasant.
I shall keep you posted.
The day before we went to the rainforest i woke up with a crazy bad fever. Steam was pouring from my face and i could melt ice with a firey glance. Anyway, the volunteers doctor came out and said i may have typhoid and possibly malaria. She presented me with a multitude of drugs of every colour, malara suppresants, anti-histamines, painkillers and a rehydration pill for good luck. In all i had to pop 14 pills in my face!!.
"Eh, are you sure it's okay to mix all these drugs?" I inquired apprehensively.
"Yes, of course it is. They will make you better, now take these for your fever" She said bossily.
"So you think i won't get sick in the jungle?" I begged.
"No. You will not get sick, oh don't take those yellow ones!!!, they will make you very sick" She blurted as i was raising them to my mouth.
"Oh" I said as i glanced down at these apparent suicide pills in my hand. "Why did you bring them?" I asked.
"A mistake" she said absently as she reached for more pills.
So after popping half the contents of a chemist i went to the jungle. I must say i felt fine, although the humidity of the rainforest may have consealed my fever. We got back yesterday and again i felt alright, but last night i started shivering (a very weird experience in Africa, i sleep with a fan on me at night and if i had the choice i'd go and kip on a block of ice!)and then the fever came back with a beezer of a sore head as a wee treat too.
So now here i am in the cyber sweating buckets after seeing the doctor for the second time. She took some of my blood and she is going to run tests on it. I don't feel too special to be honest. I just hope it's not malaria though, as my friend Meredith had to go to hospital with it last week. It's not very pleasant.
I shall keep you posted.
Sunday 6 April 2008
There are new people!!
There are new volunteers. My time as Robinson Crusoe is over. They are Berit, Sophie and Chris. They are Danish and they're lovely.
They arrived yesterday and they will be staying for three months, Chris will be going back to Yaounde in a week for the remainder of his stay though.
Last night i didn't hesitate to introduce them to the delights of Abidjan, and i took them on a wee tour today. We went down to Munya market so they could get some essential provisions. Berit has to work on her bartering skills however, cause when a guy offered 350CFA for a pair of flip-flops, she tried to get him up to 400CFA. Not how it works.
The best bit is though, they want to come to Korup National Park with me. We leave tomorrow. Wicked. I'm going to the rainforest, i'll be back in a few days with some tales. I've heard the internet connection is pretty non-existant in the jungle, so i'll wait to get back to Buea.
They arrived yesterday and they will be staying for three months, Chris will be going back to Yaounde in a week for the remainder of his stay though.
Last night i didn't hesitate to introduce them to the delights of Abidjan, and i took them on a wee tour today. We went down to Munya market so they could get some essential provisions. Berit has to work on her bartering skills however, cause when a guy offered 350CFA for a pair of flip-flops, she tried to get him up to 400CFA. Not how it works.
The best bit is though, they want to come to Korup National Park with me. We leave tomorrow. Wicked. I'm going to the rainforest, i'll be back in a few days with some tales. I've heard the internet connection is pretty non-existant in the jungle, so i'll wait to get back to Buea.
Friday 4 April 2008
Roots4kids
Went to a party last night at Christel and Raouls' orphanage out in the sticks. Christel is a former UAC volunteer who came back to Cameroon and built an orphanage with her boyfriend Raoul, himself a francophone Cameroonian from Yaounde.
They've done it, the building is amazing (if not a little bigger than they intended) and it is bright pink. A sanctuary in the jungle. They intend to house twenty children, 10 girls and 10 boys in a safe, warm environment, see they go to school and give them another start in life as they will have no one else to do this for them.
This of course takes money, hence the reason for last nights party, Christel is returning home to Holland on a fundraising trip and i'm sure she will be successful. It is such a worthwhile cause and any potential financial backer would be blind not to see that.
The party was a relatively low-key affair with popcorn, beer and a nice ambiance. I arrived after an uncomfortable taxi ride (two large ladies, me and some other dude in the back, two in the front passenger seat and get this, two in the drivers seat!! both taking turns at driving responsibilities...comically dangerous) The chief of Buitingi was there and they were discussing the lack of water situation in the area. After the business there was a wonderfully surreal moment where we all had a boiled egg. Then we had some beer.
www.roots4kids.com
They've done it, the building is amazing (if not a little bigger than they intended) and it is bright pink. A sanctuary in the jungle. They intend to house twenty children, 10 girls and 10 boys in a safe, warm environment, see they go to school and give them another start in life as they will have no one else to do this for them.
This of course takes money, hence the reason for last nights party, Christel is returning home to Holland on a fundraising trip and i'm sure she will be successful. It is such a worthwhile cause and any potential financial backer would be blind not to see that.
The party was a relatively low-key affair with popcorn, beer and a nice ambiance. I arrived after an uncomfortable taxi ride (two large ladies, me and some other dude in the back, two in the front passenger seat and get this, two in the drivers seat!! both taking turns at driving responsibilities...comically dangerous) The chief of Buitingi was there and they were discussing the lack of water situation in the area. After the business there was a wonderfully surreal moment where we all had a boiled egg. Then we had some beer.
www.roots4kids.com
Thursday 3 April 2008
Holiday news
So i'm currently on holiday from school till the 16th of April. There's kids on every corner laughing and skipping, children running about so giddy with excitement that they hardly know what to do with themselves. Some run past me pushing an old tyre with a stick that conjures images of an old Dickens novel. Amd of course some of them work. Child labour does exist here as farms won't tend themselves and water doesn't always magically pour from the taps, it must be carried from the stream a long way from home.
My plan is to go on an excursion to Korup national park. Meredith was up for it too but unfortuneately she has a lot of uni work to do.
I can get a ride to Kumba with Ines who has a conference to attend there for two weeks, then i go on to Mundemba and the jungle (get your google maps out) I have been told to not travel alone but once you get there you are assigned a guide. It would be nice to share it with someone else though. I don't know.
Next week there are two Danish girls arriving and in May there is another Dutch volunteer. Also in May there are five Americans staying for two weeks then going on to Mamfe where i will go with them as i hear it's beautiful up there. So there should be fun ahead.
My plan is to go on an excursion to Korup national park. Meredith was up for it too but unfortuneately she has a lot of uni work to do.
I can get a ride to Kumba with Ines who has a conference to attend there for two weeks, then i go on to Mundemba and the jungle (get your google maps out) I have been told to not travel alone but once you get there you are assigned a guide. It would be nice to share it with someone else though. I don't know.
Next week there are two Danish girls arriving and in May there is another Dutch volunteer. Also in May there are five Americans staying for two weeks then going on to Mamfe where i will go with them as i hear it's beautiful up there. So there should be fun ahead.
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