The Journal:
  Pages 1-2
  Pages 3-4
  Pages 5-6
  Pages 7-8
  Pages 9-10
  Pages 11-12
  Pages 13-14
  Pages 15-16
  Pages 17-18
  Pages 19-20
  Pages 21-22
  Pages 23-24
  Pages 25-26
  Pages 27-28
  Pages 29-30
  Pages 31-32
  Pages 33-34
  Pages 35-36
  Pages 37-38
  Pages 39-40
  Pages 41-42
  Pages 43-44
  Pages 45-46

Our Journey To the North

After recovering on the beach at Limbe, it was time to take the long trek northward to Kari's home:  a mission hospital just outside of Maroua.  We split the journey up into a 5-hour bus ride (big bus!), an overnight train trip (first-class sleeper car, luckily) and an 8-hour bus ride (little bus).

Along the way, we really got a good taste of the many different flavors this large country offers.  We caught the train in the capital city of Yaounde, so we were able to catch a glimpse of the American Embassy and got to eat a quick meal at the nicest hotel in Cameroon.

The first bus was more than adequate -- it was similar to a Greyhound bus in the U.S. and there was an aisle down the middle (three seats on the left side of the bus, two seats on the right).  Buses seem to run on a different schedule than in the U.S. -- the general rule of thumb is that when it's full, it rolls.  Rarely does a bus have an empty seat on it.

We decided to splurge on a first-class sleeper car for the overnight train trip, which was a good decision.  Even in the sleeper car area there was overflow of passengers, with some sleeping on the floor outside our door.  Once again, the travel was start-stop as we had a very long stop for over an hour in the middle of nowhere (unknown reason).  The food wasn't that great, but we were all able to sleep pretty comfortably through the night.

The final leg of the trip was the toughest.  This was the "minivan" trip that lasted eight hours -- we were heading through the edge of the desert so it was a little warmer (but fairly dry, luckily) and it was just a tad cozy in the bus to say the least.  We seated five across where it would have probably been crowded with only four.  Since we were traveling through very desolate areas of Cameroon I was very nervous about road conditions (while the road was fairly new and smooth, there were giant potholes every so often that required slowing way down to go through), the condition of the bus (when we stopped and saw the mechanic rub something on the back of the bus I did not ask for details) and the lack of restroom conditions (no comment necessary).

Through some good yoga breathing and a few prayers were were able to make it all the way to Maroua without too much difficulty.

General Transportation Notes:
Cars:  The majority of our jaunting around Cameroon was done in just the standard old taxi.  These cars were pretty well marked (some were even yellow!) and while they seem to be very well-regulated by the government, the drivers were not afraid to bend the rules (OK, outright break the rules) to get our service.  We were very lucky to have Kari along due to her knowledge of the economy (i.e. barter skills).  It's amazing how the cars still can run in Cameroon -- some of the vehicles we tooled around in looked like they had over 300,000 miles on them.  However, everyone knows how to fix cars in Africa.

Motorcycles:  Andy tried to talk me in to the "real" cab ride in Cameroon -- on the back of a small motorcycle.  This is probably the most common (and cheapest) form of transportation, especially in the northeast.  Just a tad dangerous for me, so I declined.

Checkpoints:  Any time you travel more than 50 miles in Cameroon you're bound to come across a government checkpoint.  Police with rather large guns make a huge production about having everyone in the vehicle show their credentials.  It felt like the local travelers were always intimidated by this action (you can really tell who is power in the country).  It also felt like the police always went out of their way to know that we were welcome in the country.

This little bus was the toughest eight hours for me of the entire time in Cameroon.
It would probably fit about 20 maximum in the U.S. -- we found a way to cram
32 passengers on this thing.

Above left is a nice hotel outside of Wazaa Park.  The picture on the right
is very indicative of village life in Cameroon.

Some rivers survive the dry season, but you can see that the large river on the right (closer
to the desert) is completely dry for much of the year.

The view from the train.  Sped and Andy check out the accomodations.

Some of the country we passed through was very green even in the dry season,
but the picture on the right shows just how desolate the countryside can be. I'm
not sure how the farm animals are able to survive in this setting.