|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
304km |
Meals
Restaurant Le Baobab |
Weather |
|
Maroua, Cameroon |
23 March 2004 |
Relais Ferngo |
10°35.475’N
14°19.142’E |
Odometer: 13890km |
Hot, Humid 107(F) degrees
|
|
We ran into Dirk and Saskia (The Dutch couple
on bicycles) while picking up our passports at the Cameroon embassy this
morning. They had just arrived from Nigeria. We filled them in on
N’Djemena as they don’t have a guide book for Chad. We found the bridge
across the Chari River and drove the 8 km to the border. The Chad side was
a hassle, taking about two hours and requiring us to visit 3 officials in
three different offices. One official has the laborious task of putting
his initials next to the exit stamp applied by the previous official.
Lonely Planet promised that they would demand a bogus exit fee, but
fortunately that never materialized. The Cameroon side was much more laid
back and took only about 20 minutes including the carnet. We arrived in
Maroua at about 430 and checked into a campground. The landscape is
becoming more hilly and the vegetation a little less arid as we go south.
The humidity is also increasing. It’s getting later before it cools off
enough to sleep and unlike the desert where sweat evaporated instantly,
we’re starting to feel sticky here. Beer is getting cheaper though, and we
enjoyed a few cold ones at the campground before dinner. |
|
Pumping water at La Caravelle
|
Giraffes alongside the road in
extreme northern Cameroon |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
528km |
Meals
Yummy Restaurant food |
Weather |
|
Near N'Gaoundere, Cameroon |
24 March 2004 |
Ranch de N’Gaoundaba |
07°07.990’N
13°41.799’E |
Odometer: 14418km |
Hot, Humid 108(F) degrees
|
|
We succeeded in locating “Party Central” in
Maroua last night; the music didn’t stop until very late. We went into
town in the morning and after breakfast of veggie omelets (complete with
peas and carrots in them) we went to change money. Ever bank we stopped at
would only change euros and we had dollars and pounds. Witt and Graham got
very excited when they came across an ATM machine, and got even more
worked up when it actually spit out money. We each took out 100,000 CFA,
then went to the Total station and spent half of it on gas. After buying
fruit and veg (which is becoming cheaper and better as we go south) we
headed for Ngaoundere. We enjoyed a grapefruit and a mango as a
mid-morning snack. Graham and Connie spotted some hippos from a bridge
over a river we crossed just before lunch. In the afternoon we started
climbing and ended up in N’gaoundere which sits at almost 4000’.
Thankfully it’s cooler here at this altitude. We passed three overturned
trucks and at least a half dozen that were broken down. Being a truck
driver in Africa is tough. If your truck breaks down, it appears to be the
norm to stay with it until you’ve fixed it. We passed one where the entire
crankshaft had been removed from the engine! Witt noticed a new noise
coming from Rafiki today; Graham thinks it’s the bearings in either the
alternator or the water pump. We decided to head out to a “Ranch” on a
lake about 35km from town to spend the night. The road was heavily
corrugated and we were driving after dark, which made us wonder if we had
made the right decision. We had. We arrived at the ranch and were amazed
by what Graham described as being exactly like a southern African hunting
lodge. We ordered beer and gin and tonics, and they put together an
excellent meal of chicken breast, meat balls, and green beans. We
commented that the chick breasts seemed to be real, western-style, hormone
injected, kept in a pen chicken breasts, not the tough,
been-chased-by-too-many-cars African kind. We enjoyed our first taste of
wine since ours ran out in Morocco. We all enjoyed an unexpected and much
needed bit of luxury and fell into bed after showers. |
|
Fishing in the River |
The Ranch De N'Gaoundaba |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
135km |
Meals
Scrambled eggs with vegies |
Weather |
|
South of N'Gaoundere,
Cameroon |
25 March 2004 |
Bush Camp |
7°06.826’N
13°14.462’E |
Odometer: 14553km |
Hot, 101(F) degrees |
|
Witt and Jen awoke this morning at 2am unable
to sleep due to a huge dip in the center of the mattress. They packed up
an migrated outside to our comfy tent. Shortly after crawling back into
bed they heard some very strange noises right outside the car, like
someone or something dragging a chain and shaking something metallic.
Whatever it was eventually went away and we enjoyed cool sleeping weather
for the rest of the evening. After breakfast we went for a very nice walk
around the lake. Graham commented that he had heard some strange sounds as
well, and the French owners of the ranch seems upset by the whole thing.
They were speaking in French but we caught the phrase “phantom du Lac.” We
thought about making like Scooby Doo and hanging around to investigate,
but since we don’t have a dog we decided to head out. Shortly after
leaving, the noise from Rafiki became much more pronounced. Upon
investigation, the smoke coming from the alternator helped to narrow the
problem. Fortunately a spare alternator was something that Graham had
thought to include and made a great Christmas present from his parents. In
order to spare the serpentine belt an untimely demise, Graham and Connie
towed Rafiki back to the ranch where we could make repairs without
inquisitive locals hanging around. We parked under some shade trees and
set to work. The first thing we noticed was that the new alternator
wouldn’t fit in the car. We believe that Shukers Land Rover in England
sold us an alternator for a TD5 engine, not the 300TDIs in our trucks. I
thought we were screwed, but without hesitation Graham pulled out a hack
saw and set about modifying the engine to accept the alternator. In the
end he hacked and filed at the engine block as well as the new alternator,
and with a washer as a spacer it fit in perfectly. Witt, who was sawing
away at the new alternator where Graham told him to, found the whole thing
pretty amazing and made him glad (again) that Graham is such a great bush
mechanic. Not wanting to spend another night with the phantom of the lake,
we set out again at 230 and drove for a couple of hours before finding a
campsite for the night. |
Graham and Connie enjoying breakfast
Not sure what kind of flow this is, but it looks pretty...maybe a morningglory?? Graham modifying Rafiki's engine to accept the wrong alternator
Graham and Connie enjoying breakfast
|
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
327km |
Meals
Egg salad sandwiches for lunch, Pasta for
dinner |
Weather |
|
Near Mayo Darle, Cameroon |
26 March 2004 |
Bush Camp |
6°28.217’N
11°34.237’E |
Odometer: 14880km |
Hot, Humid 102(F) degrees
|
|
It’s amazing how much the scenery has changed
in the past two days since leaving Chad. From the dry, rather barren
terrain of the Sahel, we are now winding our way along dusty red dirt
roads through a forest thick with lush green vegetation. There are rolling
hills with mountains in the distance. There are rivers, streams, and
lakes. We drove for almost 8 hours today, averaging about 25mph. For most
of the day the road was corrugated and potholed. There are “rain barriers”
in most of the towns, which close during the rainy season to prevent the
road surface from being destroyed by people driving on them and forming
ruts in the mud. By mid-afternoon the road had improved, and some sections
were even paved. We camped outside of Mayo Darle for the evening. |
|
The road through northern
Cameroon |
Wooden bridges like this are
common |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
305km |
Meals
Ndole with fried plantain |
Weather |
|
Bamenda, Cameroon |
27 March 2004 |
Baptist mission rest house |
5°57.620’N
10°09.965’E |
Odometer: 15185km |
Humid, cooler 90(F) degrees
|
|
Today’s drive took us through more of the
beautiful highlands of Cameroon. The weather was fairly cool and a little
humid. The human population is much more dense here, and the dwellings
have largely changed from round mud brick structures with thatched roofs
to square buildings with tin roofs. We rejoined the tarmac at Foumban and
were happy to see less dust. We drove to Bamenda where we checked into the
Baptist mission rest house for the evening. We met a woman staying there
who is a peace corps volunteer working on a project north of Bamenda. She
is just finishing her service and is getting married to a Cameroonian man
in a week. Her family is coming from Minnesota to attend a traditional
wedding in the village where she works. |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
362km |
Meals
Excellent Chinese food at a local restaurant |
Weather |
|
Yaounde Cameroon |
28 March 2004 |
Hotel in Yaounde |
Not Recorded |
Odometer: 15547km |
Humid, cloudy & cool, 85(F)
degrees |
|
We awoke this morning and had an excellent
breakfast of bread, scrambled eggs, and fresh pineapple at the mission for
just 1000 CFA. Rafiki had a low tire, which together with the flat from
yesterday and a blown sidewall on one of the spares left us no choice but
to go into town and have two tires repaired. The guy seemed to do a good
job, and at the bargain price of 400 CFA per tire. Graham found that the
locking nuts for the hub at the right rear had loosened, so we went back
to the mission and Graham disassembled the hub and tightened the nuts. A
few young kids showed up to watch and we had a great time entertaining
them with the digital camera and our two-way radios. We then headed for
Yaounde where we will spend the next few days getting visas for Gabon, and
one or both of the Congos. We stopped for lunch of fresh mango, papaya,
bananas, and coconut at the grounds of a Catholic church along the road.
The remainder of the drive to Yaounde took us through rolling hills and
forest that looks increasingly like true jungle. We crossed our largest
river to date, the Sanaga. Every house seems to have a either a pile of
mangoes or a pile of firewood out front for sale. We even encountered some
bush meat on sale. We arrived at the Presbyterian Mission, but everyone
was in another building singing and dancing, so after waiting for awhile
we eventually drove back into town and got a room at a hotel, where we
enjoyed air-con and cable TV. |
Graham repairing Rafiki, with an audience The scenery became more jungle-like as we headed toward Yaounde
Graham repairing Rafiki, with an audience
|
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
0km |
Meals
Brochettes at Africa Logic restaurant |
Weather |
|
Yaounde Cameroon |
29 March 2004 |
Presbyterian Mission |
3°52.704’N
11°31.355’E |
Odometer: 15547km |
Hot, Humid, 100(F)
degrees |
|
CNN announced last night that there had been a
coup attempt in Kinshasa, DRC, which is exactly where we’re headed. Our
first priority was to apply for our Gabon visas, and for that we needed
money, so first thing in the morning we drove to almost every ATM machine
in town and eventually found one with some money in it. We located the
Gabon embassy and submitted our applications. Next we found an internet
café and wasted an hour on an extra-slow connection searching for more
information on the Kinshasa situation. We went to the US embassy after
positive experiences with the embassies in Niamey and N’djamena. We first
went to the wrong building, but didn’t find that out until after three
interrogations and metal detector wandings by various “wackenhut” (a local
security company) security guys. We finally found the right building and
endured more wackenhut interrogations only to find that the “American
Services” person in the embassy hadn’t even heard about the coup attempt.
We told her about the report we found on BBC’s website, which she pulled
up on her computer and started to read to us. Duh. Next we asked for a
point of contact with the embassy in Kinshasa. She had to ask her
supervisor how to find it and he suggested a google search for the US
embassy Kinshasa website. When we left we ran into an employee of the
embassy arriving for work. She was from deer trail, Colorado, and was
stunned to see the Colorado plates on our cars. We talked while the
wackenhut guys searched her car for bombs. We told her we hadn’t had much
success at the embassy, and she apologized, saying that things “weren’t
very together” at the embassy. Next we visited the British embassy, and
while they didn’t have any more information, at least they knew about the
situation. We got email addresses for both the American and British
consular officers in Kinshasa and found a fast internet café (complete
with air-con!) and sent them an email. We enjoyed some delicious
brochettes at a local restaurant, and after we got used to the mangoes
hitting the metal roof, had a very relaxing meal. |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
0km |
Meals
Restaurant L'Atlantic |
Weather |
|
Yaounde Cameroon |
30 March 2004 |
Presbyterian Mission |
3°52.704’N
11°31.355’E |
Odometer: 15547km |
Hot, Humid, 100(F)
degrees |
|
Thus far on the trip Rafiki has lost two tires
to blown sidewalls, and one to excessive wear. One sidewall was
unavoidable, due to a sudden blowout at high speed in Morocco (which
leaves the rim running directly on the side of the tire. When you
re-inflate the tire, it has a huge bulge in the side of it). The other was
Witt’s fault, thinking that he had a vicious crosswind until it was too
late and the tire was completely flat. Duh. Witt decided that Yauonde was
the place to get four new tires for Rafiki, and saw a very professional
looking tire shop along the road to the embassies. We stopped there
yesterday and were happy to learn that they could get Michellin XZLs. The
only down side is that they cost 132,000 CFA each (about 260 dollars).
Witt and Jen decided that new tires for the trip through the mud would be
a good idea. The shop didn’t take VISA, so we decided to try to do a cash
advance on our credit cards the next morning. So we went to the bank first
thing this morning, but they wouldn’t do a cash advance, telling us to use
the ATM machine outside. They said it would give up to 300,000 CFA per
day. So we used our ATM card and both of our credit cards to get 750,000
CFA from the machine. Graham tried to use the ATM machine after we were
done, and we had apparently taken all the money out. I guess we know why
the cash machines were all empty on Monday morning. So now we’re carrying
around this two-inch thick wad of cash worth $1400. It’s a tough
transition to what is essentially a cash-based economy. Anything you buy
here you buy with cash. Almost no businesses take credit cards. I was in
line at the bank behind a man who pulled out several six-inch stacks of
cash, which probably totaled several thousand dollars. I feel much more
comfortable with plastic. We dropped our visa applications off at the
Congo-Kinshasa (DRC) embassy where Jen and Graham spoke at length with the
Congolese representative there. She said that we should have no problems
with the border being open, and that the coup attempt was rather pathetic
and had been contained. We also enquired about the roads and routes and
were assured that with proper vehicles (ours qualify, apparently) we would
have no trouble. Meanwhile Witt headed to the tire shop to unload some
cash. Replacing the tires took about four hours including waiting for the
new tires to arrive by taxi. The owner of the shop was a very smartly
dressed man who said he had seen a tire shop in Atlanta and modeled his
store after it. He had done a good job, his staff seemed competent and
professional. Most of his clients seemed to be the more wealthy citizens;
we saw several Mercedes SUVs come in for various services. After a test
drive we had the car washed of the several layers and colors of dust that
have accumulated thus far, then we went back to the Mission where Jen
cleaned the inside of the car, Witt caught up on updates to the website,
Connie did laundry, and Graham made repairs to his rear suspension, which
also seems to have been poorly designed, although less so than the front.
As I write this, I can hear a group of people nearby singing, playing
drums, and sounding like they’re having a great time. Together with the
crickets chirping, it really feels like Africa. |
|
The city of Yaounde |
Getting new tires for Rafiki |
|
Updated Information
|
Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
254km |
Meals
Pasteries and pineapple for lunch, Potje
with avocado salad for dinner |
Weather |
|
Near Meyo Centre, Cameroon |
31 March 2004 |
Bush Camp |
2°31.144’N
11°3.598’E |
Odometer: 15801km |
Hot, Humid, 98(F)
degrees |
|
At the internet café this morning we learned
that according to the US consul in Kinshasa the border between Brazzaville
and Kinshasa is closed but is expected to re-open later in the week. He
didn’t know anything about other borders between the two countries. We
ended out calling Richard at the US embassy in Niamey on the sat phone and
asking him to contact the consul in Kinshasa. He was very helpful and sent
me an email later the same day. There are no reports of new violence, so
we have decided to press on. Vicky, another overlander about a week ahead
of us, is in Libreville and is planning to travel down the coast through
Cabinda (in the Angolan enclave in Congo). Her group is currently sorting
out their visas. We departed Yaounde at about 10am and after the usual
navigational challenges of trying to leave the city on the correct road
with no sign posting, we were on our way to Gabon. We camped early about
50km before the border and found what we thought was an excellent camp
site. We were enjoying gin and tonics and some peanuts when a young man
and a boy showed up with a 3-foot monitor lizard that they said was for
dinner. They watched us for awhile and left. They must have gone to get
the rest of the village because about 15 minutes later a group of about
eight people showed up. They stayed and watched us cook dinner for about
an hour. We entertained them with the digital camera and the video camera.
Showing people pictures of themselves always elicits gales of laughter.
Witt felt like he was the host of a TV cooking show with 8-12 people all
standing about 10 feet from him watching him cut up potatoes and carrots.
When dinner was ready, we told them that we didn’t have enough food for
everyone and that we were going to eat. They seemed to understand and
wandered off, promising to return in the morning. We enjoyed our meal in
peace for about 15 minutes before another group of six arrived. They
watched us finish our dinner and clean up. Witt got out the laptop and
gave an impromptu geography lesson with the Garmin mapping software. They
got very excited when they could identify local villages on the map. When
we told them we were going to bed they asked what time they should come
back in the morning. We said ten o’clock and they promised to be here at
six. Looks like we may be eating breakfast on the move tomorrow. |
Lots of logging going on in sourthern Cameroon and Gabon
|
|
Gabon is next... |
