Tuesday 22 March
Monday morning we all wake up at 09.00 hr, for the meeting with Erik and Janneke at 10.00 hr. We discussed the safety regulations and the dangers which you might be encounter. Also we talked about an evacuation plan in case of civil unrest. And the risk of that is certainly present.
Maybe I have to explain the situation a bit. Cameroon borders at very unstable countries, in a whole a unstable region in Africa. The situation here is quite good, compared to other neighbours. The current president, Paul Biya, is accepted through whole Cameroon. This means the north (Arabic, Francophone) and the south (Christian, Anglophone), both approves him. Nobody knows where he is, bur it’s said he’s very ill and might die very soon. Since nobody knows what then will happen, an evacuation plan is made.
After discussing the rules and safety procedures we went to the immigration centre for making copies of our passports, so you don’t have to take your original passport with you. Than we went to the bank…and because it’s Africa, you could imagine something will happen. And it did! The employer sent us away, cause we hadn’t a certificate of domicile. Well, then going to the town hall, for this document. It took almost 1.5 hrs to complete everything. As a result of that the bank was already closed…great…..try tomorrow.
We had some time spent on the market to buy some fruit and drinks. Because of this way, we had a kind of sight seeing tour through Maroua. I really like this place, not that busy and people just leave you alone. Even in the evening the city is safe. We went to the cyber café and a terrace at 22.00 hr. Then I needed definitely a lot of time to rest. For the first time I slept well.
Next morning was such a joy at the bank. On African style…it took quite a while, I think 2 hrs to open a bank account. we were helped very kindly!! Better than yesterday. Also our national park permits were finished, so this day a lot was done…..(yeahhh I think and act like a real African!). In the afternoon we ate altogether on a terrace. After that we returned and rest the rest of the day. In the evening we were invited at Erik and Janneke’s home to eat. We ate an oriental meal and it was delicious. after that we listened to music what made it cosily.