Now writing this down, it’s in the middle of the night here. The question; why write this at this time
….of course? First more about the trip to Campo.
We packed, had breakfast and left our hotel in Kribi early Tuesday morning. We had to wait for an hour before the taxi had arrived. As a consequence of that, we arrived quite late in Kribi. We bought tickets for the bus, but we were told the bus leave about 2.5 hours. Well no……it was 14.30 hr….horrible late.
Just on time we could arrange new tickets at another company. Then back again to the bad company to return the bus tickets, paying 500 CFA per ticket. If it all wasn’t confusing enough, at departing time (12.00 hr, a midi in French), the man who put the baggage on the roof of the bus, wanted 1000 CFA. After heated discussions in the heat 😉 we paid him. And 13.00 hr we left Kribi (1 hr delay) heading to Campo. It’s the most southern town along the west coast of Cameroon.
But it was a trip :~) I’ll remember it! I was glad used to bad roads, broken buses and kind traffic in general. What had to be a 4 hours trip 🙂 ended in a madness and surprising way! About one hour drive from Campo the bus was broken. (strange……I thought it already was) No panic we are in the tropical rainforest (foret tropical) near some homes. We walked (2 min.) and had a seat just under the mango trees. Unfortunately the mangos weren’t ripe. Indeed there were papayas, coconuts, bill foots and bananas.
We met a French teacher (his name Dien), working in Campo and Kribi. He also can speak English. The first time a got in contact with locals. Controversial topics like homosexuality, mono- and polygamy and religion were discussed (French & English). It was a nice experience and it filled the hour of waiting. A race against time, because it was already 16.45 hr. Finally 18.00 hr 🙁 ..a sign with Campo! Such a beautiful town and environment in the tropical rainforest.
And again if it wasn’t late enough the gendarme was annoying us. After 10 min. we got rid of the gendarme and checked in for the nearby hotel (auberge). We were still accompanied by our so called teacher….. He helped us to find a place where we could stay. Three separate rooms 🙁 details follow later……(I still remember to answer the question). We went outside to eat something with Dien (the teacher). Sometimes it was hard to explain the cultural differences. I’m convinced he’s a good person: teaching in remote areas, doing his doctoral phase at university and yet still to be a good musician. During the conversation it was clear that his love for music is strong thought . He certainly can become a famous musician. I thought I was busy in The Netherlands……(not).
The teacher is travelling with us to Kribi, Wednesday. During conservations we also talked about schools (how logically) and the lack of means. That made us to buy some school means in the shop. Tomorrow (within hours) we will give it to the local primary school. First we went to sleep………..yeah right.
I’ll describe my room of 4.4×4.5 m. There is a half high wall in the room which separate the bed from the sanitary. the room is very dirty and there’s no water from the taps but from buckets. A toilet, 2 chairs, 1 bed, no mosquito nets but an arranged ventilator. It has an effect of The Ring and The Grudge. There’s a real spooky atmosphere in the room when the lights were turned off…..Like someone is sitting on the toilet, an image appears from a corner, that makes you dizzy. As if a scene what happened in the room in the past is being showed, visualised again…..;the yellow walls turn into red ;-(
Great 45 min. to go, now it’s 5.45 hr…..I hear the cocks crowing. Some cats are fighting and a dog is also awake now. People are walking on the roof, so the curtains fell down……I was frightened. I hate this room and I’m glad it’s only for one night! Thank you for joining this night……write to you at the end of the same day.