Cameroon Part 2

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Sober and rested, we opted for a clockwise journey on the ring road around Mount Oku… well sort of opted, we didn’t find the road for the anticlockwise route. We threaded through the traffic out of Bamenda and followed good twisty roads north, past rainforesty looking scenery.

The first stop was at Metchum Falls, a small but quite beautiful waterfall about 20km south of Wum. We were hassled by a 12 year old claiming to be the guardian of the viewing place and soon left to pick up the journey north to Lake Nyos, our intended stop over for the night. After Wum was the village of We and the track began to deteriorate but progress was still reasonable. The dense population of the area around Bamenda had dwindled leaving just the occasional small village, much easier going with less people and traffic around.

We stopped at the bottom of a steep hill to contemplate a safe path through the badly washed out tracks, loose stones, and sheer drop to the righthand side. I decided to have a go, lots of throttle and manly intentions got me to the halfway corner where I realised the track got even steeper. Close to the unguarded edge I had to slow down, Linz has strictly forbidden me from breaking myself again, but I was soon on the floor, then heaving the bike upright again and waving to Linz that everything was ok. However, the hill was so steep that gravity was keen to deny me the chance to continue, Linz clambered up the hill and acted as a handy chock to keep the bike from sliding any further. I couldn’t get on the bike without it sliding backwards so just started the engine and walked beside it the rest of the way, significantly easier to say than do. Abandoning my bike at the top we returned to Linz’s steed for more of the same.

Linz was keen to have a go and got as far as I did before choosing to lay the bike on the floor before riding into a big gulley on the leftside of the track, well away from the right edge I’d chosen. We had the same slidey fun as we had with my bike but I managed to sit on the bike this time and abuse it to the top of the hill, leaving Linz to walk. Once we were all together again we discussed how lucky we were to be so fit, sitting red faced, dripping in sweat and wondering how soon we would be able to move again. Imagine how difficult that could have been if we didn’t look after ourselves so well… food for thought, heh.

A little more time in the saddle got us to Lake Nyos, a crater lake of some infamy. In the late 1980’s there was a gas leak here that killed almost 2000 residents, the source of the gas is disputed, but many locals suspect evil doing. The lake was a tricky ride from the main piste but comparatively easy after our previous hill encounter. Once at the lake we stopped, took two photos and then dealt with the guy in a football shirt who worked for the military and protected the area with his friends. Okayyyyyy…. I followed him to his hut where he took our passports into a secret room to put the details on his ‘komputor’ and then explained the 5000CFA per person charge we had to pay to stay the night. We decided it was too expensive and said we would be going somewhere else, suddenly the fee became voluntary and actually we didn’t have to pay anything if we didn’t want, but perhaps we could give him some food. Whether it was the long day or the haze obscuring views of the lake, I’m not sure, but we decided to find somewhere more appealing with less military presence.

Next place of note along the way would be Kimbi Game Reserve, good spot for a bush camp and there may even be a campsite there. Unfortunately a rather confusing sign brought us to the village of Buabua where we were greeted like a close encounter. Four or five mask wearing folk were dancing around a fire which looked cool, but for the villagers we were more interesting. Through the mob appeared Oliver who helped us get to the local health centre, a good place to pitch the tent. The chief of the place studied our passports for close on 20 minutes before deciding we were allowed to camp there, maybe this was a bribe window but we missed it. We later donated some of our anti-malarial medication to the clinic personnel who seemed happy. They explained that 65% of patients at the clinic have malaria, so they need the drugs more than we do.

We were up at sunrise for a tour of the village and to fix the slow puncture I had acquired the previous day. Bidding farewell to the good folk of Buabua we followed the right track to Kimbi Game reserve and were treated to some of the most technical terrain we’ve yet seen. Lots of washed out tracks, big rocks, bare rock faces, all good stuff and Linz managed it all without my intervention. We had to pick up her bike on 3 or 4 occasions, but no damage was done to bike or rider and Linz now has a keen interest in trials riding, especially as trials bikes are smaller and lighter than hers! There was a big hole in the track at one point, similar to the one in Niger that attracted me, but you’ll be glad to know I avoided it with great skill and dashing good looks, or something.

As we dropped down the east side of the mountain the track returned to typical dusty Cameroon fun and had us hoping for some respite soon. It came in the form of another puncture, just in time for lunch. On the outskirts of Jakiri we had the old tuna/baguette combo and I headed into town to get the puncture fixed since all our patches have been used. I left Linz to gather an audience and we were all formally introduced when I returned. Back on the road to Bamenda we passed through Ndop, Bambui and more amazing tropical scenery. Unfortunately the descending haze ruined any decent photo opportunities and we were back at our digs just in time for the last half of the Africa Nations Cup Final of Cameroon vs Egypt.

Monday came and Cameroon mourned its loss to Egypt the previous evening, we were asked on several occasions if we were Egyptian, but the right answer spared us a beating. We wondered how many red-heads with freckles there are in Egypt. Another day of rest, but we found a garage selling chain lube so the bikes would be in for a treat. I got a little carried away and lubricated almost every moving part on the bikes, good therapy after the ‘chain de oil’ fiasco of Nigeria.

Next on our list of fun things to do was a climb up Mount Cameroon. Whilst waiting in Niger, I had the idea that we could scale Mt Everest and attempting Mt Cameroon would be a good warm up. Linz didn’t share my confidence/ignorance but I was excited and she gives me enough rope most of the time. We had no cash or fuel and needed to visit an ATM before leaving Bamenda, unfortunately both of Bamenda’s ATMs were out of cash and we opted for some other plan involving money changing but we were weak on the details and ended up riding out of town, penniless.

As luck would have it, I got another puncture just 2km from town and with our spare tubes holed and the repair kit empty I would have to return to town. We stopped in the grounds of the Ministry for Secondary Education in Bamenda and were attended to by many interested civil servant types. One guy in particular was Paul Ndanga, division head of Sport and Physical Education in Bamenda, previously assistant coach for the national football team in Cameroon, who insisted on driving me into town and helping me to get what I needed. I was glad of the help, but already suspected that we wouldn’t be going far today. Surprisingly Paul found a shiny new Michelin place hidden away who had fancy European patches and glue, just what we needed. Our tubes were repaired whilst I was shown the offices for Sport and Physical Education in Bamenda and by the time I got back to Linz and had the bike roadworthy it was 2pm. Paul Ndanga was a very generous and educated chap though and we had an interesting chat during our lunchtime trip. However we were left with insufficient time to get to Buea and although we could have ridden for a while we still had no money or fuel.

We stayed another night in Bamenda and on Wednesday, flush with currency from the restocked ATM and with fully inflated tyres, we rode out towards the coast. Buea is the starting point for most of the Mt Cameroon tracks and we picked out yet another Presbyterian Guest House for our stay. Sitting outside on a tree stump was Julian, a 21 year old guy from Quebec, Canada. We quickly became a trio and thanks to Julian’s excellent command of English had plenty to talk about. He was here for the mountain too, having just spent 2 months in Sri Lanka as part of a 3 month holiday.

We arranged a guide for the climb, a couple of porters for our gear and stocked up on food and water. We asked the lady at the market for some salt, only a pinch since we were to be cooking a single meal, she seemed confused when we turned down her kilo bag, despite Julian’s native French she couldn’t understand why anyone would want less than a kilo of salt. Maybe she knew something we didn’t but we agreed on a half kilo and she was placated, we needed some for the rest of our trip (life) anyway.

That afternoon the three of us took the bikes to Limbé on the coast and explored the Limbé Wildlife Centre, a safe haven for rescued and endangered animals. There were a few volunteers from England and Canada who spent time explaining the priorities of the centre and of course all about the cute baby gorilla, chimps and drill. Linz has another career change in mind! A cheeseburger later and we were back in Buea to meet Georg and Aleksandra, a friendly Swiss couple who had travelled Mongolia, China and a whole lot more of Asia on motorbikes a few years ago. We would have loved to stay and talk to them for longer but we needed an early night for our climb the next day, let’s hope we meet them again.

Friday morning we were on the mountain about 7:30am and it didn’t seem too bad, rainforest scenery and interesting tracks, but it was pretty steep. Within a couple of hours Linz was tiring and our guide Samuel suggested Linz would not make the summit and should stay at one of the huts while Julian and I continued. I bluntly explained that we do the summit as Dan and Linz or we don’t do it at all, so if Linz needs to take a rest we take a rest. He was still adamant we would reach the summit in one day, but none of us were so optimistic. The 3rd and 4th hours were not kind to me and I was the one taking frequent breaks, Linz was spurred on by Samuel’s indifferent attitude, red rag/bull thing going on.

The three of us agreed to spend the night at Hut 2, a rat infested hovel 2800m up the mountain and 4 hours or so from the 4095m summit. Samuel was initially disappointed but later seemed content and said we would leave at 4am for the summit. It didn’t sound too bad, but our legs were dead, I could have amputated and eaten them for dinner without incurring much more discomfort. Julian slept like a baby while Linz and I fended off the rats who were keen on our food supplies.

At 4am we were on our way, but within 30 minutes we knew that only Julian would be reaching the summit. The biting cold air, our somewhat questionable fitness and years of alcohol and tobacco abuse all made it obvious that my dreams of scaling Mt Everest may need a little more thought. Dejected we returned to have breakfast with the rats and get some more sleep. By mid-morning Julian and Samuel were back, Samuel had allowed Julian a single 5 minute break during their 5 hour round trip! We all headed back down to Buea and the descent was a killer. Although disappointed we hadn’t made the summit, we realised that we would never have made it down in one stint if we’d carried on at 4am as planned. Maybe a 3 day climb would have suited us better than the shortest possible 1 and a half day Guinness route.

On the way down we met Michael, a German guy on a 6 week trip from Niger to Gabon who had been in touch via email but we kept missing each other by a day or so. We agreed to meet in Yaoundé in a few days time. That evening we consoled ourselves with good food, beer and a discussion about whether we could carry Julian and his luggage on our bikes to Yaoundé. Sunday morning was the Race of Hope, where proper athletes scale the mountain and get back to Buea all in just 5 hours… crazy fools! We loaded the bikes with our luggage and Julian’s, then Julian and I squeezed onto my bike and it all seemed like good fun.

The road was good, although the run from Douala to Yaoundé bore the scars of some horrific accidents and one so recent that people were still stuck in their cars. After several hours on the road we arrived at yet another Presbyterian Guest House, these places are everywhere! Julian and I had suffered a little on the one seat, but it was a laugh none the less and Linz hadn’t fallen off for a few days so decided to step off just as she was entering the garden of the guest house. That evening we met Jeff, son of the Guest House proprietress, and his friend Daniel, a dutch guy working for the UN. We sat on the steps of the guest house drinking beer until 2am getting acquainted with life in Yaoundé.

On Monday Michael arrived and we finally got to catch up and swap stories, it was a busy day at the guest house as we were joined by Sven and Nadine, who had cycled from Germany over the last 20 months, and an overland truck from the UK with a variety of different characters on board.

There’s a great bakery around the corner from here, with French pastries, cakes and Italian ice cream. We’ve spent a week eating too much and trying to obtain visas. Michael has left for Gabon, as has the overland truck, Julian is in Bamenda but we will probably meet him at Kribi beach for a couple of days before he leaves for Canada and we head to Gabon. Sven and Nadine are still in attendance, getting over a bout of malaria and will probably be leaving on Tuesday, as will we, assuming we’ve got all our visas by then.

After Cameroon we have surpisingly few days left before we hit Namibia, essentially the end of the adventurous part of the trip through Africa. We are in two minds about the idea of arriving somewhere with Western comforts, the adventure is fun, but a hot shower is also nice… as is running water and full time electricity, we’ll see.

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