Monica in Cameroon!

Monica arriving in Cameroon!

Monica finally came to visit me in Cameroon! Her plane was going to arrive Monday night so I traveled to Yaoundé on Sunday November 23rd, 2014 in order to get things arranged before she arrived. I stayed at the Peace Corps transit house in Yaounde and on Monday morning I arranged for a cab to take me to the airport
later and I booked hotel room for us. That evening I went with the cab to the airport, which is about an hour outside of Yaounde, to pick up Monica. Her plane was supposed to arrive at 8:30pm, so I made sure to get there by 8pm, and the plane was late. She finally arrived at 9:30pm. Monica was officially in Africa! We took the cab back to town and were stopped by some police and asked to show our ID. This has never happened to me in the middle of town before but it was an interesting introduction to Cameroon for Monica. Then the cab dropped us off at our hotel. I chose that hotel because it was a mid-level hotel, not too fancy but not the basic type of hotel in Cameroon either. I wanted to give Monica a smooth transition into Cameroon.

The next day we went to Amour Mezam bus company and took a bus from Yaounde to Bamenda. We took the VIP bus where each passenger gets their own assigned seat rather than crowding onto a  bench seat; I wasn't sure if Monica was ready for that. The seats in these buses though are typically smaller than they are in America so it is not really like having your own seat anyway. I had prepared Monica for this before getting to the bus station but I was surprised when we stepped onto the bus and the seats were the size you would expect to see in America. Monica was not surprised and thought that I had been pulling her leg. There were

Me and Charles!

some other volunteers on the bus and they backed me up about the typical size of the seats. The seven hour trip went well even though it was pretty hot seeing as it was getting to be dry season.

When we arrived in Bamenda we dropped our things at my house and then went out for dinner. The next day we had to wait around my house for my landlord and a technician. There was an issue with my house that I had been trying to get fixed since late September. Monica and I waited around for not only that day but the next three days; the first day they didn't show and then it took them the next two days to finish the work. This was not what I wanted to do while Monica was visiting but it couldn't be helped. We spent the rest of our time, about ten days, traveling and seeing tourist attractions.

Thanksgiving dinner.

The Thursday after Monica arrived in Cameroon was Thanksgiving. We bought potatoes and green beans in the market and canned corn and creamed corn in the supermarket so that we could make mashed potatoes, garlic green beans, and creamed corn for dinner. I also got a piece of chicken, since turkey is not really
available, to go with my dinner. Along with those things we had jellied cranberry sauce that I bought from an "American" store three weeks earlier. "American" stores are stores that sell goods that are imported from the United States and Europe. I was very excited when I found that cranberry sauce and I was surprised at how traditional Monica and I were able to make our Thanksgiving dinner.

Black sand beach at Limbe.

Monica and I went to Limbe for the weekend. Limbe is one of the two major beach towns in Cameroon, the other is Kribi in the South region. Limbe is in the South West region , sits at the foot of Little Mount Cameroon, and is known for its black sand beaches. Monica was once again lucky with the bus; it too had the American style seats. After the bus arrived in Limbe, Monica and I got a cab into town and tried to find a hotel that had been suggested to us by another volunteer. It turned out that the cab driver did not know where the hotel was or how to get there. So, Monica and I got out and started walking to see if we could find the hotel or someone who could tell us how to get there. We found a hotel that was under construction, and yet open and not open at the same time, and the staff there knew where the hotel was and helped us get a cab there.

Monica and me in our room at the hotel.

Finally we arrived at the hotel and got checked in. I'm not sure why but all of the staff at the hotel spoke French rather than English even though the hotel is in an Anglophone region. Anyway, Monica and I got settled in our room and turned the air conditioning on. To me it was just a little warm but Monica thought it was wretchedly hot. I guess I'm used to it, although Limbe is very humid. We decided to go swimming. The Limbe beach is on the Atlantic Ocean and so it took a little while for Monica and I to work up the courage to go in the water. We were being silly and considering what could be in the water. We were nervous because the water was a little murky with the black sand and silt. Finally we went in, swam, and had a lot of fun with no problems.

We swam for about an hour and a half and then decided to go back to the hotel and get cleaned up for dinner. When we got back to the room we realized that the air conditioning wasn't working. So, after we showered we went to the front desk and asked for a new room. I left Monica at the hotel restaurant and went with a member of the staff to chose a new room. Once we'd found one where all of the equipment in the room was working, I went back and joined Monica. For dinner Monica had some sort of vegetable soup and I had fish and vegetables. We both thought that dinner was good and I was glad because there are very few vegetarian options for Monica in Cameroon and I had heard that Limbe has great seafood and was glad that it was true. After that we went to our room and watched a movie while we relaxed in the air conditioning.

Fisherman's village in Limbe.

The next morning we went and had breakfast in the restaurant and then went back to the room to shower and get ready to leave. Half way through our showers the shower head broke randomly in two. So, I went to the desk and asked for a bucket of heated water so that we could finish our showers. We waited over an hour for the water and I had to inquire about it several times but it finally got to us and we were able to finish showering. After that we went and got a cab back to town.

Oil rig in the bay at Limbe.

We had to wait for the bus and it was almost lunch time so we went to find something to eat. The first place that we tried had food that was way too expensive for us so we tried a different place. The second place was just opening and the owner was there. He allowed us to make special orders so that we could get what we wanted at a price that we could afford.  I got fish again and Monica got a vegetable sauté. It was pretty good and the owner was nice. He also told us about the Limbe botanical gardens which were just around the corner. Since we still had time to kill Monica and I decided to go.

Botanical gardens in Limbe.

As we paid our entrance fees to the gardens, the woman selling the tickets asked if we were twins. When I said that we were she jumped up and rushed around her desk to hug us together. Twins are said t have great powers and so it is common for people to hug or touch twins for luck. After that Monica and I went into the gardens. There were plaques around and a few of them had papers in them labeling trees or other plants but most of them were empty. There were also benches set around the park but they were always set in the most awkward places. For example, some of them were facing trees and were only about a foot from the tree and others were under branches that hung too low to allow anyone to sit down. Other than these things the garden was nice. I was rather hoping that there would be flowers but it was all trees and bushes. I thought, before coming to Cameroon, that since it was a tropical place, there would be a lot of color and many types of flowers but it is not so. It was still nice to be away from the city. Monica and I sat down on the path, since all of the benches were so awkwardly placed, and rested for a while. After resting and exploring the rest of the gardens, and hearing all about Kensington Gardens from Monica, we left the botanical gardens. We went and found a hotel with a small restaurant to sit at while we waited for our bus. We had a snack and changed into our traveling clothes. Then we took a cab to the bus station.

The trip  is about eight or nine hours and the bus driver had a dvd menu on the monitors for the entire trip; a twenty second loop f outrageously loud music playing the entire time. I was very grateful when the trip was finally over. Monica and I took the next day to rest and see Bamenda. I showed Monica around a little and took her to some of my favorite restaurants. It was nice to be able to rest after that trip!

Tea being produced at the Ndawara Tea Plantation.

The next day we traveled up to the Ndawara Tea Planation. This tea plantation is one that is commonly visited by volunteers and comes highly recommended. Monica and I took a taxi to the town then a moto up the hill to the tea plantation. We signed n and then we were given a tour of the factory where they dry and package the tea leaves. It was really neat to see the whole process. Monica took a lot of pictures because she thought that Jason would find the process and the machinery interesting too. After that Monica and I went to see some of the other things that were on the plantation. The plantation had what could almost be considered a small town in the middle of its many, many acres where most of the workers live. The tea plantation also keeps some exotic animal species.

Visiting the chimpanzees.

Tea packaging room, packaged tea.

So, Monica and I went to see them. They call the area a preserve but it seemed to me that the cages were too small to really call it a preserve. They had snakes, peacocks, ostriches, several types of monkeys, and chimpanzees. The handlers took some of the chimpanzees out of their cage and let them run around the grounds. Bobby, one of the chimps, even herds cows! After watching the chimpanzees for a while, Monica and I went back to the factory and met our bike driver who took us back down to the town where we could get a car back to Bamenda. When we arrived back in Bamenda, Monica and I went out for dinner at a restaurant that had a vegetarian dish that Monica liked.

View from the Ndawara Tea Plantation.

The next day Monica and I took a bus to Yaoundé so that we could get ready for our flight and I could pick up my passport from the Peace Corps office. The bus that we took had the smaller type of seats so Monica was finally able to see that I had been telling the truth. Monica and I checked into a slightly cheaper hotel than last time but it was still pretty decent. In the morning I took Monica to the Peace Corps office to meet everyone. She met my program managers, Tiki and Therese, one of my training coordinators, Gaston, the safety and security coordinator, Ruth, and many of the admin that I work with often, Nancy, Sally, and Lori. They all still ask about her whenever I see them. All of the staff and admin who are Cameroonian thought it was amazing that I have a twin sister and kept saying that we look exactly alike. After showing Monica the office we went to the Mvog Betsi Zoo, the zoo that is located right in the middle of Yaounde. It is a small zoo that has several species of birds, snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turtles, and apes and there are also lions and warthogs. The zoo is set up kind of like a garden with paths running through it that lead around to the enclosures.

Monica and me at the Mvog Betsi Zoo.

As Monica and I were walking along the paths we suddenly heard rustling in the trees above us. We looked up and saw some of the monkeys leaping out of their open-topped cages and into the over hanging trees. Monica and I moved to a different area of the zoo but wondered why no caretakers or anyone seemed to be doing anything about it. We also noticed that the crocodiles' enclosure was not locked. It was closed so that the crocodile could not get out but not closed so that people could not get in. After that we went over to see the lions; there were several female lions and one male lion. The male lion had an enclosure all to himself (and at least it was shut securely). The lion was as tall as Monica and I and we were able to get very close to him because there were only the bars separating us rather than the walls, glass, and ditches that we have in the States. It was a little scary because when the lion came over to the bars to look at us, we were literally eye to eye. This lion seemed larger than any that I have seen in the States but then again they don't let people get that close. After the zoo Monica and I went back to our hotel and worked on rearranging our packing so that all of our bags were within the weight limits for our flight.

Monica on our last day in Cameroon.

We spent the whole next day on this endeavor as well, taking breaks every now and again to explore Yaounde. Finally we got everything arranged and called a cab to take us to the airport. We left together on a flight that left Cameroon almost two weeks to the day since Monica arrived. Now I was leaving Cameroon to spend Christmas in the States with some of my family and friends.

View of Yaounde from Mount Febe, the hill on which the monastery sits.