cameroon part 3 – Funeral in Rhumsiki

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Intro

Africa is a place of longing and as such surely addictive. After a memorable journey through Mali we then made Cameroon the center of our interest. This country does unite all the landscapes to be found in Africa. Deserts, mountains, prairie, savanna, grassland, rainforest and coastline. Furthermore, it is home to countless ethnic groups who are as different as the swaths of land in which they live.

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Funeral in Rhumsiki 

For three days the inhabitants of Rhumsiki – the town with the holy mountain Zivi – have been taking part in a funeral ceremony. Today is the third day and we get the chance for a photo session. The whole town is on its feet. Drummers and fiddlers don‘t stop playing. They move from one plaza to another, everyone is dancing and drinking bili bili. Some are already in a trance. The dancers raise their sticks, swords, lances and culls towards the sky. Dust swirls up.

 

The son- in- law of the deceased is wearing a ceremonial outfit which symbolises the deceased himself, so that the latter is dancing among the living one last time. In their exhaustion some women seek refuge in the neighbouring shadows. The children chew on candy or sugar cane rods, which they find in little bags that have been given to them. One of the dancers is wearing a skirt made of leaves and a Jennifer Lopez t-shirt. A swirling festiveness lies in the air. In the Baobab Bar, the village elders have gathered wearing their burnous. Slightly drunk and in good spirit, they dance to the rhythms coming out of the radio.

 

But Rhumsiki is also an unhurried hike downward into the valley where all the small villages lie. We constantly get new views of bizarre rock formations, passing graves of animists, Muslims and Christians alike, laying peaceful side by side. Over hill and dale we continue our trail downward. The villages are close to the green border to Nigeria, both Cameroonians and Nigerians reside here. Everyone can pass the border and move into both countries. There are no papers. The Kamsiki tribe lives on both sides of the border. In Rhumsiki the indescribable beauty of the landscape reveals itself.

 

Each view is fascinating, every mood new in its own way.

german version http://voyage-voyage.net/?p=589

cameroon part 4 – Climatic resort – remains of a colonial past

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Intro

Africa is a place of longing and as such surely addictive. After a memorable journey through Mali we then made Cameroon the center of our interest. This country does unite all the landscapes to be found in Africa. Deserts, mountains, prairie, savanna, grassland, rainforest and coastline. Furthermore, it is home to countless ethnic groups who are as different as the swaths of land in which they live.

more.. http://voyage-voyage.net/?p=786

 

Climatic resort – remains of a colonial past

As if the German and French colonialists have only just left. Up the road from Dschang, this place has earned a reputation for good air. The dining room, dominated by a buffet resemblance of its founding time and heavy furniture of the 1930s, remains unchanged over the decades. Bunked curtains mark the room. The imperial eagle had to make place for the flag of Cameroon. The main house would be the perfect location for a movie. The abandoned swimming pool is more due to the French 1960s.

Chairs missing one or two legs, shabby couches and the site as a whole tells about the people who once inhabited the place. Up to this day, a gardener is in charge of taking care of the grounds but it doesn‘t come as a surprise that the flowers now decorate empty mustard glasses. A lot has changed in Cameroon. Some things just stand still. Our companions highlight every colonial building along the way. Durability of the bridges has earned the Germans some respect, respect which goes as far as elevating Bismarck to the status of a „nice guy“. Unbelievable.

 german version http://voyage-voyage.net/?p=631

cameroon part 5 – Tarzan and Jane

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Intro

Africa is a place of longing and as such surely addictive. After a memorable journey through Mali we then made Cameroon the center of our interest. This country does unite all the landscapes to be found in Africa. Deserts, mountains, prairie, savanna, grassland, rainforest and coastline. Furthermore, it is home to countless ethnic groups who are as different as the swaths of land in which they live.

more.. http://voyage-voyage.net/?p=786

Tarzan and Jane

 

Having left the western region, we head south over the cliffy coast of Dschang. The Bamilike grow coffee, coconut and yams. Large herds of cattle cross our path and the landscape becomes flat along the way.

Passing Melong we suddenly find ourselves within a fairytale landscape and nestled within a sea of palms which lie by the Ekom Nkam waterfalls. It is the entry to paradise. As if nature has been created by a most gifted painter, almost too perfect to be true. We can hear the water swooshing and a little further ahead, towards the slope, we can see the waterfalls. To be precise, all we can see at the time is one waterfall. Its female counterpart will be joining during the rainy season.

Our way to the villa Luciole – where we will spend our next two nights – is paved by a remarkably well built tarmac road. Our assumption that there must be one of the presidents leisure residences nearby isn‘t far fetched. One of the former presidents`s ministers who was also in question as successor for the presidency is from the region. During the planning for a road westwards, it was he,who, without further ado, ordered the works to take place just here. A fatal mistake for it would cost him his presidency later on. This is Africa.

The villa Luciole is a paradise on its own. An old colonial main house and some small, tastefully decorated straw huts with wonderfully good beds – a true rarity. This hideaway seems to be a coveted getaway. We even order a bottle of rosé, the kitchen is that good. Our commensals grew up in Cameroon. Their fathers were French and German and used to work for the German Corporation for Technical Cooperation (GIZ).

 

 

They found each other again through the internet, after all those years. Nowadays, they live in the U.S. and France. Meeting each other in the midst of Cameroon is like wandering on childhood paths. Like them, most of the travellers in the region have good reasons for being here. People from Europe who’d like to get to know this country are few, too few.

 german version http://voyage-voyage.net/?p=636

 

 

 

cameroon part 6 – Night train to Younde

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Intro

Africa is a place of longing and as such surely addictive. After a memorable journey through Mali we then made Cameroon the center of our interest. This country does unite all the landscapes to be found in Africa. Deserts, mountains, prairie, savanna, grassland, rainforest and coastline. Furthermore, it is home to countless ethnic groups who are as different as the swaths of land in which they live.

more.. http://voyage-voyage.net/?p=786

Night train to Younde

It wasn‘t a restful night at all, but what an experience!

cameroon part 7 – Maga – Snoring bats and a lake of full hippos

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intro

Africa is a place of longing and as such surely addictive. After a memorable journey through Mali we then made Cameroon the center of our interest. This country does unite all the landscapes to be found in Africa. Deserts, mountains, prairie, savanna, grassland, rainforest and coastline. Furthermore, it is home to countless ethnic groups who are as different as the swaths of land in which they live.

more.. http://voyage-voyage.net/?p=786

Maga – Snoring bats and a lake of full hippos

 

The Magalake – an artificially dammed sea – is normally a welcomed refreshment for the people living in the region. However, due to an overflow which occurred last summer, some of the fishing villages have been destroyed. They‘re currently being rebuilt in other places. But an integral piece of every day life on the lake has been lost. We only get to meet one family who, during the dry period, still live on one of the small islands.

 

We still want to see the hippo families, so we board one of the pirogues. The little ones already open their mouths in the most photogenic manner.

Grunting and snoring awake us. It is the middle of the night. I open the door and take a look outside. There is nothing to be seen. The next evening I see giant bats exiting from a small hole in the roof. When they return during the night they can, from time to time, unintentionally hit the air-conditioner, or they fight for the best spots to rest, falling into a good night`s sleep. Snoring inclusive.

german version  http://voyage-voyage.net/?p=670