I Di Go

Getting from Point A to Point B in Cameroon is always an experience.  More aptly it is an experience in prayer and trust.  I think probably some of my best stories about living in Cameroon involve travel.  Since I don’t have a car I rely on my own two feet; public transportation such as motorcycles, shared taxis, and buses; or people who have a vehicle and happen to be going the same place as me. In every large city throughout Cameroon there is a designated gas station where I can wait in hopes of finding a private vehicle going to the same place as me.  These private vehicles are usually driven by government or business employees who are already paid to make the trip and pick up passengers to make extra money.  It is the Cameroon form of hitch-hiking.  Finding the aforementioned gas station in different cities throughout Cameroon and a willing driver can be an elusive goal, but well worth it if achieved.  It usually means air conditioning and more space in what can be an otherwise hot, sticky, smelly, smooched experience.  


It amazes me that after living here for over three years and traveling the same roads from my house to Bamenda or Bamenda to Douala multiple times, the experiences are never the same.  As one young Cameroonian male told me the first time I went from Kumbo to Bamenda,  “I have learned that on this road anything can happen.  I just set aside the whole day and hope to make it there eventually.”  How true.  A couple of hours after he said that our minivan broke down and we waited on the side of the road for over an hour until a new mini van arrived.       

Unpacking and repacking after our van broke down

Cameroonians rarely travel lightly.  Oh its not clothes and cosmetics that take up space, but goats, chickens, bedding, water jugs, furniture, tomatoes, yams, potatoes, corn, onions, and anything else that can be sold in the market, that takes up space. It is amazing how with the aid of rubber tubing so many things can be packed in the hatchback of a mid-90's Toyota Corolla.  I once heard someone say that rubbing tubing is what is holding this country together.  

Notice the rubber tubing on the back

I have learned much about how to travel in this country: never packing more then you can carry, always wearing sensible footwear in case you have to get out and start walking, bladder control, how to politely ignore the person whose hip is on top of my thigh and wants to know everything about America, and more practically how to transport livestock.  Pigs in the trunk of the car eventually stop squealing after the car starts moving; goats can be be tied to the roof of the bus, but if it falls off be prepared to stop quickly to prevent it from strangling; and tie a chicken around its legs and put it in a basket to keep it from running off.  

Packing everything on top of the bus

Many times though its not livestock that you travel with, but the livestock that you encounter alongside the road that provide the most surprises.  You turn a corner and bam! here is a herd of cattle on the way to market.

Sometimes the livestock you encounter while traveling, isn't exactly alive, but dead and on a stick. Whenever the bus has to stop to pay a toll or gendarme stops (of which there are many) women and children swirl the bus with all kinds of food.  The most popular is soya which is grilled beef on a stick as shown in the picture below: 
  

Most cars undergo maintenance in vacant lots as shown below.  I give Cameroonians a lot of credit for their ability to keep their cars running.  Its a good demonstration of their ingenuity and perseverance.  If there is money to be had in being a taxi driver, you can be sure the taxi man will keep his car running in whatever shape possible.

But since the idea of preventive maintenance doesn't really exist and car parts are welded and restitched together like a worn quilt, accidents happen.  A lot.  Just last week a beer truck tipped over on a blind corner just past my house.

All of that glass is broken beer bottles.  Thankfully no one was hurt and I think that made the neighbors feel less guilty about quickly helping themselves to the beer that did not break.

 
In addition to the practical lessons, traveling in Cameroon has also taught me important life lessons.  Letting go of my time schedule or how I think things should go.  Sharing space and resources with my neighbor.   And praying and trusting that I will make it from point A to point B.  Eventually.