The Vuvuzela Diaries

We left Buea for the pretty little port town of Limbe to rest our tired legs and to rejuvenate ourselves after the killer climb! Limbe without a doubt has one of the most unique and exquisite surroundings in Cameroon. The bay is sandwiched between Mount Cameroon and Bioko Island (Equatorial Guinea) which is an enormous volcano that rises out of the ocean like a giant green pyramid. It honestly left us feeling as if we had arrived on the set of Jurassic Park! To add to this eerie atmosphere the beaches are bordered by tropical vegetation and the sand is ashy-black. (Some of the beaches in Limbe were filmed in the movie “Chocolat” for you Johnny Depp fans)

There was a lot to do in and around Limbe. First up for us was the Botanical Gardens – the second oldest and biggest in Africa. We hobbled around (still very stiff from our climb!) trying unsuccessfully to identify the African nutmeg and cinnamon trees. However, the mosquitoes were absolutely relentless and seemed to treat Deet as if it was All Gold Tomato Sauce! So we quickly abandoned the tour and headed to the Limbe Wildlife Centre.

Far more a wildlife sanctuary than a zoo the Wildlife Centre was very impressive. The animals here are almost all rescued orphans that were victims of Cameroon’s bush meat and animal smuggling industry. It was incredibly special to see Lowland and Cross-river Gorillas, Chimpanzees, highly endangered Drills and the impressive Mandrills (Rafiki’s!). We met a lovely South African lady, Erika, who runs the small restaurant at the sanctuary. She recommended that we camp at Madisons, a campsite on a beach just outside of Limbe. Despite its Hillbilly feel (abandoned children’s toys, blaring country music and a collection of slightly decrepit jet skis, motor boats and quadbikes) Madisons was a fantastic campsite with stunning views of the black beaches, Equatorial Guinea and Mount Cameroon.

The next day we spent the morning on the beach, swimming and attempting to take a peddelo out to sea (Grant and I learnt the hard way that paddling out is definitely easier than in as we quite impressively flipped the boat head-over-heal whilst trying to ride a wave to shore!).

That afternoon we managed to catch the Stormers-Crusaders Super 14 match much to Neil’s delight. Erika had recommended a great bar/restaurant on the water’s edge called Mars where they happened to have DSTV – delightful! We ended our day off having dinner at Erika’s main restaurant in town, Arnes, which she runs with her husband, Ryan. We indulged in some great-tasting, home made burgers, complimented with some intriguing cocktails courtesy of Erika and Ryan! Another tough day in Africa…

The next day we set off south for the popular beach town of Kribi. Kribi is Cameroon’s most popular beach resort and a weekend getaway for many ex-pats living in Douala and Yaoundé! We were able to camp at Tara Plage, a stunning beachside resort with it’s own secluded section of beach! We headed into the local area of town to grab some dinner. We were quickly pointed in the direction of Carrefour Kinge, a road where you can get the best streetfood in town! The street is lined with bars interspersed with woman selling fish, soya and chicken feet kebabs grilled over coals. Here we simply ordered our fish or meat from one of the braai-ladies and took a seat at one of the makeshift tables (next to the road!) while they warmed it up for us! We were also able to grab a drink from one of the many bars behind us! The whole meal (which includes manioc- pounded yam!) only cost R7! We dug in with our fingers and shared a wash–up bowl with the rest of the table once we were done! A great experience of local cuisine and dining!

The following day, we checked out The Chutes de le Lope, 4km south from Tara Plage. They are an impressive set of waterfalls that empty into a pool by the sea! Something quite different and worth seeing! Following Erika’s advice, we sought a Rasta Man on the beach who apparently could whip up a dinner of prawns and chips for us at a very reasonable price! We simply had to order and pay a deposit for our dinner that afternoon and then arrive that night for dinner on the beach! Unfortunately we were conned into using other ‘restaurateurs’ as they told us the Rasta was away on holiday???!!! Despite this, they did whip up a pretty impressive meal, in a beautiful setting. The only unfortunate incident was a price dispute at the end of the dinner which, despite the very tasty prawns, left a bad taste in our mouths!

We left Kribi the following day and headed for the capital, Yaoundé. It is always tough to find decent yet inexpensive accommodation in big cities but fortunately Yaoundé has a fantastic spot – The Foyer International de I’Église Presbyterienne, which has a no-frills guest house and an exquisite lawn on which to camp! We spent three nights here as it was a great spot to get DRC and Congo visas (the embassies are just round the corner). We indulged in the perks of city living and frequented the Calafata’s Boulangerie regularly, sometimes twice a day! A standard order for Neil would include a feta pie, a croque masseur, a chicken quiche, a donut and a croissant! We also contacted Ecofac, who helped organise our trip to Dja Reserve. Time well spent in Yaoundé!

Accra is a city that grows on you. It’s sweltering hot, humid and the traffic rivals Joburg rush-hour during a black-out!!! But these things aside, the vibrant and expectant atmosphere is encapsulating. Before we knew it, Grant and I had were donning Black Star soccer shirts and eating traditional groundnut sauce and rice from a variety of street-vendours!

Our first taste of home came as a welcomed surprise as we ran into a Shoprite on our drive into the capital. It was as if Bafana Bafana had just won the world cup! We skipped around the store ooing and aahing at the sight of Black Cat Peanut Butter, Pronutro and Simonsberg feta cheese! We left begrudgingly clutching packets of Simba chips, Beacon White Easter Eggs and Cadbury chocolate.

We were fortunate to know friends of friends in Accra and they kindly put us up for 3 nights in what we would describe as luxury 5 star accommodation. After 6 weeks of non-stop camping we were spoilt with air-conditioned on-suite bedrooms, DSTV and meals prepared by Chef Michael! Chris and Alet were the perfect hosts and true to their South African roots organised a fantastic braai for us on the Wednesday night!(Pap and wors nogal!)

As is the case in most capital cities, time is predominately dedicated to doing admin! Accra is perfectly suited to this despite the traffic! The Accra Mall fortunately was just down the road from Chris and Alet’s and equipped with a Shoprite, Game and an Apple WiFi Cafe so we were able to catch up on e-mails and restock our fridge and car supplies!! There was even a Woolies down the road but much to our disappointment they didn’t stock chuckles or biltong sticks!!! Both cars needed a visit to the doctor (minor injuires) and we happened to find great mechanics, Trust Hands – ( GPS: N 05°34.607 W 00°16.616) who were inexpensive but incredibly professional and helpful!

That Thursday was Neil’s birthday. It just so happened that a friend of his had a contact at Accra Brewery (owned by SAB) and he kindly invited us on a brewery tour that afternoon-a perfect birthday gift! The tour was excellent, Greg the MD and Richard, his technical advisor, gave us a personal tour of the entire beer-making process from brewing to bottling! We even got to taste their latest brand of sorghum beer, Chibuku… definitely an acquired taste! Following the tour, we sat out in their beer-garden and cracked open a Club Gold, their premium brand. Some were also brave enough to try the Ghanaian favourite, The Chairman¸which was 10.5 % alc and comprised of beer, spirits and ginger. Best not to be mistaken for a Stonies!!

The next morning we bade a sad farewell to Chris and Alet. The next round of The Vuvuzela Adventure was calling….

We left bustling Bamako early on Sunday morning and headed north-east towards the Niger Inland Delta.  Our aim was to get to get to Djenne , a world heritage site, in time for their infamous Monday Market! Djenne sits on an island in the Bani river and like Timbuktu used to be a an important commercial trading centre from as early as the 13th century!  Gold, slaves and kola nuts came from the south and were exchanged for Saharan salt.  Although this large-scale trading has come to an end, the town still boasts one of the busiest markets in West Africa.  Every Monday, the town’s population roughly triples as people come from surrounding villages and even as far as Bamako to come sell their merchandise.  The most special aspect of the market was not so much in the wares of the stalls but more in the setting as the grand mud mosque provides a backdrop to this lively market! The Djenne mosque is the largest mud structure in the world.  Each year before the rainy season, volunteers from the town help resurface the mosque with a new layer of mud by hand! It was definitely worth the visit (although at some stages, I thought I might pass out from the heat and smell of fish!!)   Also worth doing is taking a walk around the labyrinthine streets away from the market.  There is hardly a modern building in sight and most of the houses are made of mud-brick and are over a storey high! One downside to the visit was the very persistent guides wanting to show you around the town.  Some took no for an answer, while others followed you around and became quite a nuisance.

We left Djenne and headed to Sevare to find a place to camp for a few nights.  We found a great spot a few km’s north of Sevare called Mon P’tit Repos, where we were able to camp! The campement is fairly new and consisted of a few thatched bungalows in a well-kept garden. We unfortunately had to camp on a sandy patch of ground and it got bit dusty as the Harmatan wind decided to rear its ugly head and nothing was going to stop it!!  We spent the next day catching up on e-mails (they had WIFI!), exploring nearby Mopti and most importantly organising a guide for our Dogon hike.  Mopti was quite an experience- as one of West Africa’s largest river ports it was incredibly busy and intense to say the least!!! We luckily could seek refuge (or so we thought!) at Restaurant Bar Bazo which overlooks the Mouth of Mopti harbour!  It was quite incredible to watch a port running as if we were back in the 19th century!  The boats were old pinasses and men were wading in and out of the water loading and offloading blocks of salt and other wares.  Interestingly, Mopti is at the confluence of the rivers Niger and Bani and boats go from here to Timbuktu.  Again, the city swarms with guides and hawkers and as much as you want to be friendly to people greeting you, it seems that every conversation has an ulterior motive!  We were constantly interupted at lunch with people trying to sell us goods!  I was relieved to return to the dust storm back at the camp!!!

We set off from Dakhla at 6.30 AM intent on hitting the Morocco-Mauritania border by 11.00, stopping only briefly for a photo at the Tropic of Cancer. But nothing, not even our early start or our lovingly prepared egg-mayo samies could prepare us for what followed over the next 25 hours!  Grant and I scouted out the scene:   We were 80th in the “queue”, which resembled a Sowetan traffic jam in rush hour and made Beit Bridge look like an efficient toll-road. The queue was comprised largely of Moroccans, Mauritanians and Senegalese, most of whom were driving clapped-out Mercs (some stolen!) which would be sold in no-man’s land. Huge trucks queued up adjacent to the cars, leaving little space for on-coming traffic!  At one stage an emormous truck, trying to skip the queue got stuck in the sand on the side of the road and was being winched very unsuccessful back in line!  This was just the beginning of a very long wait…. One of the reasons we were moving so slowly was due to people (mostly Moroccans and Mauritanians) pushing in or paying bribes and skipping to the front of the queue!  We were not the only ones angered by this as we witnessed many fiery disputes as the fiesty Senegelese stood their ground!  Fortunately we had a convoy of Senegal’s finest behind us in the queue and before we knew it  we too were fighting the struggle.  It reached a climax when one of the Mauritanian Mercs, trying to push in, felt the wrath of Andrew’s bull-bar.  When the driver accused us of not having any respect, Andrew tapped his bull-bar and said ‘”this is respect my friend!” 

We finally made it to the front of the queue at 6 o’clock, just as they closed the gate. This was fortunate in that it meant we didn’t have to spend the night in no-man’s land.  Amazingly,  by 10:00PM everything had quitened down as everyone had returned to the sanctury of their vehicles, resting before another chaotic day at the border. At last we made it through at 11:00 the next day, exactly 24 hours after arriving!   We  stuck to the road through the perilous 8km of  no-man’s land, which was littered on either side with the burnt-out shells of cars – a constant reminder of the landmines.  We made it swifly through the  Mauritanian side and were soon on our way to Nouadibou.

 Tangounite – 9th Feb

Having arrived in darkness the night before, we awoke to find ourselves surrounded by palms trees and the smell of mint tea brewing.  After drinking tea with the owner of the campsite, he quickly directed us to his cousin’s brother’s uncle who just so happened to organise camel treks into the desert! How convenient…. 

We had previously studied the maps and had decided that we weren’t interested in the meek dunes just outside Magmied but rather fancied going deeper into the desert to tackle Erg Chagaga.  This did mean, however, a serious off-road detour to get to the dunes – the guys weren’t complaining! Thankfully we were accompanied by a guide, Bashir, without whom we would have no doubt wondered through the sandy haze and across the border into Algeria. For two hours we rolled through a sea of sandy dunes as Bahir tapped Andrew on either his right or left shoulder whenever we veered off course! Along the way we stopped briefly to see a truly incredible sight – water bubbling through the sand to form a desert oasis, complete with palms and a few lone Berbers.

The camel station was something out of the set of Lawrence of Arabia – our camels and their masters resting sleepily amongst a few scattered Berber tents in the foreground of Erg Chagaga.

As we rocked back and forth on our camels, trundling over the dunes, I noticed a glimpse of excitement in everyone’s faces: we had truly left London behind us!  We stopped for a ‘rest’ on a crest of a dune- the view was breathtaking. The sun was setting and the giant dunes were casting their shadows on the sand. We sat still, in awe of dunes -the only activity hummed from  a few busy scarab beetles scuttling around the sand.

After a good 2 hour ride, we dismounted relatively unscathed-  a slight groin strain for some, others less lucky (sorry Grant) had a good showering or 2 of camel gob!Yes- they do spit (and sneeze!)

Bashir guided us safely back  home through the darkness to earn a well-deserved tip!