DJA FAUNAL RESERVE

As with our trip to Korup, getting into the park was part of the adventure. The Congo-Brazzaville embassy in Yaoundé had promised that we could collect our visas at 10am. We only got them back at 3 pm (at the official closing time) after Dee had complained that her derrière (bum) was sore from all the waiting.

The 60km of road before Dja was like the road we took to Korup, only muddier and we were driving it at midnight. We spent 11pm to 1am playing between and in various drainage ditches at the side of the road with the mud tyres looking like slicks. We finally made it to our wooden house in camp at 2am. Dee had been feeling down for a few days and took a malaria self-test – which showed a negative result – so we all went to sleep happy that night.   

The next day we crossed the Dja River by pirogue to enter this unfenced reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its biodiversity and the presence of threatened animal species. Our welcome to the park was not what I had expected: 20 hectares of new slash and burn agriculture. We spent the day walking in the forest where we saw little wildlife at all. We spent some time at a Baka (Pygmy) village. The men’s work ethic was less than impressive with the women and very young girls doing everything while the men sat and watched.

I found our day in Dja depressing as we saw:

§         Many people living within the park

§         NEW areas of slash and burn farming

§         The park administrator proudly pointing out animal snares the Baka are allowed to use in  
       the park

§         The living conditions of the Baka – their tiny very basic homes are leaves and sticks with
       an often wet floor. It seems they prefer to spend the money they earn externally to
       purchase food and whiskey (rather than make their lives so much easier and probably
       healthier by building some simple infrastructure like small homes)

§         The state of the park’s infrastructure – after spending so much European money during the last 2 decades – hardly anything works. 

§         The park administrator, Faustin said that that park is completely unsustainable without external funding which ends in July.

Admittedly we were near the park’s entrance, hence we saw the worst of the human impact of which there will be less, deeper into the park.

During all out time in Dja, we were very well hosted by the park’s administrator – Faustin Lebongo. He and his driver escorted us along the muddy road into the park and they were the reason we didn’t spend the entire night in the mud. Although Faustin was not a bush master, he appeared to be a skilled manager. I didn’t envy his task or running the day to day operations of the reserve with seemingly little support from above. The reserve receives less than 100 visitors a year so we were somewhat of novelty and Faustin took the day off to be our personal guide. We were impressed as we watched his interaction with the Baka people – obviously one of the challenges of running the park.   

For all the negatives of Dja, seeing the many African Grey Parrots and getting a great sighting of a Great Blue Toraco, were unbelievable.

Andrew and I leave for Kinshasa today. Lets hope Mr Bling behaves.

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!

In March 2009 I got a call from Andrew asking whether I would like to go for a drive to Leister. At the time I was living up the road from Andrew and Dee and was always keen on a day trip out of London. It was a nice drive north through snowy white countryside to where Andrew and I first met ‘Mr Bling’, a burgundy 1997 Landcruiser. Nine months later I found myself the under the same Landcruiser at 3 am tired, freezing, filthy and regretting ever suggesting that Andrew should buy the car.  Now after spending 6 weeks travelling in it, I can say that I like Mr Bling. I was never planned as a guest on this trip, but at the end of April I found myself on an SAA plane hoping to catch up to others in Cameroon. Andrew has never said it directly, but I think he may have invited me along just in case the long range tank that I fitted, falls off before he gets to Joburg.

I caught up to everyone in Buea on the slopes of Mt Cameroon. After a memorable but strenuous 3 days climbing Mt Cameroon; Dee, Grant, Paula, Neil and Mik opted to spend a few quiet days on the beautiful black beaches near the 1999 lava flow, north of Limbe. Andrew, Laura and I opted to drive up to Korup National Park. Korup is in Cameroon’s SW province and shares its western border with Nigeria’s Cross River National Park.

With the Korup detour being Andrew’s idea, it was no surprise that we took a route less travelled: clockwise around Mt Cameroon through Idnea, Koto, Ikondo Titi to Mudemba. The drive was through tall dense bush on small roads made of volcanic rock, sand and red mud. The only new infrastructure we saw on the day long drive was an MTN tower.

En route we stopped to visit Mr George, a wonderful 82 year old man who farmed cocoa. Between 1950 and 1990 Mr George had killed over a 1000 elephant as part of the government instituted culling programme. He was nothing like the ‘Elephant Hunter’ that I thought we were going to find. Listening to his stories that covered topics from snake hunting to farming, we spent a fascinating hour chatting in his lounge. I was struck most by his general and geography knowledge. We left all too soon, but still had far to travel. We had some tense moments as Andrew drove us expertly along some steeply cambered red mud roads between car-eating drainage ditches. The only other traffic that we saw were the 125cc Chonda (Chinese Honda) motorbikes that are so popular in SW Cameroon because we guess that they are the only real all-weather transport. In the late afternoon locals warned us that 2 oil workers had been kidnapped the week before by Nigerians, on that same road – which alarmed us a little and led us to choosing a very quiet spot to bush camp deep in the thousands of hectares of mature palm oil plantations established decades ago by Unilever.

KORUP NATIONAL PARK

We visited the Korup park office in Mudemba to request information and organise the compulsory guide for the park. In 1987, the Korup Project, an international funded integrated conservation and development project, provided support to the newly established park. In 2003, the Korup Project ended, leaving the Korup National Park management with little to no financial and logistical support. The WWF continued the work to improve visitor access to the park and provide local employment but the WWF has also since left. So we were happy to meet the local head official who was a helpful, well spoken man who had a son living in Joburg.

Korup National Park extends over 1,260 square km of mostly undisturbed primary forest with a network of trails for elephants and visitors. Its sandy soils are low in nutrients and their acidic nature make them unfavorable for subsistence farming and cash-crop plantations, explaining the low levels of farming disturbance in the park in the past.

We walked across the impressive 100m long suspension bridge over the Mana River to enter this unfenced park. The vegetation in Korup was a new experience for me with over 1,100 tree and shrub species, many of them endemic. The trees were breathtaking – some setting the canopy at 50m high, many of them fruit bearing. With such dense forest it was very difficult to get more than a glimpse of a bird or monkey. We were happy to see saw lots of evidence of elephants.

Our guide was a gem. It was clear that Joseph had spent a lot of time in the forest and he was happy answering our numerous questions. I most liked his mimicked bird calls and he was quick to spot wildlife in the canopy that I would never have spotted on my own.

The park receives 5000mm of rainfall annually. Temperatures vary little throughout the year with mean monthly maximum temperature in the dry season being 31.8 °C and in the wet season 30.2 °C. We sweated continually until it began to get dark at 4pm on the forest floor.

There are currently around 1000 people living around the park. During 2009 a poacher was shot in the leg by park rangers – in retaliation for this the local villagers destroyed all the buildings in the park – wooden cabins and brick research buildings were flattened. Hence the park has no infrastructure. It was disappointing to see that after a year no effort had been made by the park officials even to do the most basic repairs to anything that was broken down or to make even simple repairs to the vital suspension bridges.

When we returned to our vehicle which we had left with next to an army guard station on the Mana River, they demanded a tip for looking after the car. Simply, they were they only threat to the car. To cut a long story short: Andrew lectured the 3 probably underpaid soldiers, with AKs, in the dark on why they should not extort bribes and simply do their jobs. I was amused and impressed – lucky Dee wasn’t there otherwise Andrew may have been in trouble. 

 Highlights for me: the trees and the whistling sound of the wings of the many large hornbills we heard (and sometimes saw) in the canopy.

End

Later that evening on the 24th of April we arrived in Mamphe where we purchased 3rd party car insurance covering our route all the way to Congo since we were no longer covered by our ECOWAS insurance bought in Senegal. Then we settled down at the restaurant of the Data Club Guest House, where the very friendly staff were accustomed to overlanders camping on their grass. Before long a tremendous thunderstorm lit up the night as we were enjoyed our first Chicken Deja – a delicious meal of fried chicken and plantain with chopped vegetables and a mayonnaise sauce.

The drive to Buea the next day was very scenic and without incident despite the relatively poor state of the roads. On arrival at the Presbyterian Guest House we met up with Charlie who was joining us for the remainder of the trip and the eight of us headed off into town and found a great place for a few beers and tasty Suya (grilled beef/goat brochettes). Later that evening we drove up to the offices of the Mount Cameroon Ecotourism Organisation where plans to climb the mountain began in earnest!

We set off mid-morning of the 26th and, with one porter per person and a guide, it seemed that the hike up West Africa’s highest mountain (4,095 meters) would be the proverbial “walk in the park”. However, from the outset the going was tough as we walked straight up from Buea to Hut 2 where we spent the first night. In a matter of hours we had walked 7 km and climbed to 2,800m. The hike was exquisite as we first climbed through lush forest before popping out well above the clouds into open grassland with rocky volcanic outcrops. As exhausted as we were we found it incredible that our porters had lugged not only our own bedding, food, water and warm clothing but theirs too up the very steep trail, often choosing to carry our packs on their heads rather than on their backs! Needless to say that after a (seemingly) delicious hot meal of Soya mince and smash we clambered into our warm sleeping bags whilst a thunderstorm brewed on the peak above us.

A huge pot of hot porridge, swirled with honey, gave us the sustenance to continue our steep ascent of the mountain the next morning. The landscape became colder and more barren as isolated trees became bushes, bushes became shrubs and then shrubs became dark, crumbling rocks. The weather was ominous with clouds obscuring both the sun above us and the land below us. After four hours of climbing, interspersed with frequent stops to catch our breath, we reached the summit. It was a momentous occasion and although this wasn’t the highest of peaks it had nevertheless been an incredible challenge to climb the mountain in such a short space of time and with no training at all! Now all that lay before us was the decent which in itself would prove to be a challenge. We spent very little time on the summit as the weather turned ugly and very quickly we found ourselves in a cold, gusty storm. Our guide hurriedly ushered us off the top and down a different trail. We descended quickly and thus we were able to enjoy lunch in warm sunlight at 3,000 meters with, bizarrely enough, a thunderstorm brewing below us! We descended through this storm, getting thoroughly soaked on the way, and then past the crater which was produced by the eruption in 2000 (Mount Cameroon is a fairly active volcano with 7 eruptions in the last hundred years). We skirted the crater’s black crumbling edge, peering over into the pit below, with the unfamiliar smell of sulphur filling our nostrils. As darkness encroached we arrived at Mann Springs where we spent our second night. We were absolutely exhausted! We had hiked 20 kilometres including a climb of 1,300 meters and a descent of 1,900 meters.

Before we began our hike back towards Buea on the third day we first joined our porters in a traditional ceremony to initiate one of the porters who was climbing the mountain for the first time. The locals show respect for the god of Mount Cameroon so as to avoid eruptions which signal that the god is angry. The ceremonious dance involved us all standing around a circle of ash, a fern-leaf grasped in each hand, whilst the young porter danced like a chicken-cross-peacock in the middle. At the end of the dance we all jumped up, threw our fern leaves over our backs and erupted into tremendous laughter and applause for the rather embarrassed looking young porter. Then came our turn to placate the god… Fortunately for the rest of us who were too embarrassed to dance, and for the entire town of Buea, Paula had the courage to step into the circle and perform the same dance with so much gusto and enthusiasm that there surely can’t be an eruption from Mount Cameroon for many many decades to come!

Although the final hike of 17km was more undulating than the previous two days it still took its toll on our rather frail bodies. We spent a lot of time walking precariously over the rocky lava flow from the 1999 eruption and then we were back down into the forest for the final stretch. It had been a very challenging three days in which we had hiked 44 kilometres and climbed 3,100 meters. So we retreated back to the Presbyterian Guest House to recuperate before heading to Limbe the next day. That evening we enjoyed another delicious traditional chicken deja and beer at a local restaurant, The Duke and Harvey, in celebration of the fact that we had now completed a significant milestone in our journey towards South Africa.