You mean it is possible!

Well, this morning Akilah and I got up to head back home to Foumban. Don’t know what the guidebooks mean when they say it’s more “touristy” than Limbé, what we’ve seen of this town, it definitely appears to be an area with vision. In Limbé things were a little hectic, folks everywhere and things catering to what could be a tourist community.

In Kribi, it just appeared as if there’s someone who wanted to be certain that the town remained clean and can offer serenity. Now what’s wrong with that? Maybe it’s different in the center of town, but we didn’t make it there. But even in Limbé you didn’t have to make it to the center of town to feel the “touristy-ness.”

We began today’s voyage with taking a bus to Douala; and not just any bus. The clerk at the Framotel told us Centrale Voyages was smaller than Kribienne, but much better; and boy was he correct.

But for a moment, Akilah and I thought we were in a dream. We were on a Greyhound/Trailways-type bus, that provided a smooth ride. Probably the most comfortable vehicle I’ve been in since arriving, but I couldn’t enjoy it, my legs were too long to fit in front of me. In other words, if you’re over six feet look forward to your legs sitting in the aisle.

Then all of a sudden there was a “ride attendant” who came past selling food! She had boiled eggs, homemade plantain chips, miniature beignets and beverages. We had to sit and think for a moment, we wanted to be certain we were still in Cameroon.

This was the first Cameroonian company of any sorts that we’ve seen (for ourselves) operate on a set schedule. I was almost floored when I glanced at a sign that indicated the times buses would be leaving.

The bus we were to catch was listed to leave at 10:00 a.m. Though it left about fifteen minutes later, it was still impressive. You’re talking a forty-two passenger bus that left when there were only sixteen customers. That’s unheard of in this country; you know leaving before you have a full load.

Now if Centrale could do it, why can’t other’s? Is this related to vision? Does someone in Kribi own Centrale Voyages? Does it have something to do with the fact that Kribi has a Rotary Club? (Where I was again floored after viewing their sign.)

The ride to Douala was not as long as the one from Yaoundé, but it wasn’t very scenenic (not to me anyway). It took about two hours total to get there, and we were stopped twice by gendarme for document checks. This stopping stuff must really be a power trip for some of these folks, you should see the look upon their faces as they board or come to buses and bush taxis. Whatever.

When we arrived at the Centrale office in Douala, I was floored once again. I thought I was pulling into a Greyhound/Trailways-type station. I mean there were clean ticket counters and people were standing in line to purchase their tickets. I believe I even noticed a scheduling board above the ticket windows.

Holy smoke! If Kribi can stay clean and serene, and Centrale Voyages can operate on a schedule, why can’t the rest of the country look at this as examples? Just imagine if Centrale began providing scheduled services throughout Cameroon? They’ll end up taking over!

Oh well, to savor the flavor of this angelic-type ride, we had to take a seat in the restaurant across the street and have a meal. Of course you know we had the usual, I ate plantain and fries, and Akilah ate string beans and plantain. Once finished we attempted to find a taxi to the gare.

This was not a particularly easy task, but eventually Akilah asked a woman next to us how we could get to the Binam agency. Good thing we asked, it turns out it’s a two taxi ride; you take the first to the “Round Point,” and the second to the gare. It cost about 750 CFAs for both of us; a far cry from the 2500 CFAs one independent taxi wanted to charge. Did he think we were gullible tourists? Not on this day anyway.

It took about an hour for Binam to load and leave. Not too bad, but it was kind of uncomfortable. Guess my day of comfort was over. What should’ve been a four hour ride, took five and a half hours! Between the gendarme stops and folks getting out along the way, we didn’t make it to Bafoussam until after 9:00pm; way too late to be trying to get to Foumban.

We decided to stay at the Talhotel; one of the PC APCDs stays here when he’s in the area, and they give a 15% PCV discount. The hotel pretty much gave us hope for the country once again. The rooms are clean with a television and hot showers (you know I was loving it), and a pretty decent restaurant.

The restaurant had a buffet which was primarily meat (actually, all but one item wasn’t), but the waiter made sure we knew it was no problem for the kitchen to whip up some string beans and carrots to go with the rice. And oh my gosh, the sauce with them was the best! By the time I (it turned out to be we) was halfway finished eating, Akilah was wishing she’d ordered some. She’d eaten an omelet from a small restaurant by Binam.

The Talhotel was definitely worth it, especially if you consider the primary reason we stayed there instead of the Bafferie II that I loved so much, was due to the television. Why? The Superbowl of course, Baltimore Ravens vs. NY Giants. I watched about a half of the game before falling asleep, but Akilah somehow awakened to see that the Ravens had won, and even watched them receive their trophies.

I should’ve bought those season tickets when I started too. It’s gonna be pretty hectic to get any at a reasonable rate now. Oh well, should’ve had the “do it while you can” philosophy before arriving to Cameroon.