In the anglophone zone

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March 11th 2007

Published: March 11th 2007

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Lucky Traveller

downpour at "auberge" area (still in Bafoussam)

Here is the point were we will board one of the many small buses linking Bafoussam and Bamenda.

Today I am going to Bamenda with my younger brother guy. We will be visiting the city and also pay a visit to my brother-in-law who resides there..

14h30

We took a taxi to auberge roundabout. just as we are arriving at destination, the first downpour of this raining season is flowing over Bafoussam. This is an unfortunate event for our plans as we intend to take a Bus bound for Bamenda. When it rains it gets difficult to do anything as everybody scampers for a shelter. We have to wait for some 1 hour until the rain eases a little.

Eventually, we got picked up by a small bus that took another hour to fill up. The driver wouldn't move unless the car is full up to the door. Travelling can be very uncomfortable and challenging for those with weak constitution here. You are so squeezed that it is as though you were doing some work inside the car. The trip to Bamenda will take some hour and a half (I am not sure but probably around 50-60 kms). The sardine can (i.e our bus filled with its passengers) finally left the city around 5pm.

Arrival point in Bamenda

this is the terminal point of the trip to Bamenda. You can see the small friendly buses parked here.

Let me recall that Bamenda is in the North West province of Cameroon. Among the 10 provinces of Cameroon, only 2 are anglophone. The North West province(with Bamenda as Capital) and the South West province (with Buea as Capital). This is because originally these were ruled by Britain during the colonial area while the other 8 provinces were ruled by France. As a result the English and French languages remained in these respectives zones after the independence (1960). They merged to generate the federal republic of cameroon (1961) and later on the "republique unie du cameroun"(United republic of cameroon) the 20th may 1972 which is the national day of the country. The current president (Biya) changed the name (presumably deemed lenghty) to "Republic of Cameroon" (around 1984). However the average person on a Bamenda street would talk to you in pidgin (mix-up of distorted english and local dialects perhaps).

We arrived in Bamenda late in the evening around sunset. The arrival buses carpark is somewhere near a place they call "finance junction". My brother-in-law Francis come over to pick up us. Bamenda is a fairly large city. We had a ride past some major landmarks in the city

Finance junction

This junction is located near the carpark for Bafoussam inbound/outbound buses.

(refer to the pictures): Evidence Building, City chemis roundabout, commercial avenue... I think the climate here is similar to that of Bafoussam, it is cool in the evening. A visit was also paid to ayaba hotel very late that evening. In the night, we visited some relatives at "small mankon" where we were graciously offered delicious "Achu". It is a local dish made up of a yellow sauce (the color is given by palm nuts), taro (the white part) and beef (usually the skin part). I had not eaten that in centuries, so imagine my delight! And to get things grander, sweet red wine even got splashed up!

12th march

It is vacation time. So Guy and I took it easy this morning, watching tele and chatting. We only left the house around half past eleven to get downtown.

We had a meal at this restaurant near the handicraft shop at commercial avenue. The handicraft shop also received our visit before leaving the city around 3pm.

Additional photos below

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