Arriving Douala

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Leaving Oslo

The buzzer went of at 04:15, as programmed, and up we went. It was cold, -11 centigrade, and Anja didnt want to leave the warm cosy bed, but I managed to kick here out of it. We hurried to the airport with all our luggage. It looked like we were going on a major expedition, as we had no less than 14 kollis. The girl at the checkin counter made huge eyes, but went along with it, and sent us off, despite us beeing a little bit over the limit. Security wasn't to bad at this early hour, but there were thousands of people in the departing area, as a lot of charter flights where leaving at the same time as us.

10 minutes prior to boarding, my brother decided he needed some cash, and he went out through security again, making my aunt more than a bit nervous. He did make it in time though, and off we went. I was scouting for the A380 wich had been parked at Gardermoen the previous day, but there was no trace of it. Having economy tickets, we didn't exactly expect breakfast, but Brussels was nice to provide us with some, as the only passengers in economy. This was due to us going on an intercontinental flight with them, I am sure.

Brussels airport

Arriving at Brussels airport, we docked at terminal A, which meant that we had quite some way to go to get to Terminal B, where the Douala flight usually leaves. We did manage to stop by the tax-free stores, where I got myself some champagne and some nice cuban sigars (Cohiba IV) for new years eve.

The flight

The aircraft was the same A330 as usual, OO-SFN. I was lucky enough to get the same seat I got the last time, 30A, which is a good spot to sit. Anja pleaded for the window seat, and who am I to refuse a pretty girl? The plane was pretty packed, with a lot of Cameroonians and Congolese going home for Christmas. There was the usual hubbub with people having 3, 4 or even 5 pieces of carryon luggage, as one expects when traveling to Africa. The plane took off half an hour late. The trip went smoothly, and we arrived in Douala at five minutes to six, just as the sun was setting.

Douala Airport, probably one of the most corrupt places in the world

Douala was absolute chaos and disorder, as usual. The heat and humidity is insane. It was 32 degrees centigrade when we landed, and humidity was very high, 80-90%!a(MISSING)t least, and water was condensing and running from the concrete. Corruption is rampant in Cameroon, the country has several times been named the worlds most corrupt country by Transparency International, which goes to say a lot. First there was the usual vaccination check, as you have to have yellow fever vaccine to enter Cameroon. Then was immigrations, which also went pretty smooth.

Finding your luggage?

And then, all hell broke loose. The Air France flight had arrived just a few minutes before us, and the luggage reclaim area was completely packed. The porters had been chased from the premises, allegedly due to theft and problems. There has indeed been some problems here, but those are usually the fault of the customs agents and the non-traveling civilians crowding the area. For some stupid reason, someone had decided to send baggage from both flights to all three conveyor belts. There are two regular ones, and one for oversize luggage. This was of no importance to the authorities, who sent a mix of Air France and Brussels luggage on all conveyor belts, in addition to sending oversize luggage on the regular conveyors, and regular luggage on the oversize one. I even spotted a 46" Sony Bravia on the regular conveyor belt!

Tips on handling customs officers

The unexperienced traveller will soon wind up in trouble here, but here are some advice that you may wish to follow. First of all, find a real porter. They are equipped with green coats, and have a number and ID-tag around their neck. They will charge a fixed rate per kolli, and the sum is printed on their jackets, usually 300-500CFA. Do not pay more. Second rule: be decisive, do not let people jerk you around. Stick with your porter, and don't let anyone else take your luggage. One of the biggest annoyances in Cameroon are "officials" claiming to be so. They usually rush in from the side as you are about to clear customs(or whatever you are working on], and claim to be some important guy. Mostly these are con-artists, or officials wanting a bribe. They claim substantial customs fees, obviously. There are usually none to pay though, so be patient. Depending on many factors, ranging mostly from "proximity to next holiday/feast" to "long time since payday" the customs agents will be more or less eager to be bribed. Most of them will demand it right out, and they will be angry when you say no. Just be firm though, and insist on not paying. Use humour and chit-chat with them, but don't pay. They will usually let you go within half an hour or so. Their problem is this: The longer they keep discussing with you, the more "business" they loose, as others are clearing the customs without them interfering. Another word of advice: the real, uniformed guys are NOT on your side. They are usually accomplices of the nonuniformed guys, and get their share of the business. So just hold out, and you will be let through eventually. If you tire of waiting, and do decide to bribe your way out, pay them at 5000CFA, an absolute max is 10000. They will usually ask for 40 or 50000 CFA, which is half a months salary or something. There is a rule forbidding you to bring more than 25000CFA out of the country, use this to your advantage. If they ask for 50000CFA, you counter by saying "How could I possibly carry such a sum, when I am only allowed to carry 25000CFA when leaving? You do not want me to go into crime, do you?" This will lower the bid to 25000 CFA. CThey will then ask for 25 000, and you continue to say that "Well, you see, your friends in the police, and the vaccination have already taken their share, so the only sum I have left is 10000, and I need 5000 to get to the city".(4000-5000CFA is the regular price for a cab to the city incidently). Being corrupt, the customs guy will have no problems seeing this logic. You probably have a lot more money with you, but do not under ANY circumstances let them see this. Prepare on the plane(there are eyes everywhere on the ground) and stash smaller sums(5000CFA, or even less) in your pockets. If they spot any larger sums of cash, their patience will grow indefinately, since it will then become a waiting game between you and them. Beeing africans, they are very patient, and you'll usually loose. Always remember TIA(This is Africa). I cannot say for other countries, but in Cameroon at least, everyone and their mother is out for your money.

We got through this time as well!

Since we brought a lot of luggage, and some old computer cases, we were immediately spotted by the accomplices of the corrupt officials. "Someone" working for the customs inspector offered us to clear, if we paid him a 10000CFA fee. Not taking the bait, we aimed for the exit. Then a big fellow showed up, in civilian clothing, and demanded that we follow him. Since he showed to actually be the chief customs inspector, we reluctantly did, but only after seeing our friend carrying the large amount of cash slipping out... The game was on. We explained that these computers were old, that they were for the church and that they were depreciated. Nonetheless, he demanded 40000CFA to let them pass. We flatly refused. He then went for 10000 per computer, believing there were three of them. We again refused, and started waiting. We then pulled the "You don't want to steal from God card" on him. Most africans are very superstitious, and even if they do not believe, its best not to get anyones god on their bad side, since you cannot be certain who is right. Not believing is one thing, stealing from him is something else. Claiming to be a non-believer, we told him that would be between him and the Lord on judgement day. The claim was lowered again. We still refused. We did make sure to destroy his business though, by approaching him every 5 minutes or so, repeating the whole story once more. This keeps him from beeing able to ensnare someone else, and he soon realised he was wasting his time with us, and that others may be easier to trick, and let us go. We didn't pay five francs....

Going to town

After we finally cleared customs, we headed to Procure, a hostel for religious travelers. The city had decided to redo the road in front of Procure, so all access was shut of. No keeping one way open here. We had to carry the luggage inside, all while maintaining vigil and making sure that no one ran of with anything. After dumping our luggage, it was nearing 9 o'clock, so we decided to go get some dinner at Mediterranee, a meditteranean-inspired restaurant on the main street. A note of warning, Douala is not the safest town by night, so do take a taxi anywhere you go. This is especially important for white people. You tend to get noticed in the crowds down here, to say the least. Women should not travel alone. Leave your valuables in the hotel, and do not bring a lot of cash when you go out. Also, do take care not to get your judgement impaired by drinking to much alcohol. Robberies and rape do occur, albeit not frequently. If you have any contacts you trust, they usually have someone to recommend.

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Photos

Norwegians and Taxfree
Since the advent of the EU, tax-free shopping has been banned on flights within the EU. However, passengers travelling to Norway, or any other place outside the EU, may still shop tax-free. Due to very high prices on alcohol and tobacco, norwegians are crazy about their "quota" which is 1 litre of liquor, 1 litre of wine and 1 carton of sigarettes. Norwegians will usually buy sigarettes even if they don't smoke, just because its cheap....The shops at Brussels Airport have obviously noted this, and have posted a large sign with a norwegian flag and norwegian text, showing the northerners where they can get their booze.

Dining at Mediterranee
Mediterranee is a nice restaurant on the main street of Douala. Beware of hookers though, as they are in abundance outside the place. AIDS is rampant in Cameroon, and 17% of the population are confirmed HIV positive. So beware!