Advertisement
Published: March 5th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Drill monkeys
I could have spent hours watching and laughing at this pair, their mannerisms are so humanlike! Had a hectic couple of weeks planning my escape so missed out on a few updates, so here’s what I did during my final days in West Africa...
Having survived Nigeria and its dubious reputation we decided to visit at least one sight before we left. We drove up to the Afi Mountain Drill Ranch, sister project to the sanctuary we’d visited in Calabar a few days earlier. The Ranch has been set up by an American couple to protect and rehabilitate orphaned Chimpanzees and the extremely endangered Drill monkey, which only lives in a small area on the Nigeria/Cameroon border.
To reach the Ranch we had to lug all our stuff a kilometre or so down a dirt track. Not a problem, we can survive without the safety blanket of our truck…can’t we?! While cook group prepared a feast for us, the rest of the group sat around the camp fire and watched the intriguing flashes of light brightening the night sky. Hmm, I wonder what’s causing that we mused? Not until the first fat drops of water dampened our skin did we really believe that it was a storm approaching us, then panic ensued. It was fine for
Cameroon potholes
And we thought the Nigeria roads were bad! those of us who had brought our fly sheets with us, but apparently the rain drops were small enough to fit through the holes of the mosquito nets half our group had set up! As for dinner, our Mexican feast turned to rainwater soup before the first spoonful could reach our mouths! Having not seen rain since Morocco we actually really enjoyed standing in the torrential downpour getting a free shower, and the thunder and lightening were spectacular, lighting up the forest all around us.
The next day we had a guided tour of the enclosures and surrounding forest. Adult male Drill monkeys have fantastic brightly coloured bums and their social interaction is fascinating to watch, although I was slightly disturbed when one monkey decided to relieve his sexual tension in front of me!! On our walk through the forest I somehow found myself balancing precariously on another canopy walkway, having sworn never to put myself through it again - I will overcome that fear!
Brendan had been particularly pleased with the rain as he was looking forward to getting the truck stuck in the mud on reputedly the worst roads we would encounter on the trip. Despite his
best efforts, and the swimming pool sized potholes, we only had to get out and push once. The drive through the rainforest is spectacularly beautiful, even if the road is terrible. A sea of green rises up from the roadside: banana palms, bamboo bushes, huge towering trees covered in moss and vines. Clouds of butterflies, painted every colour imaginable, dance up out of each pothole we splash past. Vivid parakeets chatter in the trees. The mound of Mount Cameroon shrouded in steamy clouds.
We arrive in our first town in Cameroon on National Youth Day and sneak in to catch a glimpse of the parade. Thousands of school kids smartly dressed in their uniforms and proudly marching before the local officials - I can’t imagine ever getting kids to behave so well like that back home!
There was a definite theme to the last two weeks we spent in Cameroon. First in Limbe, where some of the more energetic members of the truck climbed Mount Cameroon, and then in the capital Yaounde…bakeries! Those wonderful French colonialists have left their mark again in the form of the most delicious bread, cakes and ice-cream imaginable. Everyday at least two or
three trips were made to sample their wares, and my purse is now considerably lighter than when I arrived, even if I’m not!
Even without the bakeries I would have loved Cameroon. It’s been great to settle in one place for a week at a time and begin to familiarise yourself with an area. I’ve felt relaxed despite the big decisions I was having to make at the time. Usually I find the big cities overwhelming , but in Yaounde I had great fun exploring the markets, bartering over the price of strange statues, or trying on the big baggy dresses local women wear on a girly shopping day. I'll miss the bustle and liveliness of West Africa, but I'm looking forward to seeing somewhere new and different.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.078s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0495s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Nick
non-member comment
freedom!
Hey Frankie, been following the journals with interest! Sounds like too many people together after a while - I did exactly the same in Mad. and left for 4 days, headed off into the uknown. Perhaps the best 4 days of the 3 month trip, totally independent and free to do whatever whenever, without having to agree it with the rest of the party! When you get down towards Capetown, look up Hermanus and Gansbaai - H for whale watching and G for White Shark Diving - will email you all the info you need if you want it! Safe travels, Nick