Bamenda -- Our Final Destination

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We spent our last few days in Cameroon in Bamenda. I had lived there for one summer way back when. Bamenda was comfortable for us. Hot but not muggy. We stayed at the Baptist guest house. If you're going to B'da and need a place to stay, this is ideal. The rooms vary in size from two beds to seven beds. Very clean. Big windows that let in lots of light. Shared bathrooms with hot water. A great breakfast and very reasonable price. Plus Nkwen is a great location. Easy to get everywhere.

We ate at Uncle Sam's the first night. They serve burgers, pizza, and spaghetti as well as Cameroonian favorites like Ndole. Everything was good. Turns out a friend of ours, Cameroonian, owns it!

We visited with Joe's friend James and his family. Quite the route to get to his house -- we wondered if we were back on the road to Mamfe. Visited with Phillip's sponsor and family, the Mbamulu family. We met Simon Njoki, a riend of Joes. I tried to post on internet but the connection was too slow to do much of anything.

We visited the German fort and we did a lot of shopping. Bought the guys jumpers, girls bought gowns and wrapa cloth. Then we bought gifts for those at home, woven baskets, carved masks, bronze figures, bon bons aplenty, musical instruments (like finger pianos and calabashes with shells to be used as shakers) and more. My parents bought each of the kids drums for Christmas.

We also met a relative of my father. Elsie is a Canadian working with the Cameroon Baptist Convention. She works in education, helping the missionaries who homeschool their children. We had a wonderful dinner at her home -- pizza! Dan ate eight pieces, sating his never ending hunger for the first time on the trip. After dinner we had a chance to talk and then she brought out paintings done by a local artist. We loved them. I'll try and post one tomorrow.

Finally, on Saturday, we headed back to Limbe (the roads were GREAT) all the way down. Sunday lots of people came calling. I was happy to meet some old friends -- including Catherine and Patience. (Whose daughter, Ernestine, is now living in Portland.)

We were loaded up with chin-chin, fried groundnuts, sugared nuts, coconut sweet and more for the journey home.

The airport in Douala was a nightmare. It was sooooo hot and muggy. Everyone was sweating, not just me. We had our carry-ons searched at least four times. Fiinally, we got through to board our flight. We were truly blessed on our way home. We were seated either at the bulkhead or in economy plus (thanks for the upgrade mom) all the way home. Daniel, at 6 ft 6 inches, could actually stretch out his legs!

We made it home! Minus one suitcase which arrived two days later. It had yam fufu flour in it so Joe thinks it must have been pulled and tested to see if it was cocaine. Who knows?

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Photos

Cousin Elsie
This is grandpa's distant cousin Elsie in Bamenda. Thanks for the great conversation!

Road into Bamenda
The road descending into Bamenda afforded a beautiful view of the city. If it had rained,however, we wouldn't have had the dusty grey haze -- or the beautiful sunsets I suppose.

Comments

[JP]

Nice picture
I was born in Bamenda. That road brings up really good memories.