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Drying out

Posted on April 29th, 2009 in Africa,Cameroon by robjkentjr

After getting pummeled by the unexpected storm, we had to take a day to dry out.  It was a nice break though because it gave us a chance to meet Amadu, the father of all the children.
We made good use of the tower stay lines and pretty much hung everything we owned out to dry.
This is Amadu. His job is to watch the cell towers all day long and read.  We made a friend when he learned that could read the Koran to him in Arabic. It did not matter a bit that he only understood French.
Needless to say, this sparked the curiosity of the and they refused to go to school that day so Amadu had to chase them all off.
Well, they did not make it far because here they all are watching from the distance.  The circus is in town so why should they go to boring old school when the crazy people are sleeping in the rain?
The rolling grazing hills of the High Plateau.  I was always a little puzzled by this name.
As beautiful as the small family plots of maize were, they were not enough to spend another night there freezing in the rain.
Got milk?  They sure did.  I always thought raw milk was supposed to be pasteurized before drinking it, but I guess not.
After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, we were off for Foumban.  This campsite marked the beginning of Muslim influence, so we thoroughly enjoyed our last ration of pork.

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Mountaintop camping

Posted on April 25th, 2009 in Africa,Cameroon by robjkentjr

Relieved to finally find a great camping site, we thought no one saw us drive up to the mountain top.  Well, we had about 15 minutes of peace before the crowds came but they did not stick around long.
It was an absolutely beautiful view standing at 2,217 m (7,274 ft) high and staring out over the valley below.
Our peace did not last long before the found us.  This was just one family’s worth.
They were nice though and helped set up the tent.
Our view only lasted a couple of hours before the evening fog rolled in.  It was a little ominous so we moved our tent closer to the car for shelter.
Everyone was huddling under the tarp to escape the mist and trying to help Dave start a fire.
Out of nowhere, the wind switched 180° causing the fog to clear.  We hardly noticed the running for shelter but when that storm slammed into us and Dave, who we all looked to as our stalwart captain, yelled to run for the car, we abandoned everything without thinking twice.
The rain soaked us to the bone within seconds.  The wind ripped our tarp down, flipped the table, and collapsed the tent.  I retrieved our dinner from the rain but was only able to salvage soggy potatoes, half-cooked sausages, raw onions, garlic, tomatoes, and stale bread.
After warming up a bit in the shelter of the car, we finished off our waterlogged dinner with a great bottle of port!  When the stormed passed, we ventured out to survey the damage and immediately realized everything was going need drying out before we left the next morning.

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