I arrived home on Tuesday after a smooth transit in Lagos. The tube, train and bus went remarkably smoothly. Any transport complications are made ten times worse with the heavy rucksack and hand luggage.
The project was a great success! Our research was successful and I now have lots of data to analyse, with the aim of publishing our findings in a peer-reviewed journal.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported us in the project. The list is great, but without you this project would have been impossible.
Many Thanks.
Friday, 22 August 2008
Thursday, 14 August 2008
Mount Cameroon
Tom, Leo and I have just stumbled home from our expedition to the summit of Mount Cameroon, the third highest peak in Africa and the highest in West and Central Africa. It took us 21 hours walking in total, but we took a longer route back to look at the incredible volcanic craters and lava flows. The route up was via three huts, and only hut 2 we slept in. This is the most direct route up (The Guinness track), and every year there is a race (named the "Race of Hope") where athletes run up the mountian and back as fast as they can. The best times are a little over 4 hours 30 minutes. Amusingly, people don't believe this to be humanly possible, and accuse them of using black magic. I guess they take that as a compliment?
Anyway, our trip began on Tuesday morning, which, unfortunately, was the morning of a rain filled day. The rain poured and poured and continued to do so all day. After a good 4 hours of self-amusement, including coin wars and scaring Tom with my horrible yellow balaclava as he exited the toilet (hilarious, but you had to be there), We decided to leave the Ecotourism office at about midday, and excitedly hopped into a taxi (5 people per taxi+baggage) to take us as far uphill as the roads would allow. After brief introductions with our two porters, and our guide, we began to climb.
We began at 1100 metres above sea level, and the peak is at 4095m tall (or 4.095m as the certificate says! Working out at a little over 40cm per hour climbing! How flat is Africa?!). The hike is split into discrete terrains and ecosystems, the first of which is montane Forest. Our guide pointed our fig trees, which parasitically grow up and around existing trees, eventually killing them, leaving a hollow tube which appears as the trunk of the fig. This section was at low enough altitude to see pumpkin and cocoa crops, accessible to the locals. During the montane forest, we climed to hut 1, which we used as a rest point. We had a look at all the names graffiti on the walls over the years, and headed on up towards the savannah, the next type of terrain.
The savannah is steep grassland, and this was the hardest part of the walk so far. It was long and arduous as we aproached the infamous "Magic Tree".
This tree was named by Mark Hunt (we think), who won the Race of Hope on many occasions, and he thought it was magic because for however long he ran, he could not reach it, and it never appeared to come closer. I could imagine how he felt, this hill did seem endless. But eventually, we reached hut 2 and found our rooms. There were three rooms, about 5x3 metres in size, and half of the room was like a stage. It was here where we placed our mats, bags and rucksacks and went to the "kitchen" (another hut). Minutes later, we were called back to our room by our porter, Stephen, who had spotted our first wild animal of the trip, the rare and exciting "Rattus rattus", which Leo bonked on the head with a stick as it munched on our sugar nuts. Dirty little ratty rat.
We cooked spaghetti with tomato puree and sardines, and after burning our socks in the fire, went to get some well deserved rest. I have been sleep talking a little this holiday, and this evening was another exciting instalment. "IT'S DOWN AND LEFT, TOM, YOU STUPID IDIOT", is what I yelled, repeatedly. Absolutely no idea why.
The next morning, after a sound nights sleep and hearing about my hilarious outburst, we boiled up some water for the tea and munched on last night's dinner. Pretty ghastly tea because water boils at a lower pressure at the high altitudes. Spaghetti wasn't great either.
We left late, at 9am, and we 3 and a half hours for the summit. I might just add, up to this point, we had seen no views, been surrounded by cloud and it had rained 80% of the time. This day didn't disappoint, and the view from the summit was like that seen inside a big white sphere. The photos tell the full story.
We spent an anticlimactic 3 minutes at the summit, just enough time for my fake duracell batteries to die. Visiting the shop the day before, I chose to buy twice as many fake batteries for the same price as 4 genuine ones, with the hope that they last over half as long as the genuine batteries. Unfortunately, the second set took, literally, about 4 photos. Awful purchase, lesson learnt Collins. Fortunately Tom had his camera so all was good.
So after the compulsory, yet barely visible photos of the summit, we started to gallop/slide/fall down the mountain. A little underwhelmed, but proud of our acclompishment, nonetheless. From here on, the descent was dreadful. We were all soaked to the bone, cold, and the descent was not as painless as we'd hoped. But, as the sun came out, we became increasingly aware of the depressiveness of wind and rain.
After a good few hours of descent, the sun came out and we arrived at volcanic craters of 1999. I was completely taken aback, mind blown. I had never witnessed geothermic activity like this, only geyser in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya. Steam was rising from the craters, and the ground around us, and the air smelt of sulphur.
In the 1999 eruption, the main vent had split to form 23 craters, from which emerged ash, volcanic bombs and acidic lava of low viscosity. What was previously undulating savannah, was now covered by huge mounds of jet-black volcanic rock. In the sun, the black rock against the greens of the grass and algae were astonishing. I was increasingly regretting my poor battery purchase the day before.
I found a sweet little spherical pummice stone which I was going to keep to give my mother (cute hey?), but in my excitement over its regular shape, I lost it rolling it down the sand hills. It was irreplaceable, and searching for it was useless among the sea of its irregular shaped friends.
This was the second day, and we walked for 9 hours, 4 uphill and 5 down. We arrived, completely exhausted at our second camp. We were sleeping on the ground this time, in triangular thatched huts, at Mann Springs, a natural spring. Unfortuntately, and irritatingly, because we were climbing in the the off-peak season, the maintenance of the camp was poor, and it was infested by soldier ants. Although, all was fine when they fled as Tom (our guide) poured boiling salted water on them. Although, I predictably had nightmares about being covered by ants. Presumably nightmares...
Speaking of salt, Leo told us about a great little trick he plays on his friends. When they are asleep in public situations, he fills their mouth with salt! Absolutely hilarious, and I look forward to finding my first victim.
The next morning we rose and were left by 7.30, with the hope of reaching Buea by 1pm. The weather was kind to us today, with no rain, obviously surrounded by clouds. Standard. It was a long day, but we did get home, wet, but happy and proud of our achievements.
We went for a few beers, and some fish from barbeques on the street, which finished the day off nicely. It's a pity we can barely walk up the stairs to our room!
We leave Cameroon on Monday 18th. I will be home early Tuesday and Tom will arrive in the afternoon of Tuesday. Our next few days will be spent visiting the Zoo, botanical gardens, beaches and uninhabited islands around Limbe, as well as fishing with the locals, with enough persuasion.
Photos of our trip added here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28176&l=e5c66&id=511649878
Anyway, our trip began on Tuesday morning, which, unfortunately, was the morning of a rain filled day. The rain poured and poured and continued to do so all day. After a good 4 hours of self-amusement, including coin wars and scaring Tom with my horrible yellow balaclava as he exited the toilet (hilarious, but you had to be there), We decided to leave the Ecotourism office at about midday, and excitedly hopped into a taxi (5 people per taxi+baggage) to take us as far uphill as the roads would allow. After brief introductions with our two porters, and our guide, we began to climb.
We began at 1100 metres above sea level, and the peak is at 4095m tall (or 4.095m as the certificate says! Working out at a little over 40cm per hour climbing! How flat is Africa?!). The hike is split into discrete terrains and ecosystems, the first of which is montane Forest. Our guide pointed our fig trees, which parasitically grow up and around existing trees, eventually killing them, leaving a hollow tube which appears as the trunk of the fig. This section was at low enough altitude to see pumpkin and cocoa crops, accessible to the locals. During the montane forest, we climed to hut 1, which we used as a rest point. We had a look at all the names graffiti on the walls over the years, and headed on up towards the savannah, the next type of terrain.
The savannah is steep grassland, and this was the hardest part of the walk so far. It was long and arduous as we aproached the infamous "Magic Tree".
This tree was named by Mark Hunt (we think), who won the Race of Hope on many occasions, and he thought it was magic because for however long he ran, he could not reach it, and it never appeared to come closer. I could imagine how he felt, this hill did seem endless. But eventually, we reached hut 2 and found our rooms. There were three rooms, about 5x3 metres in size, and half of the room was like a stage. It was here where we placed our mats, bags and rucksacks and went to the "kitchen" (another hut). Minutes later, we were called back to our room by our porter, Stephen, who had spotted our first wild animal of the trip, the rare and exciting "Rattus rattus", which Leo bonked on the head with a stick as it munched on our sugar nuts. Dirty little ratty rat.
We cooked spaghetti with tomato puree and sardines, and after burning our socks in the fire, went to get some well deserved rest. I have been sleep talking a little this holiday, and this evening was another exciting instalment. "IT'S DOWN AND LEFT, TOM, YOU STUPID IDIOT", is what I yelled, repeatedly. Absolutely no idea why.
The next morning, after a sound nights sleep and hearing about my hilarious outburst, we boiled up some water for the tea and munched on last night's dinner. Pretty ghastly tea because water boils at a lower pressure at the high altitudes. Spaghetti wasn't great either.
We left late, at 9am, and we 3 and a half hours for the summit. I might just add, up to this point, we had seen no views, been surrounded by cloud and it had rained 80% of the time. This day didn't disappoint, and the view from the summit was like that seen inside a big white sphere. The photos tell the full story.
We spent an anticlimactic 3 minutes at the summit, just enough time for my fake duracell batteries to die. Visiting the shop the day before, I chose to buy twice as many fake batteries for the same price as 4 genuine ones, with the hope that they last over half as long as the genuine batteries. Unfortunately, the second set took, literally, about 4 photos. Awful purchase, lesson learnt Collins. Fortunately Tom had his camera so all was good.
So after the compulsory, yet barely visible photos of the summit, we started to gallop/slide/fall down the mountain. A little underwhelmed, but proud of our acclompishment, nonetheless. From here on, the descent was dreadful. We were all soaked to the bone, cold, and the descent was not as painless as we'd hoped. But, as the sun came out, we became increasingly aware of the depressiveness of wind and rain.
After a good few hours of descent, the sun came out and we arrived at volcanic craters of 1999. I was completely taken aback, mind blown. I had never witnessed geothermic activity like this, only geyser in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya. Steam was rising from the craters, and the ground around us, and the air smelt of sulphur.
In the 1999 eruption, the main vent had split to form 23 craters, from which emerged ash, volcanic bombs and acidic lava of low viscosity. What was previously undulating savannah, was now covered by huge mounds of jet-black volcanic rock. In the sun, the black rock against the greens of the grass and algae were astonishing. I was increasingly regretting my poor battery purchase the day before.
I found a sweet little spherical pummice stone which I was going to keep to give my mother (cute hey?), but in my excitement over its regular shape, I lost it rolling it down the sand hills. It was irreplaceable, and searching for it was useless among the sea of its irregular shaped friends.
This was the second day, and we walked for 9 hours, 4 uphill and 5 down. We arrived, completely exhausted at our second camp. We were sleeping on the ground this time, in triangular thatched huts, at Mann Springs, a natural spring. Unfortuntately, and irritatingly, because we were climbing in the the off-peak season, the maintenance of the camp was poor, and it was infested by soldier ants. Although, all was fine when they fled as Tom (our guide) poured boiling salted water on them. Although, I predictably had nightmares about being covered by ants. Presumably nightmares...
Speaking of salt, Leo told us about a great little trick he plays on his friends. When they are asleep in public situations, he fills their mouth with salt! Absolutely hilarious, and I look forward to finding my first victim.
The next morning we rose and were left by 7.30, with the hope of reaching Buea by 1pm. The weather was kind to us today, with no rain, obviously surrounded by clouds. Standard. It was a long day, but we did get home, wet, but happy and proud of our achievements.
We went for a few beers, and some fish from barbeques on the street, which finished the day off nicely. It's a pity we can barely walk up the stairs to our room!
We leave Cameroon on Monday 18th. I will be home early Tuesday and Tom will arrive in the afternoon of Tuesday. Our next few days will be spent visiting the Zoo, botanical gardens, beaches and uninhabited islands around Limbe, as well as fishing with the locals, with enough persuasion.
Photos of our trip added here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28176&l=e5c66&id=511649878
Monday, 11 August 2008
Callot, callot.
Thursday was the day of our long awaited visit to Nkambe, which is the administrative capital of the North-West Province of Cameroon. The lord mayor had invited us there the previous week when we had bumped into Max, from ‘Radioactive’, a company that installs small scale community radios in developing countries. We arrived at the mayor’s office, and bumped into an English couple who were also visiting him. They were from Swindon (a place that Tom and I struggled to place on a map), and were from a charity called “Future in our Hands”, who have a project here in Cameroon which aims to replenish native trees and reduce the eucalyptus, a tree which is now a water-hungry nuisance. Anyway, afterwards we had the normal cheeky look around the market (looking for ridiculous fake items). This time, we came across a classic.
It was a man bag for the geek! The label was AMD Athlon, which is a computer processor. Well, I found it funny, at least.
Afterwards we went to our appointment at the local radio station for our interview. Unfortunately, it wasn’t live, but it was recorded and played a few times that week, which is good news for the project. Not too many slip ups, and Tom and I described the project and its work in a good light. I was given the recording.
On Friday we were packing up our things, and that afternoon we had arranged a send-off football match. Unfortunately not many people had turned up because of the rains, but we had a 5-a-side which kept us fit. In the evening we invited all of our new friends from Ndu down the bar for a few drinks, which turned into £30 worth, which is 60 pints of beer. God knows where they all went! Huh hum.
We left for Bamenda on Saturday morning, and after our night in the bar begrudgingly awoke at 5am (against all expectations). Very irritatingly, we didn’t actually leave to Bamenda until about 8 o’clock. “I could have had two more hours sleep bla bla, misery grumble”, said Tom. The journey was appalling, we were both firmly wedged in the front seat, and the whole journey I had a sharp corner jabbing into my leg. Not only that, the driver kept shoving me away from his side of the vehicle, rudely awakening me from my, already, intermittent sleep. In addition, babies were vomiting and doing other horrible baby things behind us, which didn’t help the slight sickly feeling we already had mumbling away inside me.
We arrived in Bamenda early evening, and met up with Leo again. He had kindly offered to put us up for one night, and show us around Bamenda. The trip was great, and the views over Bamenda were stunning. Although I had my MP3 player stolen while there. Very annoying, presumed pickpocket.
I did experience a pickpocket before, who tapped my back pocket in the market. Well, assumed pick-pocketer. In a strange way, I hope it was a pickpocket.
We left Bamenda late on Saturday by public transport; a large coach. We drove for 8 hours overnight. This was the worst 8 hours of my life, and arrived feeling exhausted with a painful body and brain. We arrived early this morning and our accommodation is excellent! It's a hostel, that is used for student accommodation, and we've grabbed it for a mere 3 pounds per night each! Absolute steal.
After a short nap, Tom, Leo and I went to investigate the ascent of Mount Cameroon. The mountain is the tallest in West Africa, at about 4100m tall, and is an active volcano (I can hear parents' cries). It last erupted in 1999 for 3 weeks, nobody was hurt. We'll complete the climb in 3 days, and we have 3 porters and a guide, who are usually ex-hunters. It's going to be incredible, and hopefully we'll see some antelope and forest elephants (although Tom thinks they're mythical, and a little too cool to be true).
I heard a truly awful story about the volcano. Apparently, every so often, when the volcano erupts, all albinos flee from Buea, the local city where I am currently staying. This is because they believe the eruption to be a sign from the mountain God that they are hungry, and the fleeing albinos are captured and sacrificed. This still occurs, and is absolutely shocking. It is, of course, completely illegal, but there seems to be an underlying respect for their traditions in the authorities. Although it was described rather confusingly, it is appalling that this still goes on.
So, after our climb, we return, completely exhausted, on Thursday at about midday. Our plans from then until Monday 18th are the following:
1) Persuade local fisherman, in our best French, to take us fishing and then drop us off on uninhabited island. Explore island.
2) Visit black volcanic sand beaches at Limbe. Avoid sunbathing at all costs.
3) Visit zoo and botanical gardens at Limbe. Take artistic photos, and tap on glass of animals to annoy Tom. (only joshing)
Wish us luck on Mount Cameroon. Home soon!
Added more photos here!
Thursday was the day of our long awaited visit to Nkambe, which is the administrative capital of the North-West Province of Cameroon. The lord mayor had invited us there the previous week when we had bumped into Max, from ‘Radioactive’, a company that installs small scale community radios in developing countries. We arrived at the mayor’s office, and bumped into an English couple who were also visiting him. They were from Swindon (a place that Tom and I struggled to place on a map), and were from a charity called “Future in our Hands”, who have a project here in Cameroon which aims to replenish native trees and reduce the eucalyptus, a tree which is now a water-hungry nuisance. Anyway, afterwards we had the normal cheeky look around the market (looking for ridiculous fake items). This time, we came across a classic.
It was a man bag for the geek! The label was AMD Athlon, which is a computer processor. Well, I found it funny, at least.
Afterwards we went to our appointment at the local radio station for our interview. Unfortunately, it wasn’t live, but it was recorded and played a few times that week, which is good news for the project. Not too many slip ups, and Tom and I described the project and its work in a good light. I was given the recording.
On Friday we were packing up our things, and that afternoon we had arranged a send-off football match. Unfortunately not many people had turned up because of the rains, but we had a 5-a-side which kept us fit. In the evening we invited all of our new friends from Ndu down the bar for a few drinks, which turned into £30 worth, which is 60 pints of beer. God knows where they all went! Huh hum.
We left for Bamenda on Saturday morning, and after our night in the bar begrudgingly awoke at 5am (against all expectations). Very irritatingly, we didn’t actually leave to Bamenda until about 8 o’clock. “I could have had two more hours sleep bla bla, misery grumble”, said Tom. The journey was appalling, we were both firmly wedged in the front seat, and the whole journey I had a sharp corner jabbing into my leg. Not only that, the driver kept shoving me away from his side of the vehicle, rudely awakening me from my, already, intermittent sleep. In addition, babies were vomiting and doing other horrible baby things behind us, which didn’t help the slight sickly feeling we already had mumbling away inside me.
We arrived in Bamenda early evening, and met up with Leo again. He had kindly offered to put us up for one night, and show us around Bamenda. The trip was great, and the views over Bamenda were stunning. Although I had my MP3 player stolen while there. Very annoying, presumed pickpocket.
I did experience a pickpocket before, who tapped my back pocket in the market. Well, assumed pick-pocketer. In a strange way, I hope it was a pickpocket.
We left Bamenda late on Saturday by public transport; a large coach. We drove for 8 hours overnight. This was the worst 8 hours of my life, and arrived feeling exhausted with a painful body and brain. We arrived early this morning and our accommodation is excellent! It's a hostel, that is used for student accommodation, and we've grabbed it for a mere 3 pounds per night each! Absolute steal.
After a short nap, Tom, Leo and I went to investigate the ascent of Mount Cameroon. The mountain is the tallest in West Africa, at about 4100m tall, and is an active volcano (I can hear parents' cries). It last erupted in 1999 for 3 weeks, nobody was hurt. We'll complete the climb in 3 days, and we have 3 porters and a guide, who are usually ex-hunters. It's going to be incredible, and hopefully we'll see some antelope and forest elephants (although Tom thinks they're mythical, and a little too cool to be true).
I heard a truly awful story about the volcano. Apparently, every so often, when the volcano erupts, all albinos flee from Buea, the local city where I am currently staying. This is because they believe the eruption to be a sign from the mountain God that they are hungry, and the fleeing albinos are captured and sacrificed. This still occurs, and is absolutely shocking. It is, of course, completely illegal, but there seems to be an underlying respect for their traditions in the authorities. Although it was described rather confusingly, it is appalling that this still goes on.
So, after our climb, we return, completely exhausted, on Thursday at about midday. Our plans from then until Monday 18th are the following:
1) Persuade local fisherman, in our best French, to take us fishing and then drop us off on uninhabited island. Explore island.
2) Visit black volcanic sand beaches at Limbe. Avoid sunbathing at all costs.
3) Visit zoo and botanical gardens at Limbe. Take artistic photos, and tap on glass of animals to annoy Tom. (only joshing)
Wish us luck on Mount Cameroon. Home soon!
Added more photos to the same album as before! Use that link.
A special photo of Tom after removing his cap, and also a nice close up of Leo. The view is over Bamenda at dusk.
It was a man bag for the geek! The label was AMD Athlon, which is a computer processor. Well, I found it funny, at least.
Afterwards we went to our appointment at the local radio station for our interview. Unfortunately, it wasn’t live, but it was recorded and played a few times that week, which is good news for the project. Not too many slip ups, and Tom and I described the project and its work in a good light. I was given the recording.
On Friday we were packing up our things, and that afternoon we had arranged a send-off football match. Unfortunately not many people had turned up because of the rains, but we had a 5-a-side which kept us fit. In the evening we invited all of our new friends from Ndu down the bar for a few drinks, which turned into £30 worth, which is 60 pints of beer. God knows where they all went! Huh hum.
We left for Bamenda on Saturday morning, and after our night in the bar begrudgingly awoke at 5am (against all expectations). Very irritatingly, we didn’t actually leave to Bamenda until about 8 o’clock. “I could have had two more hours sleep bla bla, misery grumble”, said Tom. The journey was appalling, we were both firmly wedged in the front seat, and the whole journey I had a sharp corner jabbing into my leg. Not only that, the driver kept shoving me away from his side of the vehicle, rudely awakening me from my, already, intermittent sleep. In addition, babies were vomiting and doing other horrible baby things behind us, which didn’t help the slight sickly feeling we already had mumbling away inside me.
We arrived in Bamenda early evening, and met up with Leo again. He had kindly offered to put us up for one night, and show us around Bamenda. The trip was great, and the views over Bamenda were stunning. Although I had my MP3 player stolen while there. Very annoying, presumed pickpocket.
I did experience a pickpocket before, who tapped my back pocket in the market. Well, assumed pick-pocketer. In a strange way, I hope it was a pickpocket.
We left Bamenda late on Saturday by public transport; a large coach. We drove for 8 hours overnight. This was the worst 8 hours of my life, and arrived feeling exhausted with a painful body and brain. We arrived early this morning and our accommodation is excellent! It's a hostel, that is used for student accommodation, and we've grabbed it for a mere 3 pounds per night each! Absolute steal.
After a short nap, Tom, Leo and I went to investigate the ascent of Mount Cameroon. The mountain is the tallest in West Africa, at about 4100m tall, and is an active volcano (I can hear parents' cries). It last erupted in 1999 for 3 weeks, nobody was hurt. We'll complete the climb in 3 days, and we have 3 porters and a guide, who are usually ex-hunters. It's going to be incredible, and hopefully we'll see some antelope and forest elephants (although Tom thinks they're mythical, and a little too cool to be true).
I heard a truly awful story about the volcano. Apparently, every so often, when the volcano erupts, all albinos flee from Buea, the local city where I am currently staying. This is because they believe the eruption to be a sign from the mountain God that they are hungry, and the fleeing albinos are captured and sacrificed. This still occurs, and is absolutely shocking. It is, of course, completely illegal, but there seems to be an underlying respect for their traditions in the authorities. Although it was described rather confusingly, it is appalling that this still goes on.
So, after our climb, we return, completely exhausted, on Thursday at about midday. Our plans from then until Monday 18th are the following:
1) Persuade local fisherman, in our best French, to take us fishing and then drop us off on uninhabited island. Explore island.
2) Visit black volcanic sand beaches at Limbe. Avoid sunbathing at all costs.
3) Visit zoo and botanical gardens at Limbe. Take artistic photos, and tap on glass of animals to annoy Tom. (only joshing)
Wish us luck on Mount Cameroon. Home soon!
Added more photos here!
Thursday was the day of our long awaited visit to Nkambe, which is the administrative capital of the North-West Province of Cameroon. The lord mayor had invited us there the previous week when we had bumped into Max, from ‘Radioactive’, a company that installs small scale community radios in developing countries. We arrived at the mayor’s office, and bumped into an English couple who were also visiting him. They were from Swindon (a place that Tom and I struggled to place on a map), and were from a charity called “Future in our Hands”, who have a project here in Cameroon which aims to replenish native trees and reduce the eucalyptus, a tree which is now a water-hungry nuisance. Anyway, afterwards we had the normal cheeky look around the market (looking for ridiculous fake items). This time, we came across a classic.
It was a man bag for the geek! The label was AMD Athlon, which is a computer processor. Well, I found it funny, at least.
Afterwards we went to our appointment at the local radio station for our interview. Unfortunately, it wasn’t live, but it was recorded and played a few times that week, which is good news for the project. Not too many slip ups, and Tom and I described the project and its work in a good light. I was given the recording.
On Friday we were packing up our things, and that afternoon we had arranged a send-off football match. Unfortunately not many people had turned up because of the rains, but we had a 5-a-side which kept us fit. In the evening we invited all of our new friends from Ndu down the bar for a few drinks, which turned into £30 worth, which is 60 pints of beer. God knows where they all went! Huh hum.
We left for Bamenda on Saturday morning, and after our night in the bar begrudgingly awoke at 5am (against all expectations). Very irritatingly, we didn’t actually leave to Bamenda until about 8 o’clock. “I could have had two more hours sleep bla bla, misery grumble”, said Tom. The journey was appalling, we were both firmly wedged in the front seat, and the whole journey I had a sharp corner jabbing into my leg. Not only that, the driver kept shoving me away from his side of the vehicle, rudely awakening me from my, already, intermittent sleep. In addition, babies were vomiting and doing other horrible baby things behind us, which didn’t help the slight sickly feeling we already had mumbling away inside me.
We arrived in Bamenda early evening, and met up with Leo again. He had kindly offered to put us up for one night, and show us around Bamenda. The trip was great, and the views over Bamenda were stunning. Although I had my MP3 player stolen while there. Very annoying, presumed pickpocket.
I did experience a pickpocket before, who tapped my back pocket in the market. Well, assumed pick-pocketer. In a strange way, I hope it was a pickpocket.
We left Bamenda late on Saturday by public transport; a large coach. We drove for 8 hours overnight. This was the worst 8 hours of my life, and arrived feeling exhausted with a painful body and brain. We arrived early this morning and our accommodation is excellent! It's a hostel, that is used for student accommodation, and we've grabbed it for a mere 3 pounds per night each! Absolute steal.
After a short nap, Tom, Leo and I went to investigate the ascent of Mount Cameroon. The mountain is the tallest in West Africa, at about 4100m tall, and is an active volcano (I can hear parents' cries). It last erupted in 1999 for 3 weeks, nobody was hurt. We'll complete the climb in 3 days, and we have 3 porters and a guide, who are usually ex-hunters. It's going to be incredible, and hopefully we'll see some antelope and forest elephants (although Tom thinks they're mythical, and a little too cool to be true).
I heard a truly awful story about the volcano. Apparently, every so often, when the volcano erupts, all albinos flee from Buea, the local city where I am currently staying. This is because they believe the eruption to be a sign from the mountain God that they are hungry, and the fleeing albinos are captured and sacrificed. This still occurs, and is absolutely shocking. It is, of course, completely illegal, but there seems to be an underlying respect for their traditions in the authorities. Although it was described rather confusingly, it is appalling that this still goes on.
So, after our climb, we return, completely exhausted, on Thursday at about midday. Our plans from then until Monday 18th are the following:
1) Persuade local fisherman, in our best French, to take us fishing and then drop us off on uninhabited island. Explore island.
2) Visit black volcanic sand beaches at Limbe. Avoid sunbathing at all costs.
3) Visit zoo and botanical gardens at Limbe. Take artistic photos, and tap on glass of animals to annoy Tom. (only joshing)
Wish us luck on Mount Cameroon. Home soon!
Added more photos to the same album as before! Use that link.
A special photo of Tom after removing his cap, and also a nice close up of Leo. The view is over Bamenda at dusk.
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Hurrah!
At the market yesterday, I gave limestone a second try. Unfortunately, it’s still a no go, just tastes like rock. It’s neighbouring stall sold little dried fish, and I tried one of those to take the taste away. Still no luck, just tasted like dry fish skin, and the crunch of bone. Horrible mouth taste. Eurghh.
Today was our last day on the project! It was our first and only day in a village called Wowo, whom we had visited previously to warn them of our arrival. They were fantastic during our first visit, and seemed to be having quite a discussion to make plans, and insisted we arrive at 9am. This was excellent, and very encouraging. In fact, we were early to arrive, and when we did, we were greeted by, literally, the whole village. Hoards of people swarmed from their homes, and they formed into neat, orderly queues. One queue for women, one for men and one for children. It was extraordinary, and they were all so well behaved. In two hours, we inspected 129 people, and were home by midday! Unfortunately, we had a huge wad of questionnaires to enter into the computer.
I’ve uploaded a photo of our last inspection (tom doing thumbs up), as well as our photo with the villagers afterwards. The most recent disgusting picture of the person’s infested foot, had a jigger dangling off it. This jigger is the one on Tom’s hand, which we then discarded. It was taken away by ants! Hilarious! New photos are in the link below:
Tom and I have been discussing with Leo our plans for the next two weeks, as we don’t come home until 19th August. We are going to visit Buea, and discuss with Professor Ndumbe, one of our advisors, about the project and also meet Claris. She, of course, goes to university there. We’ll enquire there into the possibility of climbing Mount Cameroon, which is a good 4 day trek. But we’ll have porters carrying all our equipment, water and food. After Buea, we’ll go to Limbe, the tourist centre of Cameroon to relax and work on the write up.
On another note, and for those interested, I was dealt 4-of-a-kind 10s in cribbage yesterday, and a 5 was drawn, totalling 20 points. Unbelievable. I have never seen that before.
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Calabash bash bash bash
Following my last post, 8 days have gone by which has seemed like 8 weeks! Immediately after the post, our postcards were sent to England! The postal worker insisted that it was safer to post them all in one envelope, and therefore they will be distributed in England. Apologies, as they will not have the Cameroon postal stamp. The worker also said it would be cheaper to post them if the envelope was left unsealed…this seemed completely illogical, as clearly, all the cards would fall out. Absolutely absurd. I sealed the envelope and it was posted. May God be with it.
We visited the market that day, and Tom and I tried on nearly every hat in the hat stall. Some ridiculous hats were tested. I particularly like the hats with mittens attached...photos are linked to below.
I fell ill for a few days last week, and fortunately Tom’s father, Dwight, had sorted me out with some antibiotics he gave Tom to bring out. I took a day off to rest, and fortunately recovered by the time my Dad arrived Thursday 31st July.
He arrived in a 4x4, which the minister had kindly lent him for the duration of his stay, as well as a driver and bodyguard. This came in handy because the roads are absolutely appalling,especially in the rain.
We shared a traditional dinner of beef with bitter leaf and fu-fu, Disappointingly, Mark decided not to eat with his hands! The next day we continued our research in Luh, and Mark helped out in every way he could. Hans, the bodyguard, also rallied villagers to come down and have their feet inspected! They seemed unusually reluctant, must be something to do with Mark's presence. We were quite a team!
The fon of Luh was the first fon my father was being introduced to…and what a fon! This man had the most hilarious, high pitched laugh. In fact, his laugh involved his whole body! His big fat belly bobbled up and down, his legs stiffened and they were flung into the air, and his huge smile revealed some interesting teeth! It all made for an interesting character, to say the least. Again, photos of him are linked below. Our day was long, and the roads were bad, fortunately the 4x4 could handle it easily.
Then next day, we were to visit Sehn, our penultimate research village. The fon here had good English, and was clearly a well educated man. Mark talked about climate change and the local reforestation project that Marcel, one of our team members, was pioneering. He then showed us round his palace, which is his village within a village, if you like. It is where the village councillors meet and discuss village goings-on, where past fons are buried, among many other functions. He showed us a room where the late chiefs are buried, like a tomb. Except in this tomb, the head of the fons are dug up years later, and placed on the soil surface…so within this room were 11 skulls! We were not allowed to look, but the prospect was a little unnerving. He also showed us a small seating area where the adulterous are subject to interrogation by the village notables. I think it was lost in translation, but he definitely said this is where they are “taught fornication”. A punishment indeed, especially infront of the village elders and chief!
The fon here gave us a cock as a present, and our driver from Yaounde was not too impressed when it proceeded to crap all over the car! To be fair, the smell was rather unpleasant for the whole hour long journey home. Grim.
That evening, we arrived home relatively early and I wanted us to visit the tailors to order our new suits! Tom and I were buying novelty traditional Cameroon boys suits, which are dreadfully ugly, but are more souvenirs than fashion items. Tom’s will be petrol blue and mine a gold/brown/beige colour. For £25 each, who can complain! I also ordered a lilac tailored shirt, single cuff, should be tasty.
The next day was an incredible day! It was my father’s turn to be knighted, and he was given the title of “Nformi”, which is the title above me, and two above Tom, which is the position just below the fon. It’s a prestigious title indeed, and he was given a marvellous robe/gown, and an incredible spikey hat, the same as mine but with a “Go-faster” red streak. After being presented with these, he was handed a cutlass and a spear to dance with. The women of the village sang and bowed down and the men danced and played drums. It was incredible, the noise was awesome and the sun came out right at that moment! Mark gave a nice speech to the village, thanking them and discussed various issues to do with the political situation and local development projects.
To each fon we have met so far, we are giving a framed photo of Tom, I and the fon. However, to the fon at our village of Fuh, we also gifted a glass model of Buckingham Palace, which he loved!
My Dad left yesterday morning after a brilliant visit. We continued for our last day of research in Sehn, reaching a total of 1000 data points! This was a great achievement, and we are all very pleased. With one more day of research, we should total 1100 or so, which is plenty.
One day early, our local craftsman arrived with our order! We excitedly greeted him into our home, and he showed Tom and I our carved pictures, with our new names on.
Mine reads:
“Shey M’Bwang Collins Nguang”
And Tom’s:
“Shey M’Kuu Thomas Ngwayi”
These will look splendid on the wall, as long as I have the space in my bag for all of my purchases. I also have a 3.8l Calabash, which is a beautiful. Even more beautiful when full of beer. It's hard to describe, but is the shape of a rain drop, and is used traditionally for dispensing palm wine from.
Today is another Market day, however, as per usual, we cannot leave the house until mid afternoon as the rain is pouring down in bucket loads. The power has gone off, and everyone else is asleep. It is also very cold and my clothes are a little damp. Although, I do have M&S Jelly Belly Jelly beans to cheer me up!
The market was our last, and by far the best! I bought some absurd items, including a flourescent yellow balaclava, a very fake Cameroon football shrt, a pink and green waterproof training top, a "Shakira" onesy t-shirt/shirt combo (it's completely ghastly) and a big orange bobble hat. Tom bought an 80s-esque lightening bolt pink+yellow sweat band and a tasty black and orange winter hat. Great day.
Some more have been added here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25075&l=a6ef8&id=511649878
We visited the market that day, and Tom and I tried on nearly every hat in the hat stall. Some ridiculous hats were tested. I particularly like the hats with mittens attached...photos are linked to below.
I fell ill for a few days last week, and fortunately Tom’s father, Dwight, had sorted me out with some antibiotics he gave Tom to bring out. I took a day off to rest, and fortunately recovered by the time my Dad arrived Thursday 31st July.
He arrived in a 4x4, which the minister had kindly lent him for the duration of his stay, as well as a driver and bodyguard. This came in handy because the roads are absolutely appalling,especially in the rain.
We shared a traditional dinner of beef with bitter leaf and fu-fu, Disappointingly, Mark decided not to eat with his hands! The next day we continued our research in Luh, and Mark helped out in every way he could. Hans, the bodyguard, also rallied villagers to come down and have their feet inspected! They seemed unusually reluctant, must be something to do with Mark's presence. We were quite a team!
The fon of Luh was the first fon my father was being introduced to…and what a fon! This man had the most hilarious, high pitched laugh. In fact, his laugh involved his whole body! His big fat belly bobbled up and down, his legs stiffened and they were flung into the air, and his huge smile revealed some interesting teeth! It all made for an interesting character, to say the least. Again, photos of him are linked below. Our day was long, and the roads were bad, fortunately the 4x4 could handle it easily.
Then next day, we were to visit Sehn, our penultimate research village. The fon here had good English, and was clearly a well educated man. Mark talked about climate change and the local reforestation project that Marcel, one of our team members, was pioneering. He then showed us round his palace, which is his village within a village, if you like. It is where the village councillors meet and discuss village goings-on, where past fons are buried, among many other functions. He showed us a room where the late chiefs are buried, like a tomb. Except in this tomb, the head of the fons are dug up years later, and placed on the soil surface…so within this room were 11 skulls! We were not allowed to look, but the prospect was a little unnerving. He also showed us a small seating area where the adulterous are subject to interrogation by the village notables. I think it was lost in translation, but he definitely said this is where they are “taught fornication”. A punishment indeed, especially infront of the village elders and chief!
The fon here gave us a cock as a present, and our driver from Yaounde was not too impressed when it proceeded to crap all over the car! To be fair, the smell was rather unpleasant for the whole hour long journey home. Grim.
That evening, we arrived home relatively early and I wanted us to visit the tailors to order our new suits! Tom and I were buying novelty traditional Cameroon boys suits, which are dreadfully ugly, but are more souvenirs than fashion items. Tom’s will be petrol blue and mine a gold/brown/beige colour. For £25 each, who can complain! I also ordered a lilac tailored shirt, single cuff, should be tasty.
The next day was an incredible day! It was my father’s turn to be knighted, and he was given the title of “Nformi”, which is the title above me, and two above Tom, which is the position just below the fon. It’s a prestigious title indeed, and he was given a marvellous robe/gown, and an incredible spikey hat, the same as mine but with a “Go-faster” red streak. After being presented with these, he was handed a cutlass and a spear to dance with. The women of the village sang and bowed down and the men danced and played drums. It was incredible, the noise was awesome and the sun came out right at that moment! Mark gave a nice speech to the village, thanking them and discussed various issues to do with the political situation and local development projects.
To each fon we have met so far, we are giving a framed photo of Tom, I and the fon. However, to the fon at our village of Fuh, we also gifted a glass model of Buckingham Palace, which he loved!
My Dad left yesterday morning after a brilliant visit. We continued for our last day of research in Sehn, reaching a total of 1000 data points! This was a great achievement, and we are all very pleased. With one more day of research, we should total 1100 or so, which is plenty.
One day early, our local craftsman arrived with our order! We excitedly greeted him into our home, and he showed Tom and I our carved pictures, with our new names on.
Mine reads:
“Shey M’Bwang Collins Nguang”
And Tom’s:
“Shey M’Kuu Thomas Ngwayi”
These will look splendid on the wall, as long as I have the space in my bag for all of my purchases. I also have a 3.8l Calabash, which is a beautiful. Even more beautiful when full of beer. It's hard to describe, but is the shape of a rain drop, and is used traditionally for dispensing palm wine from.
Today is another Market day, however, as per usual, we cannot leave the house until mid afternoon as the rain is pouring down in bucket loads. The power has gone off, and everyone else is asleep. It is also very cold and my clothes are a little damp. Although, I do have M&S Jelly Belly Jelly beans to cheer me up!
The market was our last, and by far the best! I bought some absurd items, including a flourescent yellow balaclava, a very fake Cameroon football shrt, a pink and green waterproof training top, a "Shakira" onesy t-shirt/shirt combo (it's completely ghastly) and a big orange bobble hat. Tom bought an 80s-esque lightening bolt pink+yellow sweat band and a tasty black and orange winter hat. Great day.
Some more have been added here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25075&l=a6ef8&id=511649878
Monday, 28 July 2008
The more I keep shooting, the less I have to look
We’d been invited to a three day celebration in a nearby village, Njirong, who were celebrating the loss of their late Fon, although he was “lost” years ago. We had to buy 20 litres of palm wine and 2 crates of beer for the party, of which, again, we unfortunately got to drink very little of. With our drinks filling every spare space in the car, we trundled off to Njirong. We were going to travel in convoy, and the other car was a pickup truck, with a few blokes surfing the road in the back. I couldn’t resist, so hopped out the car to join them. Tom joined me part way through after my rave reviews. It was incredible, standing up in the back of the truck (holding on tightly mind you), surfing the road and taking in the wonderful views of the tea plantations. The fresh tea leaves on the top of the plants cast a wonderful shade of lime green on the valley sides, should make an incredible photo.
On the road to the celebrations, the so-called “Ju-jus” (pronounced jew-jews”), were dancing and frolicking around on the road. They were men, dressed up in incredibly daunting, evil-looking costumes. They were faceless, with bags over their faces, who would whip the ground aggressively at random intervals, and between whippings, wold hold the whipping sticks over their shoulders like Dick Whittington’s lunch. They also shouted and screamed and jumped up and down. Difficult beings to describe. Anyway, later on, Tom and I were watching a dancing/singing/whipping performance by them, and one of them approached me (no face, so a little unnerving), dancing in front of me. For quite a while, I didn’t notice (but Tom saw, from afar) that he was violently shaking his fake phallus in my direction. All on video, absolutely hilarious.
That day, much time was spent chilling inside, sheltering from the rain that was absolutely pouring. The noise it makes on the tin roof is absolutely brain shattering. The sound really gets inside your head, and you can’t hear anything else, or talk to anyone. So everyone sits, not talking, dumb from the rain.
As we sat there, heart racing from the ju-ju performance, rain beating against my brain, a little wet, the next thing to happen came as quite a surprise. Tom and I sat, back to the window, while a ju-ju performance occurred outside. Next thing we know, one of their bloody whipping sticks breaks the glass behind me, sending shattered panes of glass in collision with the back of my next. The noise of the breaking glass, and the feeling of it on my next sent me flying, clasping my neck, fearing the worst. Fortunately, it was all good, and I moved to a different seat. The seat had a huge hole in it, so I complained and some other poor soul had to sit there. Well, after my morning I felt I deserved it.
Next thing we know, we’re outside watching (cowering away from) celebratory gun shot firing. They were randomly firing into the air, a little too far from the vertical for my liking. Tinnitus set in.
We were fed the most wonderful beef, with Fuh-fuh (like savoury flour jelly stuff) and huckleberry (like cabbage), and afterwards we were led outside. To our surprise, we were to be given a second title, an honoury title of a red feather, which was traditionally given to warriors for their courage. I was named as vice-prime minister, so I can rule in the absence of a leader. Tom was head administrator of land allocation, or something like that. It was all a little confusing. But what it meant was that we had to go back to the village at a later date, which was 1 hour away, bearing unbearably ubiquitous palm wine. Happy days.
After driving back to Ndu, Tom was fined a bottle of wine for removing his cap. To be honest, I don’t blame him, they’re terribly uncomfortable. They sit, very tight against the scalp, squeezing your hair against your head, and resulting in poor eyebrow manoeuvrability. Bad times.
The next day, we finished our research in Jirt, and then on Saturday we started in Ntundip. Nothing too interesting to report there, only that we’ve hit nearly 700 data points. That afternoon, we returned to Njirong to thank them for our red feathers. Also, Claris received a rare title as part of our research team. It is not ofen women receive such titles. While I was there, I took this photo of crazy-star-trek-forehead-man. Quite a good shot.
Photo later, sorry.
On the road to the celebrations, the so-called “Ju-jus” (pronounced jew-jews”), were dancing and frolicking around on the road. They were men, dressed up in incredibly daunting, evil-looking costumes. They were faceless, with bags over their faces, who would whip the ground aggressively at random intervals, and between whippings, wold hold the whipping sticks over their shoulders like Dick Whittington’s lunch. They also shouted and screamed and jumped up and down. Difficult beings to describe. Anyway, later on, Tom and I were watching a dancing/singing/whipping performance by them, and one of them approached me (no face, so a little unnerving), dancing in front of me. For quite a while, I didn’t notice (but Tom saw, from afar) that he was violently shaking his fake phallus in my direction. All on video, absolutely hilarious.
That day, much time was spent chilling inside, sheltering from the rain that was absolutely pouring. The noise it makes on the tin roof is absolutely brain shattering. The sound really gets inside your head, and you can’t hear anything else, or talk to anyone. So everyone sits, not talking, dumb from the rain.
As we sat there, heart racing from the ju-ju performance, rain beating against my brain, a little wet, the next thing to happen came as quite a surprise. Tom and I sat, back to the window, while a ju-ju performance occurred outside. Next thing we know, one of their bloody whipping sticks breaks the glass behind me, sending shattered panes of glass in collision with the back of my next. The noise of the breaking glass, and the feeling of it on my next sent me flying, clasping my neck, fearing the worst. Fortunately, it was all good, and I moved to a different seat. The seat had a huge hole in it, so I complained and some other poor soul had to sit there. Well, after my morning I felt I deserved it.
Next thing we know, we’re outside watching (cowering away from) celebratory gun shot firing. They were randomly firing into the air, a little too far from the vertical for my liking. Tinnitus set in.
We were fed the most wonderful beef, with Fuh-fuh (like savoury flour jelly stuff) and huckleberry (like cabbage), and afterwards we were led outside. To our surprise, we were to be given a second title, an honoury title of a red feather, which was traditionally given to warriors for their courage. I was named as vice-prime minister, so I can rule in the absence of a leader. Tom was head administrator of land allocation, or something like that. It was all a little confusing. But what it meant was that we had to go back to the village at a later date, which was 1 hour away, bearing unbearably ubiquitous palm wine. Happy days.
After driving back to Ndu, Tom was fined a bottle of wine for removing his cap. To be honest, I don’t blame him, they’re terribly uncomfortable. They sit, very tight against the scalp, squeezing your hair against your head, and resulting in poor eyebrow manoeuvrability. Bad times.
The next day, we finished our research in Jirt, and then on Saturday we started in Ntundip. Nothing too interesting to report there, only that we’ve hit nearly 700 data points. That afternoon, we returned to Njirong to thank them for our red feathers. Also, Claris received a rare title as part of our research team. It is not ofen women receive such titles. While I was there, I took this photo of crazy-star-trek-forehead-man. Quite a good shot.
Photo later, sorry.
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
George Collins: Prince of Jiggers
A running total of 418 data points, and over 800 hands and feet inspected, I have begun having nightmares about feet. Feet, feet, feet and more feet. Although we finish our research early afternoon, the data entry is usually left until after lunch, cribbage and other distractions, so we finish it just before sleepy time. Entering data is tedious, monotonous, robotic and automatic. If we’re lucky, some drying paint outside catches our interest before we continue with the task in hand. Tom’s fastest time is 19.24 seconds for one questionnaire, although I believe the speed that the data is read out deserves the most credit.
We finished our data collection at Mbipgo (the village full of horrible, cold hearted (headed) bullies), and moved to our next village, “Fuh”, to notify them of our arrival and meet the Fon, and elders (notables). Every time we visit the Fon, Collins forks out for 10 litres of palm wine. The volume seems a little exaggerated, and although it only costs £1, I not only dislike the drink, others seem to drink volumes of the white, translucent liquid, without ever receiving thanks. In fact, thanks for my generosity are rare. I guess this is the culture, but to my moderately selfish self, it’s a little culture shocking.
As we left the Fon’s palace, the rain poured and we were met by an almighty bang, which we soon realised was a lightening strike, a little too close for comfort. Tom and I absolutely jumped out of our skin, leapt across the compound as if it had hit us! As I stood there, counting the seconds between the light and thunder, it must have hit nearby, within 100m radius. Furthermore, the Fon later told us that this was a “test”, and that we passed!? I’d be interested to know how one fails this test based on our performance!
The next day we started unbearably early, and cramming 4 people in the back seat on appalling roads, hitting my scar on the roof every 5 seconds, I could have gone without. We had to be finished by 12 because this was the day of our knighthood! Tom and I were to be made Princes of the village! The ceremony began with a formal introduction of the schedule (much like at the party I talked about earlier, the one with the cool music), followed by Genesis introducing me, me introducing the team and the project, the MC introducing the Fon and the Fon introducing a notable, and the notable introducing the notables. After this bombshell of introductions, we were led out to the “Heart of the Palace”, where the past Fons were buried, and we were told about the history of the village “Fuh”, of which we were about to become notables. We were both given traditional gowns; my glasses were elegantly scraped to the tip of my nose as the tight collar came over my face. Unfortunately, all on video.
Next, Tom and I were given our traditional caps, mine resembling a monochromatic porcupine, which I believe makes me superior to Tom’s “Spike-free” cap. A notable stood up and handed me a certificate, which stated that I was now a first class citizen of the Wikah people, and my new name was “Shey M’Bwang”, meaning Prince of Jiggers. I could barely contain myself. Tom was called “Shey M’Kuuh”, meaning Prince of Feet, or “Foot Prince”.
Anyway, our research in Fuh continued, and after a days work the next day Tom and I had a day of. It was market day, and I knew exactly what I wanted. An oversized Tom Cruise hologram belt buckle. What do you know? They had it! Splendid. Unfortunately, it makes sitting rather uncomfortable, but the pain is worth it.
The market never ceases to amaze me, in particular the brand names that are applied to fake apparel. One of the classics is a fluorescent training jacket, with “Adidas” written on in permanent market. “That’s legit”, says the trader. Another time, an appalling beige jacket, had the washing information label sewed onto the lapel. Ironically, it said “wash inside-out”! Tom and I both bought ridiculous hats from the market, mine a ghastly fluorescent yellow “nike” hat, and Tom bought a pink and green balaclava. It has a hole just big enough to fit Tom’s ratty little munchkin features.
On an aside, our cook, Pascalene, is a fantastic cook. But a few days ago I thought I’d suggest different foods she might try for us. I said the following:
a) The sardine meatballs she made were unpleasant
b) Would she be able to make us a traditional Cameroonian pudding (as in dessert, which I explained to her). She seemingly understood.)
What was served up for dinner the next day? A savoury sardine pudding. Tasty.
Eat that Collins. Once again, that’ll learn you.
Another rather amusing occurrence. As Tom and I nervously awaited our knighting, our colleague Claris, feeling a little famished, started eating the wall! A little taken aback, but willing to try, Tom and I didn’t want to feel left out. Unfortunately, we were disappointed, and it did, literally, taste like you’d expect. Dry, and like mud. Yum.
Our research in Fuh had finished, and we moved onto Mbah, which was a small village to which we’d dedicated only one day of data collection. Saying that, we’d thought it’d be quite a long day. Anyway, as per usual, we met the fon with his compulsory gift of ubiquitous palm wine, and chilled out in his palace for a good hour or so. This palm wine was a few days old, meaning it had fermented a little more than we were used to. So, after an hour, out came the red wine, a gift from the fon to us. We couldn’t refuse (no really, we couldn’t) and after a glass of two we felt really excited about feet inspection...Fortunately, we were still fit to gather reliable data, but we had a good nap in the afternoon!
I thought I was seeing things when I saw that someone had six toes, but no! See the photos...
A couple of local songs that are really getting us going:
Magic System - Tabedo
Baltimal - Tarzan Boy
(spellings unknown)
Sorry about the lack of photos, but here is a link to the public facebook album!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25075&l=a6ef8&id=511649878
A running total of 418 data points, and over 800 hands and feet inspected, I have begun having nightmares about feet. Feet, feet, feet and more feet. Although we finish our research early afternoon, the data entry is usually left until after lunch, cribbage and other distractions, so we finish it just before sleepy time. Entering data is tedious, monotonous, robotic and automatic. If we’re lucky, some drying paint outside catches our interest before we continue with the task in hand. Tom’s fastest time is 19.24 seconds for one questionnaire, although I believe the speed that the data is read out deserves the most credit.
We finished our data collection at Mbipgo (the village full of horrible, cold hearted (headed) bullies), and moved to our next village, “Fuh”, to notify them of our arrival and meet the Fon, and elders (notables). Every time we visit the Fon, Collins forks out for 10 litres of palm wine. The volume seems a little exaggerated, and although it only costs £1, I not only dislike the drink, others seem to drink volumes of the white, translucent liquid, without ever receiving thanks. In fact, thanks for my generosity are rare. I guess this is the culture, but to my moderately selfish self, it’s a little culture shocking.
As we left the Fon’s palace, the rain poured and we were met by an almighty bang, which we soon realised was a lightening strike, a little too close for comfort. Tom and I absolutely jumped out of our skin, leapt across the compound as if it had hit us! As I stood there, counting the seconds between the light and thunder, it must have hit nearby, within 100m radius. Furthermore, the Fon later told us that this was a “test”, and that we passed!? I’d be interested to know how one fails this test based on our performance!
The next day we started unbearably early, and cramming 4 people in the back seat on appalling roads, hitting my scar on the roof every 5 seconds, I could have gone without. We had to be finished by 12 because this was the day of our knighthood! Tom and I were to be made Princes of the village! The ceremony began with a formal introduction of the schedule (much like at the party I talked about earlier, the one with the cool music), followed by Genesis introducing me, me introducing the team and the project, the MC introducing the Fon and the Fon introducing a notable, and the notable introducing the notables. After this bombshell of introductions, we were led out to the “Heart of the Palace”, where the past Fons were buried, and we were told about the history of the village “Fuh”, of which we were about to become notables. We were both given traditional gowns; my glasses were elegantly scraped to the tip of my nose as the tight collar came over my face. Unfortunately, all on video.
Next, Tom and I were given our traditional caps, mine resembling a monochromatic porcupine, which I believe makes me superior to Tom’s “Spike-free” cap. A notable stood up and handed me a certificate, which stated that I was now a first class citizen of the Wikah people, and my new name was “Shey M’Bwang”, meaning Prince of Jiggers. I could barely contain myself. Tom was called “Shey M’Kuuh”, meaning Prince of Feet, or “Foot Prince”.
Anyway, our research in Fuh continued, and after a days work the next day Tom and I had a day of. It was market day, and I knew exactly what I wanted. An oversized Tom Cruise hologram belt buckle. What do you know? They had it! Splendid. Unfortunately, it makes sitting rather uncomfortable, but the pain is worth it.
The market never ceases to amaze me, in particular the brand names that are applied to fake apparel. One of the classics is a fluorescent training jacket, with “Adidas” written on in permanent market. “That’s legit”, says the trader. Another time, an appalling beige jacket, had the washing information label sewed onto the lapel. Ironically, it said “wash inside-out”! Tom and I both bought ridiculous hats from the market, mine a ghastly fluorescent yellow “nike” hat, and Tom bought a pink and green balaclava. It has a hole just big enough to fit Tom’s ratty little munchkin features.
On an aside, our cook, Pascalene, is a fantastic cook. But a few days ago I thought I’d suggest different foods she might try for us. I said the following:
a) The sardine meatballs she made were unpleasant
b) Would she be able to make us a traditional Cameroonian pudding (as in dessert, which I explained to her). She seemingly understood.)
What was served up for dinner the next day? A savoury sardine pudding. Tasty.
Eat that Collins. Once again, that’ll learn you.
Another rather amusing occurrence. As Tom and I nervously awaited our knighting, our colleague Claris, feeling a little famished, started eating the wall! A little taken aback, but willing to try, Tom and I didn’t want to feel left out. Unfortunately, we were disappointed, and it did, literally, taste like you’d expect. Dry, and like mud. Yum.
Our research in Fuh had finished, and we moved onto Mbah, which was a small village to which we’d dedicated only one day of data collection. Saying that, we’d thought it’d be quite a long day. Anyway, as per usual, we met the fon with his compulsory gift of ubiquitous palm wine, and chilled out in his palace for a good hour or so. This palm wine was a few days old, meaning it had fermented a little more than we were used to. So, after an hour, out came the red wine, a gift from the fon to us. We couldn’t refuse (no really, we couldn’t) and after a glass of two we felt really excited about feet inspection...Fortunately, we were still fit to gather reliable data, but we had a good nap in the afternoon!
I thought I was seeing things when I saw that someone had six toes, but no! See the photos...
A couple of local songs that are really getting us going:
Magic System - Tabedo
Baltimal - Tarzan Boy
(spellings unknown)
Sorry about the lack of photos, but here is a link to the public facebook album!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25075&l=a6ef8&id=511649878
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