20th Stop - Douala, Cameroon Part 5, Final

Three more days in Cameroon, then off to South Africa. I thought it was going to be all work, play, work but it turned into work, disappointment, cheering up, work.

On Thursday, we planned to go with Annie and the kids back to Semé beach so I could teach them how to swim. That’s right, I used to be a lifeguard back in the day, just like David Hasselhoff, only less well known ;-)

We got off to a late start but were eventually on the road with Serge, our driver from last time, his friend Hervé, who was driving this time since Serge’s car was getting fixed, Annie, and the kids. No sooner had we made it past the outskirts of Bonabéri when we got stopped by the military police for an ID check. Sh*t! Annie forgot her ID card. They let us continue on our way after pleading for leniency, but that didn’t help us from getting stopped again further down the road. This time they didn’t want to let Annie go.

We could have paid off the cop to let us go but I didn’t feel comfortable having to pay off corrupt officials all the way to the beach. It only breeds more corruption when you take part in it. So I went back with the kids and driver to get Annie’s ID card. By this time, it was too late to go to the beach so I dropped the kids off at home and then went back to free Annie.

Now it was time to settle up with our driver, Serge’s friend Hervé. Before leaving, we agreed to 25,000 CFA (about 50 USD) for him to take us there and back. However, we didn’t even go a quarter of the distance, didn’t get on the tollway, and cut our day short by at least three hours. Hervé, however, insisted on being paid the full amount. What Hervé failed to realize was that his short-term gain would come at the expense of his reputation, as well as Serge’s. Not only would we never call on Hervé again (like tomorrow, to take me to the airport), but we wouldn’t call on Serge either. Too bad for both of them. By the way, if you fly into Douala airport, make sure your taxi driver isn’t named Hervé.

That night, I gave a demo of Wordfast Pro to a group of 15 translators and Annie at the American Language Center, owned and run by Martin and Hermiane. Everyone was very enthusiastic about attending a training; unfortunately, it was taking place the next day and only one person could attend. Thanks Martin for hosting the demo!

After the demo, Annie and I met up with Ghislain and Ezekiel at the Total gas station. I’m not sure if it was because it was raining, but there were an awful lot of people in the station, hanging out, drinking beer and eating snacks; my first cocktail hour in a gas station!



We didn’t stay long, got in a taxi and went for a bite to eat. When we walked into the restaurant, we had to pick out what we wanted (fish or chicken) and negotiate a price before sitting down. The fish started at 17,000 CFA, but Ghislain somehow talked him down to 6,000! The waitress had just served us our food when Dagobert, last year’s JCI national president, joined us with a few friends. We had a delicious meal and a few more beers, just what Annie and I needed to cheer up after the fiasco earlier that day.

On Friday I trained Martin on how to use Wordfast Pro. We had a very interesting discussion about corruption in Cameroon and he told me a few stories about people asking him to inflate prices for lessons so he could pay them kickbacks. I very much appreciated Martin's refusal to buy into the corruption and his ambition to run a clean, ethical business. I had spent nearly two weeks in the country and was amazed by how generous and lively the people were. If, however, there was one thing that Cameroon could work on to be better, I think the country's leadership should definitely focus on stamping out corruption.

It was getting late, I had to run home, get my stuff together and get to the airport. Ghislain offered me a beautiful wooden statue that I unfortunately couldn’t fit in my suitcase. So I asked him to hold on to it for me until I come back! Thanks again Annie, the kids, Emile, Ezekiel, Michel, Harly, Roland, Bruno, Alem, Royene, Hervé (the soccer player!), Dagobert and Ghislain for such a wonderful time in Cameroon. A special thanks to Ghislain, Annie, Harly and Michel in particular, that’s 12 more bednets for 12 more families.

Next stop: Johannesburg, South Africa!

20th Stop - Douala, Cameroon Part 3

While I had malaria pretty much under control, my gastrointestinal problems started to worsen by Thursday. I guess this is what you get when you drink the local water, put ice in your whisky, eat fresh fruit and vegetables, and probably swallow a bit of well water when you’re this far south in Africa for the first time. Thanks again to Valérie for her quick counsel by SMS!

That evening we went out to a local restaurant to celebrate Ghislain’s birthday. I got a chance to meet his colleagues and see a few other Jaycees including Emile, Ezekiel, and Bruno. We had a nice little party going, Emile had us on the floor laughing with joke after joke, until a couple of local comedians popped in. Apparently, comedians go around to restaurants and tell jokes for a living every night, in the hopes of one day making it big. After quite a few drinks, jokes, songs, BBQ chicken and fried plantains, we closed out the night at the Crystal Club.

We hit the road on Saturday to visit Mount Cameroon and Limbé. Mount Cameroon is an active volcano that is a little over 4000 meters tall and right next to the ocean. It literally shoots out of the sea. Unfortunately, you can’t see anything during the rainy season. Oh well, another reason to come back to Cameroon I guess. We did, however, go on a short hike up to some waterfalls and caves. Thanks Alem from JCI Buea for joining us!

Though we had only planned to go to Mount Cameroon, we convinced our driver to take us further to Semé Beach in Limbe. When we got there, we were supposed to pay 1500 CFA each, or $3, to get in and get one free drink but for some reason or another, they let us in for free. Semé Beach was packed with vacation goers. There were people swimming, playing volleyball, and there was even a game of human foosball going on. Shortly after we arrived, Guiness started bringing out beers and soft drinks and then gave them out for free. Thanks Guiness for the great party!

It was getting late and time to head home, but first, we had to stop in town to say hello to JCI Limbé’s past president, Royene. It was only at this point that I realized we were in the English speaking part of Cameroon, despite the fact that our guide on Mount Cameroon spoke English with us. In fact, Cameroon is a bilingual country with two official languages--French and English. It was a pleasure meeting you Royene, thanks for meeting up with us!

Finally, back to Sunday, the day we’ve all been waiting for: soccer and parliamentary procedure training. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the soccer game as we got back a little too late from the night club Saturday night. But we were up and ready to roll for the training. Emile Singeh, an international trainer, joined Ghislain and I to train the Bojongo Vétérans Football Club. I think this was a first for the three of us: no LCD projector, no flipchart, no white board, no tables, no chairs, and plenty of beer. Plus a great group of participants who were eager to learn and full of insights. Thanks again to everyone who participated, to Emile and Ghislain, and those who bought the beer!

But wait, the day wasn’t over yet. After leaving the clubhouse, Jean-Pierre, the veteran of the veterans and high school teacher, invited us for a few more drinks and sandwiches in the bar next door. He was quite pleased with the training and sincerely hoped that his association would be able to apply what it had learned. It started to get dark so we piled into the President’s Mercedes (almost identical to my lonely Mercedes in Casablanca, desperately seeking a driver who enjoys long rides through the desert under a moonlit sky and dreams of one day returning to the French Riviera...), went home, got cleaned up and then went over to another soccer player's house called Hervé. A nice simple visit, then back home to rest up for the week ahead.