My short 2 weeks vacation to Cameroon in West Africa

[PetitFrereArmada]

Well, I am leaving the US in 2 days for my short 2 weeks long visit to Cameroon, West Africa. It would not be a real overland trip, but since it is a vacation, I thought it might be worth sharing my trip and adventure along with some pictures of a part of the world that others may never get the chance to visit in person.

My flight leaves in 2 days. It will be a 24 hours flight to my destination.

When I get there, this is the vehicle I will be using throughout my stay in Cameroon: a Mercedes Benz. Just sharing pics of the car.

I will be updating as often as I can and with TONS of pictures, especially when I get to Cameroon.

Stay tuned...

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

And for those wondering where Cameroon is in Africa, just sharing some maps from the internet with you guys...

And this is Cameroon. Showing some cities that I will visit on my trip. Yaounde, Douala, Nkongsamba, Bafoussam and Bamenda.

 

[kpredator]

keep it coming and enjoy your trip!!!!!!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

keep it coming and enjoy your trip!!!!!!

Thanks...

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Checking in online today, got to see this image of the plane and thought it was interesting. I leave in about 12 hours for the start of my journey.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

At the airport now and things are not going well here. I don't know how many guys on here fly United a lot, but they have messed up tons of lfights here and pissed off a ton of people. They rescheduled my flight 3 different times due to maintenance problems. That is unbeliavable, making me already missed my next 2 connecting flights and made a lot of other people missed their flights. Then we thought we were the only flight canceled, but when we went to the customer service desk, we found a lot of other customers truly pissed because of all the flights canceled.

I got on the phone with customer service and they were able to find a new flight for me. This time with Air France. So I am flying Houston to Paris, France. Spend 4 hours in Paris. Then from Paris to Douala, Cameroon. I hope the flight goes well.

Bunch of us customers waiting for our United flight. But nowhere to be found. Plane not available due to maintenance issues.

Disgruntled customers in line to get new flights. It was a mess. These ladies would spend about 15mins to 30mins with one person, making people miss the next available flights they could get on. I don't know if I would like United again.

Finally got my flight transferred to Air France. What a relief. No problems here. So, boarding soon on my way to Paris, France.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I haven't been able to update my thread because I have been busy and the lack of internet. Now I got some time and internet and decided to update.

First lap of my journey was 9 hours long in AirFrance. Houston to Paris. Very tiring flight.

Dinner on the plane

Got to Paris and we got on the plane unto the tarmac and they had to shuttle us to our terminal

Hungry for some french breakfast, I went to this place at the airport. Good french bread, jambon, croissant and a french juice. Good.

Took the next flight for 6 hours from Paris to Douala. Got there and could not find my luggage. My luggage was missing and did not arrive until 2 days later.

Well, family picked me up and it was a great welcome. Drove home to a nice dinner.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

The next day my cousin took me to go eat bbq african style, by the side of the road.

Back at my brother's house, on the second floor of a rental building, he showed me these group of guys who come and do drugs in this area. That the police has chased them from here many times, but they still show up every now and then. I just took some pics.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

The next day we had to make a 5 hours journey. We got 2 vehicles. Both were a black Toyota Avensis and another grey Toyota Avensis station wagon. Both were diesel and manual. I have not driven manual in over 7 years now, but it was a no brainer. And my brother was worried that I may not be able to keep up with him on the freeway on our 5 hours trip. I smiled and told him not to worry that he should just drive at his convenience and go. He will not loose me. Besides, I thought him how to drive and he mimics me in almost everything.

It was a great drive. I have videos I will upload later.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Sadly, our 5 hours journey ended only after 1 hour when the car my brother was driving suddenly died. At this point, I was baout 5 mins ahead of him. He made a distress call and I had to make a uturn and come meet them.

The dead car

The car I was driving

We saw under the hood that there was engine oil all over the place on the 4 spark plug cables. I really don't know what the problem was, but the car never started again after that.

Well, my brother and I carried the family in the station wagon and drove an hour back home to drop everybody and get a mechanic and head back to tow the broken down car.
Well on our way back we stopped at a famous place called Ministere de Suya. If I should translate it to make sense to some of you, it is basically an area where a lot of people sell meat and bbq african style. Here we ate a lot of meat and I took some random pics.

My siblings and I

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Car in tow. My first time towing a car like this. I must say it was quite an experience. The 1 hour journey back took us 2.5 hours towing the broken down vehicle.

Notice the bike on the right with 4 people on it. This is a normal sight. The driver and 3 passengers who may just be complete strangers, but choose to get on a bike like this needing transportation to get to some places that cabs do not easily go to.

 

[UK4X4]

Diesels dont have spark plugs....they are heaters for cold starting the engine

But you are correct- engine oil is not meant to be outside and on top of the engine !

It might be cameroon, but looks similar to places I've been...equitorial guinea , Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, could be any of them !

Love to look at the street food, but I normally eat what I recognise.....and some times its either dificult, or its still not quite what you thought it was !

Have fun !

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Diesels dont have spark plugs....they are heaters for cold starting the engine

But you are correct- engine oil is not meant to be outside and on top of the engine !

It might be cameroon, but looks similar to places I've been...equitorial guinea , Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, could be any of them !

Love to look at the street food, but I normally eat what I recognise.....and some times its either dificult, or its still not quite what you thought it was !

Have fun !

Thanks for pointing that out about the plugs.

Yes, this is Cameroon. And yes, it looks like all those other countries.

LOL about the food. No telling what kind of meat you might end up eating here. It might just be a cray thing like a dog or a horse. But I make sure what I am having is beef.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

The next day, I went used my brothers Benz to take a 1.5 hours drive to the coastal city of Limbe to eat some very fresh grilled fish by the sea. it was yummy.

A common sight some times on the highway. Cows blocking the highway.

 

[UK4X4]

I spy a jackup rig- a drilling barge and a supply boat !

There be oil in them there parts !