Pt 3

So then it was Monday!! We had a meeting with Fred, the manager of self reliance who we were with. We were quite excited to find out what we would actually be doing, especially I'm Jwan's case- she'd been here over a week and still not done a lot!! However, the meeting was far from successful, we just got given a USB with a soft copy of a guide to microsoft word 2003, and a vague lesson timetable, and were told to update it to 2007 and also create a blog and such ... For all week. So afterwards, sitting in the coffee shop, we spoke to Pauline (one of charlottes friends, a volunteer from Germany) and she fully supported our decision to go to Buea- that night!! Buea is a town that is on the side of Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in Western Africa, and it was one of the places we had wanted to travel to before hand. Okay, so it was a bit of a nightmare getting there ,,, and back actually ... See Jwan's status!! But first a crowded people carrier with 3x the person limit, add 5 bleating goats on top, loud repeating music the entire 3 hour journey .. And that was the good part of the trip down ahah. After queuing for a good hour at the bus station, tickets sold out 2 people from the front- and there was noway we were going back to Kumbo now hah. So Jwan asked the driver if we could sit in, and, so ... Yeah we spent a total of 10 hours ish on the filthy floor of a coach overnight, breathing in fumes hahaha and wanting to shoot the speakers which were again, shouting out African beats at full volume like we were at some sort of party. Somehow, most people were able to sleep among the racket .. Who knows, hahah. Anyway so we arrived. About 4 hours later than expected. Got a cab to the volunteers house where we were staying, and it was just nice to get somewhere ... Even if it was such a nightmare haha. 

So we spent a few days in Buea! 

I'm so glad we went, but it def was an experience. It was a lot more westernised than Kumbo, there was obviously a lot more money- and it was mainly a university place. The first day we had a wander in the campus, and it was surprisingly nice to be back in the student atmosphere!! Even though I hadn't even been gone from luffs for a week, I enjoyed the campus feel!! We just chilled as were quite tired from our journey despite a nap, and ended up talking to a guy called Ransom. He was really nice, kind of from were we are in Kumbo, and was telling us all about uni, the education system, and he even sang for us hahah. He also gave us some tips as to where we could go in Buea. We followed them, and enjoyed an even in a bar with some chips (and omelette for me) after some ice cream, watching the football. It was just so different to Kumbo, there were streetlights, cafés, etc .. So that was the first day.

The second, we decided to go to limbe, which was nearby, a place by the sea. So we get the half hour cab there, find ourselves in the middle of a town/city whatever. Just slightly confused! That day was a bit of a mixture, we got ripped off by a few taxi drivers, and there was quite a few situations where people were trying to talk to us and get our numbers repeatedly, so it was a bit crap and annoying. But after paying a lot of money, well, Cameroonian a lot,we had a day at a resort sort of thing by a beach. It was a beach where we could swim, I mean I have pretty high standards of beaches and it really was nothing special but the water, was, lush. So so so lush!! The sun was out, too, for a bit, and mostly didn't feel like I needed to cover up my entire body so it was chill. We went into the hotel off our free drink (included in the 1500fr entrance fee) and almost died at the menu, they were like, European prices ahaha. We paid 1500fr for chips we shared, I mean, yes that is £1.60 around, but still ,, that is 8 rice and beans!!! There was a conference there with some very rich men around, with a few who we got stuck in conversation with, people desperate for our numbers. It was frustrating! In fact it was so nice to back to Kumbo where people are a lot more friendly. Obviously we still get attention but it's less intense than here. Anyway. So on our third and final day in Buea, we visited the 50th anniversary monument and another fountain that was supposed to be so special haha, it was literally the least impressive 'fountain' in fact I don't think it could even be defined as that as there was no running water ahah. But actually the bike rider who took us up there was really nice, he dropped us at the market in upper Buea town. After 2 minutes there, we realised we just wanted to go back haha and stood for q while trying to get back to where we were staying. Taxis slow down when they see you, normally with a toto, but if they're not going where you want to they'll just drive off straight away ahah it is the moot disheartening thing!! After 10/15 anyway we managed to get back. We decided to pack up our things and head to the bus station, very very early, for the night bus home to ensure we got seats!! That evening was again a beautiful example of African organisation. Yay we thought, this bus company looks so organised- we even got to pick our seats from a seating plan!! So we ate some corn chaff from a place in the bus station and then sat with a drink in a bar catching up on the World Cup. It actually was a really chill evening, they rounded up all the scores, and then we watched all of the Ghana Portugal game- ofc everyone was supporting Ghana!! Who sadly lost hah. We were the only whites and the only women haha surrounded by men crowing to see the screen. It was fun!! The only think that wearied me a bit was the fact there was 3 police officers there, with guns, drinking. They were in uniform, and I'm sorry but in my humble opinion regardless of who you are, you shouldn't carry a guzn even if you are just going to have one sip of a beer. Anyway. Sorry back to organisation, we get on the bus at half 8, and low and behold the entire seating plan they had and were booking tickets were wrong!! Haha so Jwan and I were separately tell apart, luckily we managed a swap, but fundamentally. There were 56 seats sold. But only 55 seats ahah it was a right kerfuffle, but in the end, with the aisle filled with people sitting on boxes, we set off- ofc with the loud banging afrobeats. So that was that journey, however it wasn't simple sailing back to Kumbo. It was complicated, but pretty much the 2 at a push hour journey from bamenda took 5 hours!! Yeah haha so we were very very very glad to be home!!!