So, yeah, at about 7am, an hour after my reserved bus to Douala left, I went out for my avocado salad and instant coffee. I took a shared taxi, 500cfa, to Mwam. I arrived 9:40am when a VIP bus was just leaving. The woman in the ticket office refused to sell me the ticket saying the passenger list had already been printed and that the next departure was at 11:30am. But a woman from the bus came in and said I could join the bus. 6000cfa. So I did.
The journey was slow, the road narrow and not necessarily bad but we followed many heavy trucks and just before Douala we hit traffic. It took us 4:30hrs to cover the 250kms.
We had one checkpoint where the police checked everyone’s IDs and we were supposed to get out of the bus but somehow the passengers rioted and a grumpy policeman had to enter the bus himself and go from seat to seat.
At 10:20am I got SMS. Someone named HAPSATOU Ibrahima sent me 12500CFA. It’s common to send money to each other using phone credits around pretty much all Africa. The SMS also said that my new money balance was 15072CFA. It did surprise me a little because I thought all I have on my phone was around 200cfa.
But I didn’t have time to think about it because immediately the person who sent the money was calling. A guy telling me it was sent by mistake. I barely heard him, I was in the bus, he switched to English and he told me how to send the money back. He even said I’d be charged 200cfa for it so I can only send him back 12300cfa. And I did but the message I got was that I didn’t have enough money on my account. I checked my account and it still showed the 200+ CFA. I checked the operator’s app and it also showed 200+ CFA. Then I looked at the message I got – it came from the phone number that allegedly sent me the money (237670236542). When I buy internet, I first get the credit on my phone from someone on the street and then buy a data bundle. And when I buy the credit the message always arrives.
It’s in French, I switched to English later.
But the messages I get are coming from MobileMoney, and this new one came from actual person. Wtf?! A new kind of scam.
The guidebooks abandon all hope for “cheap” hotels in Douala. Bradt Guide lists literally one in “cheap” section, Hotel Sportif in district of Bonapriso.
I took moto, 500cfa, to the hotel. It was under some construction or renovation or expansion. The prices? 20,000cfa upwards. I tried negotiating but all I managed was 18,000cfa. After Ceuta the most expensive accommodation bin this trip. What does €28 fetch? AC, smallish room, no hot water (the more expensive rooms have it), no toilet seat (I think I didn’t see a toilet seat in Cameroon) and a TV. It’s a €10 room at best. But what can one do?
I took another 500cfa moto to rond point Deido. We crossed the town that was very busy. Around the rond point I remember a woman cooking in her house and the food was always delicious. I found the place but she no longer serves food there, she moved but only a block away, I was directed and told to ask for Auntie Mata. And there she was, in the back of a narrow passage between two houses. The place looks now more like a proper restaurant. Of the foods I knew and wanted to try they didn’t have any, so I took garri (the woman used a different name but I forgot which one) and eru, a leafy oily soup Nigerian style with pieces of fish, meat and skin. It was tasty, the portion was gigantic and it cost 2000cfa. I chatted with the man who served me, he said they had moved long ago and I checked the last time I was in Douala: 2012. Wow.
Douala is yet another place with many memories and I was considering staying for 2 nights, despite even the prices.
From Auntie Mata I took a 200cfa moto to Akwa, the possibly most representative street in Douala. Mind you, it’s gritty crowded and at night even a bit seedy. There on the street, by the Akwa Palace hotel I changed euros, again it was easy to get 670cfa for 1euro.
Since I was pondering to stay one more night I thought to change a hotel to a cheaper and maybe more central one. On Jumia Travel and on iOverlander I found two hotels suitable. The first one was near Akwa Palace, Malabo Palace Hotel. Oh but it was above a cabaret & night club so no thank you, I need to sleep at night.
From there I walked to another hotel, Hotel Relais and there it was: fan room 12k, AC 17k and the receptionist made it very clear discounts are possible. I should have listened to iOverlander better.
From Relais Hotel I took a 300cfa moto to Transcam, where I was told busses for Kribi leave. Kribi is a beach place in Cameroon and I like it. I remember taking a large bus but these are small minibuses 2000cfa for a ticket leaving as soon as they get full. Fine.
I took a 300cfa moto to marché des fleurs. It’s a flower market indeed but on the outside. Inside there are masks. And my favourite mask that I have at home comes from this market.
And I did go in and some of the stalls had quite a selection. Old and new. And they insisted and they didn’t wanna listen that I wasn’t buying, just admiring things. The “old” masks – some of them very nice – go for 250-350k per piece. One man laughed at me when he said I could give him my watch and he’d give me a mask for exchange and I told him the watch is worth more than a single mask.
One man, his name Ibrahim, was particularly insisting and we exchanged numbers and he promised to send me photos of his masks so maybe I would be able to find a buyer at home. So far we are chatting and all he sent me was a picture of himself so I don’t know.
But I broke down and bought a piece. Shop number 3, owned by another Ibrahim, had some nice statues. And going around all the shops I circled the market and unwillingly I ended up again where I started. And I asked the man for the prices and he said he’d even give me a cadeau and I was refusing and I asked for a head made of wood that looked like it’s a top of some cane, adorned with little, I think, metal drops. Ibrahim said 60kcfa but then he said I should give him a price and he’d match it. And I said 10k and he sold it to me. €15/70zł. It’s a bit heavy, yeah, but unlike mask it’s easy to pack it, it’s solid.
Now of course I regret I didn’t buy anything before but truth is most of the masks I liked were quite big so not for transportation. From Douala marker it’s also possible to ship the masks home, 1kg is 12k CFA via post.
I also noticed one thing. Whereas I somehow managed to learn the main peoples who are responsible for the beautiful masks in Ivorian and Ghanaian and Togolese shops, the Dan, the Baloue, the Bambara, the Dogon, the Ijo, here – I have no idea who is who and from which country. I know Fan – my favourite mask at home is fan, and that’s it. It’s Central Africa, Cameroon, the peoples of the forest, the equator, the heart of darkness. Not sure if I can bring up heart of darkness, it’s considered a racist novel these days but it’s on my bucket list, do the Conrad by boat.
From marché des fleurs I took a walk to Casino supermarket with a vain hope there would be some more coffee beans. Then as it was getting dark I walked towards the hotel, stopping for a beer in a buvette. Cameroon is full of such, shops that are stacked up with beer boxes and some tables outside and some music playing. It’s the ultimate African relaxation, sit down outside, enjoy the drink and the music and the evening. I bought a bottle of groundnuts and I shared it with the man sitting at the same table. These groundnuts are my addiction.
I wouldn’t stay another night in Douala after all even though I kinda wanted to. There was not much to do in the city itself and the towns of Buea and Limbe, at Mt Cameroon and the very picturesque coast were out of bounds because of the whole Ambazonia issue.
After dark I took a moto to one of other Cameroon’s nightlife features: rue de la joie. There is one in Douala that I liked, not too hectic, just roasted fish and buvettes with tables outside, the music is not too loud.And finally there was seafish. I had a bar, 3500cfa + 200cfa for compliment, which was miondo. Miondo is like baton du manioc but instead of baton being straight miondo is bent into a small spiral. The fish was of course delicious. I had a Guinness with it.At around 11pm, the tables on the street full, I returned to the hotel.
Coming back to Maman 