Douala, Cameroon - Thursday 5 July 2007 - A trip to the mountains

On Wednesday as Betsy was taking the day off, I went to the Dschang mountains as Georges Tadonki's co-pilot. It was a exceptional outing driving through this part of the country with its breathtaking scenery, fertile soil and meeting so many new people. Dschang is a famous colonial tourist resort. Germans discovered its nice climate and the virtue of mountain landscape at the end of 19th century. Being a passenger was nice for a change and guided by Georges in his own country.

We went Batsingla and Bamenzo villages of the Bafou Kingdom, were we visited Georges family and ancestors. We attended a ceremonial ritual of communication with his late grandparents were they opened the shrine of the Prince of Bamenzo. The visit to the village and meeting the family and the 90 year old grandmother was a memorable moment. Her husband had in addition to herself, eight other wives and an uncountable number of children.

Although we went across several places there was not a dull moment, except encountering a drunk policeman and his quest for pocket money. That episode took us 45 minutes of negotiations and ended well of course.