Adventures in Kumba

Friday June 12, 2009
On Friday, we returned to Pa’s house in Kumba. Boscoe was our driver again. This time we had the great honor of inhaling exhaust fumes coming from an open hole in the dash. Friday afternoon was calm as we just hung around the house. It rained again (I guess that’s why it’s called the rainy season) so we stayed at home.

Saturday June 13, 2009
Saturday was quite the adventure. Julius had his uncle’s car for the weekend so he agreed to show us more of Kumba. We rode three people per ocada to his aunt’s place. Our first challenge was to get the car started. After a few tries Julius managed to get it going, but we still had to buy petrol to fill the tank. Traveling tip: don’t ever expect a Cameroonian to know how to drive or shift. I’m pretty sure Julius has never had a formal driving lesson. The only gears he used were second and reverse.

Julius also doesn’t have the knowledge of how to avoid or reduce the effects of the enormous potholes in the road. Brian and I literally bounced all over the backseat as Julius slammed into every bump, rock, and gulley along the way. Julius also becomes easily distracted when he tries to direct our attention to a good looking girl along the road or an interesting landmark. (more often the former than the latter) This results in us slowly veering into oncoming traffic. I feared for my life on many occasions today.

However, we did manage to accomplish our goal of seeing more of Kumba. We traveled through the area known as Fiango and also passed through the Oakwood of Kumba, Alaska Street. (for those not from UD reading this blog, Oakwood is one of the richest sections of Dayton) In the afternoon, Josephat treated Benjamin and us to dinner at Classy Burger. It is a small restaurant in Fiango that serves meals as close to fast food as you can get in Cameroon. We had fried chicken and French fries. It was a nice taste of home. (other than the fact my water glass smelled of fish) Someday, we’ll go there for the burgers. Tomorrow we head off to Barombi for the big canoe races before heading back to the village on Monday.