Wednesday July 15, 2009
Today marked our last day sightseeing in Yaoundé and our last day traveling with the immersion students. First, we visited a monastery at the top of another huge hill. The monastery was initiated in the 1960s by Swiss Benedictine monks. It was an expansive campus. The
monastery has its own woodshop to help pay for maintenance and upkeep of the grounds. The woodshop produces beautiful beds, cabinets, and chairs. We also got the opportunity to tour their museum dedicated to traditional African culture. One of the founders of the monastery collected a number of masks, beds, pipes, sculptures, and jewelry and started the museum. It was an impressive collection of all authentic goods. Yet again, we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the museum. I’m still not sure how these objects could be placed so close to a chapel. Some of the items in the collection were used in witchcraft and animal sacrifices. I guess the monastery is fine with the situation. As we left the monastery, we discovered that Pope John Paul II prayed there during his visits to Cameroon.
The American Embassy was cool, but the highlight of the Yaoundé trip for me was the tour of the Brasseries du Cameroon. (Breweries of Cameroon) The brewery is one of the largest businesses in the country. The Cameroon government has a 30% stake in the company, while the majority of the shares are held by one French man. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the brewery in order to protect trade secrets. Our knowledgeable tour guide walked us step by step from raw ingredients to finished product. We started in the warehouse where corn, malt, and hops are delivered and stored. Next, we went to the brewing room. There were barely any areas off limits on this tour. I could look directly inside the large vats as they mixed the ingredients. After brewing, the beer is filtered and pumped into large fermentation tanks for a length of time. (Longer time = higher alcohol percentage)
Next, we followed the beer from the fermentation tanks to the opposite side of the road. The bottling and soft drink section of the factory are located in this area. CO2 produced during fermentation is harvested for carbonation of soft drinks. Then, the beer is filtered for a second time. At this point, the tour guide allowed us to taste Castel beer directly from the pipeline. (No need for a “born on” date for this beer) On a typical day, this brewery alone produces about 45,000 bottles of beer per hour. Surprisingly, they make far more beer than soft drinks. The plant is one of five found throughout the country.
Bottling is by far the most impressive part of the brewing process. All bottles are used then returned to the factory. Conveyors moved bottles at breakneck speed from one station to another. First, the interior of the bottle is thoroughly washed. Then, the bottles are filled with beer and appropriately labeled. Finally, the bottles are placed into crates and loaded onto trucks to be shipped throughout the region. All of this action was taking place only a few feet in front of me. If I didn’t fear being kicked off of the tour, I would have reached out and pulled a fresh bottle directly from the conveyor. After the tour was over, each person was allowed two free Brasseries products of their choice. The Brasseries creates a wide variety of beers and soft drinks. (Including: 33 Export, Castel, Coke, Sprite, etc.)
Our final stop of the day was the house of a former minister in the government. He is also a leader of the Nationalist party that opposes the rule of the current leadership. While in office, he worked in the areas of economics and development. He was involved in the national government from the very start of Cameroon as an independent country. It was as though we were talking to the Benjamin Franklin of Cameroon.
By the time we returned to the hotel, I was exhausted. We had the same exact dinner for the 3rd night in a row. The only thing truly Cameroonian was the fried plantains. The immersion students are clearly missing out on Cameroonian culture when it comes to food on these trips. I could really go for some good pepe soup or even some snails.
Today marked our last day sightseeing in Yaoundé and our last day traveling with the immersion students. First, we visited a monastery at the top of another huge hill. The monastery was initiated in the 1960s by Swiss Benedictine monks. It was an expansive campus. The
monastery has its own woodshop to help pay for maintenance and upkeep of the grounds. The woodshop produces beautiful beds, cabinets, and chairs. We also got the opportunity to tour their museum dedicated to traditional African culture. One of the founders of the monastery collected a number of masks, beds, pipes, sculptures, and jewelry and started the museum. It was an impressive collection of all authentic goods. Yet again, we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the museum. I’m still not sure how these objects could be placed so close to a chapel. Some of the items in the collection were used in witchcraft and animal sacrifices. I guess the monastery is fine with the situation. As we left the monastery, we discovered that Pope John Paul II prayed there during his visits to Cameroon.The American Embassy was cool, but the highlight of the Yaoundé trip for me was the tour of the Brasseries du Cameroon. (Breweries of Cameroon) The brewery is one of the largest businesses in the country. The Cameroon government has a 30% stake in the company, while the majority of the shares are held by one French man. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the brewery in order to protect trade secrets. Our knowledgeable tour guide walked us step by step from raw ingredients to finished product. We started in the warehouse where corn, malt, and hops are delivered and stored. Next, we went to the brewing room. There were barely any areas off limits on this tour. I could look directly inside the large vats as they mixed the ingredients. After brewing, the beer is filtered and pumped into large fermentation tanks for a length of time. (Longer time = higher alcohol percentage)
Next, we followed the beer from the fermentation tanks to the opposite side of the road. The bottling and soft drink section of the factory are located in this area. CO2 produced during fermentation is harvested for carbonation of soft drinks. Then, the beer is filtered for a second time. At this point, the tour guide allowed us to taste Castel beer directly from the pipeline. (No need for a “born on” date for this beer) On a typical day, this brewery alone produces about 45,000 bottles of beer per hour. Surprisingly, they make far more beer than soft drinks. The plant is one of five found throughout the country.Bottling is by far the most impressive part of the brewing process. All bottles are used then returned to the factory. Conveyors moved bottles at breakneck speed from one station to another. First, the interior of the bottle is thoroughly washed. Then, the bottles are filled with beer and appropriately labeled. Finally, the bottles are placed into crates and loaded onto trucks to be shipped throughout the region. All of this action was taking place only a few feet in front of me. If I didn’t fear being kicked off of the tour, I would have reached out and pulled a fresh bottle directly from the conveyor. After the tour was over, each person was allowed two free Brasseries products of their choice. The Brasseries creates a wide variety of beers and soft drinks. (Including: 33 Export, Castel, Coke, Sprite, etc.)
Our final stop of the day was the house of a former minister in the government. He is also a leader of the Nationalist party that opposes the rule of the current leadership. While in office, he worked in the areas of economics and development. He was involved in the national government from the very start of Cameroon as an independent country. It was as though we were talking to the Benjamin Franklin of Cameroon.
By the time we returned to the hotel, I was exhausted. We had the same exact dinner for the 3rd night in a row. The only thing truly Cameroonian was the fried plantains. The immersion students are clearly missing out on Cameroonian culture when it comes to food on these trips. I could really go for some good pepe soup or even some snails.
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