Mon voyage au Cameroun a été une fois de plus extraordinaire.
I had decided to visit the extreme north of the country, which is located between Nigeria and Chad. I had chosen to visit this part of Cameroon because I am attracted to the savannah of Kenya and of Tanzania. I had never been able to go and visit those parts of the country before. Indeed, Cameroon is a country which about as big as Spain. It presents the main phytogeographic characteristics of Africa and that is why Cameroon is commonly called « Africa on a small scale ». There are dense rainforests, sparse forests, savannahs and steppes. Cameroon presents not only a geographic diversity, but also a huge cultural diversity (no less than 200 ethnics live together in a country which contains 15.5 million inhabitants). My only problem was that I had too great a choice! I first went by bus from Douala (the economic capital city) to Yaoundé (the administrative capital city). Then I took a night train for a 14 hour travel to Ngaoundéré, which is a link between the North and the South of Cameroon. In the train, compartments were confortable. In the first class, there are even a small wash basin and a mirror. Meals are taken in the compartments and you can buy bus tickets in the train.

We can also buy some food on the railway, when the train stops.

I continued my travel by bus to Maroua, (130 000 inhabitants), with a young Cameroon's woman who took care of me very well! Without having to discuss and to ask anything to her, she helped me to carry by big travel bag and she shared her meal with me! I spent the night in a hotel.

The day after, I was eventually able to reach the village of Rhumsiki by cab. The landscape is very different form the equatorial area of Cameroon, which is luxuriant all year long. The extreme North is dry (at least at this period of the year) and the vegetation is rather short.

Close to Rhumsiki, many lava peaks stand up in the middle of savannah. The best-known rocky peak is called the Rhumsiki peak, that is the Mchirgué peak which is 1224 meters high: this peak was climbed for the first time by Catherine Destivelle (I'd like to climb that peak also!! What a shame: I don't have time). Rhumsiki is an isolated village which is located in a gorgeous landscape, in the middle of savannah where rocky peaks stand up.

I asked a question to the crab sorcerer who guess what the future will be by getting a crab to turn round in an jar... and I visited the village with Jean-Pierre Papin !

From Rhumsiki to Waza, going through the Kosa col and the handcraft cooperative in Djingliya, people are struck by contrasts of rice- and mil-plantations. We arrived during the evening in the Wasa National Park. I spent the night in the reception centre in order to leave at 6 o'clock for the visist of the park.

After having looked at a beautiful sunrise, I went through Wasa to look for elephants.

I was able to taste the acacia sap (on the picture above, you can see pretty crystals in the hand of my guide). People make sweets of those crystals, miam!

We found elephants after having followed their track (we were lucky because elephants travel long distances within the park and they had not been seen for weeks).

Eventually, we could see the obus Mousgoum cases in Pouss. Those cases are among the most beautiful and the highest cases in Africa. Pouss is located on the Chad border. There, I could not resist to having a bath in the Logone, which represents the limit between Cameroon and Chad.

Hippopotamus are swimming in the Maga lake.

What a fantastic evening!!!

I made the same trip to go back to Edea. This time, I took a bus ticket at Maroua station. In order to take the bus, you have to buy a ticket in the booking-office. Then you must wait until people call your name in a mike. I was almost permanently solicited by seller who wanted me to buy food, water, tissues or newspapers. When we are lucky, we can sit alone on a seat in the bus! Everything there is very unusual.

I met Marie-Gisèle who is an advocate and whose generosity was surprising!

Of course, I finished my travel by a visit in Pongo Songo to see Patricia and the chimpanzees.

How fantastic it was to go back to PONGO SONGO !!
Nénuphar, Artémis, Patchouli, Bosco, Fiston et Henri look at my pictures with great interest.

I was introduced to the 2 newcomers.

With the youngest

With the oldest, Samba and Tony