There’s no better time to go work in Cameroon than eight weeks after major surgery, I figured. With a fresh incision scar that went from belly button to pubic bone (a rather unwieldy thing had to come out), I got on a plane in 2007 and relocated to Yaoundé for six months, leaving my husband, dog and hot showers behind.
I went as a partner in the pilot of a telecommunications/microfinance program (the stories from which are so incredible that I’ve already done the outline for a future book). Fifty sites were chosen for this pilot, with half in what’s known as Cameroon’s “Far North” (also called the “Extreme North”).
If you can imagine what it must have been like to travel from the United States or Europe to the North Pole in the 19th century, then you’ve probably got a pretty good idea of how hard it could be to get to the tip of this West African country. Trains, planes, trucks—none of them were reliable. And we weren’t just out there, we were WAY out there, in a skinny neck of land, sometimes a mile or less from the borders of Nigeria and Chad.
The landscape in that area has been called “lunar,” and the temperatures were purely “solar.” But despite the constant feeling of burning eyeballs and a bone-dry throat (and don’t even get me started on the damage to my hair), I was fascinated. Here’s why.
Cameroon’s Far North is a place where villages look like this:
And where if you want to get a good cell phone signal, you build your hut like this:
It’s a place where museums look like this:
And museum artifacts like this:
It’s a place that is barren.
And beautiful.
It’s a place where you do what you have to do to get along.
Especially during rain season, when the road to the bridge holds more water than the river itself.
It’s a place with animals.
Sometimes a LOT of them all at once (if the video is shaky, it’s because, well, I was shaking).
And, of course, children, no less the hams than anywhere else in this fantastic world.
When you think of extreme locations and lunar landscapes, which places come to mind for you?
Lunar Landscape – Iceland springs to mind.
And the furthest off the beaten track I’ve been is the far south-west of Nepal, newly opened to tourists after the civil war, and with nothing between me and a tiger but a man with a big stick!!
I so want to go to Iceland! And was the man in Nepal successful at beating you off and keeping you away from the tiger?
Oh wow, Laura, I so want to read that book about the projects you saw there and I love the picture of the huts under the phone mast !
I’ve never witnessed as extreme landscape as that. Probably the closest I’ve seen is the Badlands and the Grand Canyon in the USA, when I was a little girl. More recently parts of the Outer Hebrides, off the north west coast of Scotland, have struck me as pretty bleak and barren (and this was a summertime visit!) – but they also had an addictive charm that one day will draw me back to them, I’m sure.
Ah, the Badlands. Always makes me think of the Bruce Springsteen song (which had nothing to do with the park).
I really want to write the book, Debbie, but I have to finish the current one first, which has taken a wee bit longer than envisioned. (Sigh.) It will be a mix of stories about the work, and then “other stuff,” like my thieving landlord, the loss of my project sponsor in the Kenya Airways plane crash just outside Douala, the physical injuries sustained just trying to get on a Cameroon Airlines flight (ticket in hand). Oh, the list goes on!
Can you please, please hurry up and write your book(s)?! I’ve been in a literary barren land since finishing your first book. I’m waiting and waiting… I love how you see the world and how you describe it for the rest of us to understand. Hurry up!! Thank you :)) oxo
Oh stop, there are a grillion great books out there to read!! Which is a good thing, because it’s difficult to say how long it will take me to produce another finished product! :p
Thanks for being so sweet, JT. Hugs to you.
As for lunar landscapes, Craters of the Moon National Park comes to mind. I still haven’t been there, but now that I’m back in Idaho, I better go before we move again. There’s a beautiful simplicity in barren landscapes. I would love to live in the desert, but hubby is having none of that.
I hadn’t even heard of that park before, Jeri! I’ll be darned. I Googled some images, it looks really cool. So it’s just three hours from you — perfect weekend road trip distance!
Amazing place and it sounds like you have even more amazing stories. I’ll be one of the first to buy them whenever they’re ready. 🙂 There may be a ‘grillion’ great books (love that word; I’m stealing it) but only yours are uniquely yours, know what I mean?
Can’t think of lunar landscapes I’ve visited. I tend to gravitate toward lush, jungly places.
I know what you mean. There are a lot of different ways to tell a story! And I love lush and jungly, too, though I could do without the humidity.
…and without the huge insects. LOL
YES! Especially the ones that are so big that when they fly into your head, it makes a “THWAP” sound.
Hi Laura! I think I am fairly adventurous and then I read a post like this and I feel like I’ve been living in small town USA for FAR too long! What an adventurous soul you have! It sounds like you have a fascinating history that would make an AWESOME book. I’m looking forward to that and more of your great posts! ~Kathy
Thanks so much, Kathy. That’s a very sweet comment, and it made my night!
Laura, I so enjoy reading about your travels, not just because the places you’ve been are fascinating (which they are), the people interesting (which they are) and your adventures both exciting and amusing (which they are), but because you seem to approach every new situation with curiosity, respect and appreciation. Like Jo-Anne and others, I’m looking forward to reading more your Cameroon trip when you publish that book!
Aw, thanks, Kern, that makes my heart happy!
Places that look like the moon: Big Island of Hawaii.
Cool video of the elephants. One day I will do an African safari. My friend Allen, at my gym, just got back from his 2nd trip to Africa in less than a year. I think he’s hooked. Has no interest in a safari tho.. He said “If I want to see animals, I will go to Woodland Park Zoo.” I don’t get it. But everyone has different interests.
There’s a lot more to Africa than the animals, but man, the animals are pretty darn cool. But then again, you and I are “animal freaks.”