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Travel: Cameroon’s Far North Region

By Laura Zera 18 Comments

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.

Cameroon map 2013 - CC licenseI 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:

Village of Koza, Far North, Cameroon
Village of Koza

And where if you want to get a good cell phone signal, you build your hut like this:

How to Get a Really Good NW Signal - Cameroon Cell tower & huts - Far North, Cameroon

It’s a place where museums look like this:

Goulfey Museum
Goulfey Museum

 And museum artifacts like this:

Goulfey Museum Chainlink Goulfey Museum Artifact

It’s a place that is barren.

Rhumsiki, Far North, Cameroon
Rhumsiki, Cameroon

Village of Rhumsiki, Far North, Cameroon

And beautiful.

Women's Group in Extreme North Rooftops in a Village

 It’s a place where you do what you have to do to get along.

Dude with gun - Bus station, Maroua, CameroonTruck with load - Far North, Cameroon

Especially during rain season, when the road to the bridge holds more water than the river itself.

Flooded Roadway, Far North, Cameroon

It’s a place with animals.

Waza National Park, Far North, CameroonElephant in Waza National Park - Far North, Cameroon

Sometimes a LOT of them all at once (if the video is shaky, it’s because, well, I was shaking).

https://laurazera.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Elephants-in-Waza-Cameroon.mp4

 

And, of course, children, no less the hams than anywhere else in this fantastic world. 

Cameroonian kids hamming it up

When you think of extreme locations and lunar landscapes, which places come to mind for you? 

Travel Survey: A Short, Fun Questionnaire With Prizes!

By Laura Zera 12 Comments

Travel keyboard keyHello, all! This week, I’m getting scientific (my scientific friends are laughing at me right now, but they will suffer corns and bunions for that). I’ve created a silly and simple 10-question, multiple-choice travel survey.

Complete the survey, and your name could be drawn for one of three prizes, mailed to your house, anywhere in the world or outer space. (Note: you must include your name and email address as part of the last survey answer if you’d like to be included in the draw, otherwise you remain anonymous. Your information will not be shared, and survey results will be published anonymously.)

The survey will close on Nov.30th, 2013.

The prizes are a wooden mask from Cameroon, a brain fork from Fiji, or  a replica (not real) Boeing 787-8.

Travel survey prize - Cameroon maskTravel survey prize - Fijian Brain ForkTravel survey prize - Boeing 787-8 replica

 

Now for the survey! Thanks for participating and helping me with my little bit of market research.

Click here to take survey.

p.s. I’ve confused the heck out of some people because there’s no true/false box for question #10. See, I’m only allowed 10 questions with the free version of Survey Monkey and I didn’t want to use one up on contact information. So, for #10, just write in your true/false, and then include your contact info if you’d like to be part of the draw. Thanks!

Anything else you’d like to share about your travel preferences, quirks or otherwise? Leave a comment below!

 

Travel: Bamboo, My Cat in Cameroon

By Laura Zera 17 Comments

I’ve come to realize that my day isn’t quite right if neither of the two visiting neighborhood cats lingers for a nap outside my office window. The little white one is a feral barn cat I’ve named ‘Bug Hunter Kitty’ and the black and white gets called ‘Black-and-White Kitty.’ (Wait, wait, before you call me out for being unoriginal, know that I’ve named two of our resident squirrels ‘Jesus’ and ‘Magdalene.’)Continue Reading

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