October 15, 2006

I just got back from Limbe. It's amazing...the whole 4+ hours back to Yaoude I tried to think of a better word to describe it...obviously that didn't happen, maybe because I was distracted my the old Mami throwing up next to me or because I was gripping the seat in front of me for dear life as we passed massive trucks going easily 120 km/hr on a 2 lane road. Either way, my trip lasted less than 24 hours (ok, not necessarily the "trip" but the time spent in Limbe) but was worth the long travel, the petrifying 40 minutes I was lost in Douala and definitely the 12 pounds I lost sweating today while I traveled back! I even had my own personal tour guide...PCV Bill.

I stayed in a hotel inside the botanical gardens with an air conditioner that created a tundra-like ambiance--I was freezing--where I was able to watch a slightly scrambled Daily Show on CNN; ate freshly caught and grilled fish on the beach, under a clear starry sky; strolled along black sand beaches; gazed up at Mount Cameroon and began planning our pending ascent in March; waded in luke warm water and watched a storm roll in over Equatorial Guinea, the whole time thinking, “yeah, they’re right…we really are suffering.” I can’t wait to spend Christmas there; maybe I’ll wear a Santa hat while I do laps in the natural spring pool (if so, I’ll be sure to attach pictures).

But, on the ride back as I sat in the sweltering humidity of Douala, seeing my hair expand in my peripheral vision, trying to navigate my way around the “arm pit of Africa” with my fridgin and glare while also swatting bugs and feeling my face fry in the sun…I realized that, despite the greatness of the coast, how glad I am to be living in the “coldest place in Cameroon.”

The pictures are both from the beach, looking out towards Equatorial Guinea (that big island out there with clouds around it).