| Written by Bruce,
on Mon 4 Aug 08
|
 If you speak to anyone about driving through Africa they'll usually finish with a throw away line that of course no one drives in Africa in the wet season. Wet season is roughly June to October. So far, our wet problems have been limited to a bit of mud here and there, a few fordable rivers and some phenomenal thunderstorms. I've got that feeling at the moment though, the one you get when the pressure is building and the clouds are going to burst sooner or later. Other things currently troubling me are the fact that every last one of the overloaded zombie killer mini-coaches veering into our path from the south has got a snorkel, the rivers are getting increasingly swollen with water and there's some very big jungly looking mountains on the horizon, partially obscured by grey clouds. I might dig out my waterproof at the next stop and make sure that spade is handy.
We're now on our second full day in Cameroon. Things have not been as straightforward as they might have been on the paperwork front. First up on our problem lists has been the Douanes (Customs) who have not been quite as ready for us or as compliant as we'd hoped; more from Jo on that later. Secondly it turns out that our West African CFA notes, while being an identical currency to Central African CFAs on a macro economic level, are not legal tender in Central African states, where, perhaps unsurprisingly you need Central African CFA notes. That left us with no money for congratulatory beers and medals in Mora late at night, which was clearly an untenable position. With a top tip from the New Swelanders, Jo and I roamed the back streets of downtown Mora looking for a tall, well dressed and impecaably polite Muslim man. Having spotted an immaculate shalwar kameez, we watched TV5 Monde in Monsieur's living room while various motorbikes were dispatched to gather sufficient CFAs to exchange for euros. So much more pleasant than being fleeced in the bank. Rik and I have been planning a potential business venture. With over 12,000 miles of some pretty challenging Fiesta driving between us we now reckon we've worked out how to customise a MkIII for any conditions. Obviously I'm not going to disclose full details here otherwise there'll be knock off versions out of China before we even get home, but let's just say that the Limited Edition MkIII Adventurer is going to be the vehicle of choice for any overlander who understands the beauty of a narrow track, a 750kg dry weight and viper stripes. One thing I can guarantee is that the exhaust ain't staying the same. I'm getting very bored of strapping and bolting household items to the underside of the works version for another 20 miles of scrape free motoring. We've been told that Cameroonian police are not cool so we're under no illusions that we may have a couple of tricky moments to come. However, so far we've been in reasonable shape. We're currently speaking no French whatsoever, we definitely don't understand the phrase "right hand drive cars are illegal in Cameroon" no matter in what language it's delivered and we're still trying to understand why they want our 'phone numbers or what they're going to think about that 0898 number when they get through to it. I've also grown fond of dancing for them - there's few things more guaranteed to get an African copper laughing than my sense of rhythm. Quick animal update. Roadkill tally thankfully no higher. Current least favourite animal are dogs who have taken over from donkeys as the creatures most prone to flinging themselves into the road with merry abandon. We've also just entered baboon territory which is pretty awesome. We've still got all our wipers and our aerials - let's see how long that lasts. Our Michelin map has elephants marked ahead of us as well as hippopotami (going for some good Spider-Babs points there). Not sure how reliable the map will be, but fingers crossed... Finally, the last tip for the day; if you're building a roadside lean-to, food stall or house in any West or Central African town, a free and very effective building material is any road or street sign that someone's been daft enough to put up. Conversely, if you're daft enough to be driving through Africa in a hatchback don't even bother trying to circumnavigate any large town. Simply flag down the first youth with a Rooney shirt and a Chinese Franjan, Qiandong or Jianchan 125cc Suzuki rip off and fix a nominal fee for guiding you through to the other side. Hours of head scratching saved every time. |
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