WE BEGAN TO WONDER HOW MUCH THOUGHT RockJumper put into this trip. It’s been four years since Rock Jumper offered a trip to Cameroon — and the years haven’t been good ones for Cameroon. The French and English factions can’t agree on how to govern the country while terrorists have been running amok in the North.
Benoue National Park: hot, dry and dark
Benoue National Park would have been wonderful if . . . if they had water, if they had electricity, and air conditioning, if the road had been serviced. We had one puncture on the way in and David starred the windscreen of one of the vans in anger when the driver high-centered it on one especially terrible stretch. When we finally arrived the birding was good along the few pools that were left of the river. And JP did his usual magic making sure we had enough good food. Too bad we had to wash it down with “room temperature” water or beer. 100+°.
Curious village kds
Another long day of driving took us to Maroua and perhaps the best lodging of the trip. As we birded along the dry hills outside of town a group of kids, along with their dogs and goats, began following us. Cute kids with a sense of humor to boot. I don’t know if they were imitating us or mocking us with their makeshift tripod and binos. We must have looked very mockable!
We lost a day in Maroua waiting for the army squad to escort us north from Maroua to Waza National Park along the borders with Nigeria and Chad. Marauding Boko Haram are still a possibility. After another late start it took 12 hours of dusty snail’s pace driving to get to Waza. One of the reasons the roads are so terrible is the Chinese who built and maintained them went home after so many episodes of kidnapping by Boko Haram.
Armed and Dangerous
We learned that we the first visitors to Waza in four years and — surprise! — they weren’t ready for us. There was electricity but no light bulbs. No running water, either so we got by on bucket baths. We were allowed access to only about a kilometer of the park, which made the lost day a non-issue. Oh, and the temperature was 45°C, about 113°F. JP, the RockJumper majordomo and general fixer, did his best with meals and such but barely succeeded in keeping peace between the drivers and David who, it turns out, isn’t really a people person. Especially if the people have dark skin!
JP, worth his weight in gold
Then we had to repeat the journey, past Maroua, all the way to Garoua for a midnight flight back to Douala to begin the second half of the trip. We arrived at 4AM then joined up with Martin. Roger and John from Germany, Holland and the US, respectively at 7 for the arduous trip up Mt. Cameroon. I mutinied, partly due to illness and partly as a form of protest. JP and I agreed that these people are crazy.
