Women waiting for fish
The sea at Kribi
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Impressions of Cameroon
Having braved a local restaurant for lunch, I came back determined to make a sightly more interesting blog than the first one.
This will probably just be stream of consciousness rambling but it's for those of you who haven't really received any email or more detailed news about my stay in Douala.
I come back from a short walk down the road and around the corner, dripping. And stand gratefully in front of the aircon unit outside my office door.
The area surrounding the Sawa Hotel is an affluent area as far as I can tell. There are pavements although the Douala drainage system is very treachorous. Deep drains about half a metre deep line the roads, covered with very unstable paving stones, or nothing. Necessary I suppose in the rainy season. You don't want to walk home drunk.
Right next to the hotel is a military kind of place and a local bar/restaurant, a sprawl of tables under a makeshift roof, selling food and cheap beer. I haven't been brave enough to go in there yet.
In this area huge 4x4 vehicles park on the pavement so you have to walk in the traffic. Cars vary between beat up yellow cars, of all sorts, which are taxis and these massive Pajeros, Pradas and Landcruisers for the rich. Motorbikes are everywhere and they are taxis too. Sometimes with 3 or 4 people on board.
In poorer areas there are just no pavements and every square inch of space is used for selling stuff.
I stuck my head into 'Le Provencal' today, a restaurant down the road which is NOT in the guide book or Tripadvisor! A whole meal: starter, main hot meal and a desert for 3500 CFA (7 US$) when a sandwich at the hotel costs 4000 CFA. I decided to give it a try. The only provencal touch was a bad painting of the Mont St Victoire on the mirrored back wall. Food was local so I bravely chose the Ndole which is a kind of sauce made with the local green leafy (bitter) vegetable and some nuts, I think, over an unknown kind of meat. Accompanied with plantains, which I've really got a taste for, and green beans (at last something green!). I think it's an acquired taste, quite rich and bitterish.... but a filling and very good value meal. I must learn not to order fizzy drinks, you inevitably get a huge 650ml bottle which is hard to finish.
Clientele seem to be local office workers, some cops, even a few white people.... If I'm not crippled with a sore stomach tomorrow, I'll go there again.
Lots of men in uniform around this place generally. Never quite sure if they're official police or just security guards. Ever since having to bribe my way out of being taken to the police station when a policeman spotted me taking photos on Women's Day, I'm a bit wary of men in uniform, and of taking photos in the streets. You never know when one of them will pop up.
Foodwise, in this area it's pretty cosmopolitan: Italian, Chinese, French, Lebanese: schwarmas with chips in them. The little supermarkets seem to be mostly Lebanese. I've eaten a lot of grilled fish, usually a safe bet. With plantains of course. Plantains are somewhere between bananas, potatoes and sweet potatoes. Thinly sliced and braaied they're great.
The main street, Boulevard de la Liberté, is a ramshackle mix (as is most of Douala) of high tech computer and TV shops, banks, kiosks, airline offices and strange disturbing combos: Guns, Ammunition and Music, special on guitar strings.
Emboldened by my successful lunch, I decided to look into a little market on my way back to the hotel. I've avoided it because I haven't felt up to the onslaught and haggling. It has mostly wooden carvings which are too big for me to take home so I headed to the more feminine stalls with cloth, clothes and jewellery. Now I witnessed a bit of bargaining when I went to the market with Mireille, the wife of one of the Guinness people. She was amazing and drove a really hard bargain. So I feebly attempted to bring down the price of three necklaces from 9000 CFAs. Igot it down to 7500, but I was aiming for 7000. I've been advised to start with half the price and work up but I just don't have a thick enough skin for that. You have to go through protestations of disbelief, outrage, arm waving. Eventually when the plastic bag comes out, you know you're nearly there.
So I arrived back in the coolth, proud of myself for my little bit of bargaining and adventurous eating.
This will probably just be stream of consciousness rambling but it's for those of you who haven't really received any email or more detailed news about my stay in Douala.
I come back from a short walk down the road and around the corner, dripping. And stand gratefully in front of the aircon unit outside my office door.
The area surrounding the Sawa Hotel is an affluent area as far as I can tell. There are pavements although the Douala drainage system is very treachorous. Deep drains about half a metre deep line the roads, covered with very unstable paving stones, or nothing. Necessary I suppose in the rainy season. You don't want to walk home drunk.
Right next to the hotel is a military kind of place and a local bar/restaurant, a sprawl of tables under a makeshift roof, selling food and cheap beer. I haven't been brave enough to go in there yet.
In this area huge 4x4 vehicles park on the pavement so you have to walk in the traffic. Cars vary between beat up yellow cars, of all sorts, which are taxis and these massive Pajeros, Pradas and Landcruisers for the rich. Motorbikes are everywhere and they are taxis too. Sometimes with 3 or 4 people on board.
In poorer areas there are just no pavements and every square inch of space is used for selling stuff.
I stuck my head into 'Le Provencal' today, a restaurant down the road which is NOT in the guide book or Tripadvisor! A whole meal: starter, main hot meal and a desert for 3500 CFA (7 US$) when a sandwich at the hotel costs 4000 CFA. I decided to give it a try. The only provencal touch was a bad painting of the Mont St Victoire on the mirrored back wall. Food was local so I bravely chose the Ndole which is a kind of sauce made with the local green leafy (bitter) vegetable and some nuts, I think, over an unknown kind of meat. Accompanied with plantains, which I've really got a taste for, and green beans (at last something green!). I think it's an acquired taste, quite rich and bitterish.... but a filling and very good value meal. I must learn not to order fizzy drinks, you inevitably get a huge 650ml bottle which is hard to finish.
Clientele seem to be local office workers, some cops, even a few white people.... If I'm not crippled with a sore stomach tomorrow, I'll go there again.
Lots of men in uniform around this place generally. Never quite sure if they're official police or just security guards. Ever since having to bribe my way out of being taken to the police station when a policeman spotted me taking photos on Women's Day, I'm a bit wary of men in uniform, and of taking photos in the streets. You never know when one of them will pop up.
Foodwise, in this area it's pretty cosmopolitan: Italian, Chinese, French, Lebanese: schwarmas with chips in them. The little supermarkets seem to be mostly Lebanese. I've eaten a lot of grilled fish, usually a safe bet. With plantains of course. Plantains are somewhere between bananas, potatoes and sweet potatoes. Thinly sliced and braaied they're great.
The main street, Boulevard de la Liberté, is a ramshackle mix (as is most of Douala) of high tech computer and TV shops, banks, kiosks, airline offices and strange disturbing combos: Guns, Ammunition and Music, special on guitar strings.
Emboldened by my successful lunch, I decided to look into a little market on my way back to the hotel. I've avoided it because I haven't felt up to the onslaught and haggling. It has mostly wooden carvings which are too big for me to take home so I headed to the more feminine stalls with cloth, clothes and jewellery. Now I witnessed a bit of bargaining when I went to the market with Mireille, the wife of one of the Guinness people. She was amazing and drove a really hard bargain. So I feebly attempted to bring down the price of three necklaces from 9000 CFAs. Igot it down to 7500, but I was aiming for 7000. I've been advised to start with half the price and work up but I just don't have a thick enough skin for that. You have to go through protestations of disbelief, outrage, arm waving. Eventually when the plastic bag comes out, you know you're nearly there.
So I arrived back in the coolth, proud of myself for my little bit of bargaining and adventurous eating.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Cameroon February - March 2012
Hello, this is my first post on my blog.
I will start with a few pictures.
Most of you will have seen these pictures by now but I have chosen them as being very representative of my time in Douala.
The sea at Limbe, black volcanic sand.
The Guinness Football Challenge. The reason I'm in Cameroon.
Grilled fish and plantains: staple diet.
The hotel pool: keeping me sane
A few purchases: leather sandals, bad coffee in a nice band, jewellery with cowrie shells.
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