Days 171 to 180
Diary Index
Days 191 to 200
I got up at 6 and was ready to leave by 7. I drove out of Calabar and back to Ikom, where I stopped to do some shopping and spend the rest of my Nira on fuel. I done well with the fuel, because I told the guy to fill the jerry cans with 2000 Nira’s worth and stop. But he didn’t listen and filled the two jerry cans I gave to him. When he told me the complete price I reminded him of what I had said and explained that this was the only money I had. So I paid him the 2000 Nira and kept the extra fuel. It makes up for the times when I have been over charged for fuel in the past. On to the border I drove passing through the last couple of police checkpoints along the way. The border was straightforward and I went through the normal routine of popping from one office to another on the Nigerian side. I then crossed the bridge into Cameroon, and stopped at the other end for my passport details to be taken. I then had to drive on a few hundred meters to reach the border post. There I presented my documents to the customs and police. Who poured of them for ages with suspicion, but eventually let me on my way without a problem. I started driving the piste toward Mamfe, and only a few kilometres down the road came to the first mud hole, with five cars trying to get through. I then took a track that went round the main hole and with the help of a few locals pushing, made it through. I then thought it only right to help get them through. But even with two cars, another jeep and mine, we could not pull this Toyota from the hole. A truck then came along and he pulled the Toyota clear. Me and another two vehicles then decided to stick together, but it was not long down the road that one of them suffered engine problems. After the guys attempted to fix it in the pouring rain for an hour or more, I told them I would carry on. The driver from the stricken vehicle said he would come with me and show me the way. As the road to Mamfe was really bad and he knew of a way round and onto Kumba. So Leo and me then carried on down the piste and by this time it was late afternoon. There was plenty more mud to come and it was not long before we got stuck again. We eventually got free by using the winch, and it was not long before we used the winch again to free an old jeep stuck in the mud and blocking our way. This set the theme for the rest of the night. Driving, winching and digging our way along the piste, with various peoples help. We decided to carry on through the night as we were covered in mud, and would only get more gear dirty if we stopped to sleep. 18 hours after crossing the border in Cameroon we eventually reached the town of Kumba.
It was around 06:00 when we arrived in Kumba, where we stopped to have a wash, had breakfast and got the Landy washed. Leo decided he wanted to stay there and wait to meet someone, and I decided I would carry onto Limbe. From Kumba to Limbe was generally good tarmac, except for the odd pack of pot holes. Once in Limbe I made my way down to the water front and went to the bank, and used he ATM. I then decided to have a look at the beach’s further north along the coast and so drove out of town. After a bit of a search I found my way down to the beach front just out side the village of Batoke. There I had lunch and rested on the beach for a while, before taking a short walk along the beach and back. The sand on the beach was black as the stone in the area is volcanic, because of Mount Cameroon only a short distance away. I then drove back into Limbe and round to one of the hotels listed in the Lonely Planet. As I felt I deserved a bit of luxury after the night I had just had. I checked into the Park Hotel Miramar and took my stuff to the hut I had rented. The place was clean and tidy, with my own bathroom (hot water shower, ooow) and TV. I had a nap, took a warm shower and spent the evening working on web stuff and watching TV until bed.
The day started well with breakfast at the hotel, which was included in the price. I then spent a couple of hours finishing an update for the website. I then packed the Landy and got chatting to a Dutch couple, who had a old Toyota and wanted to return home overland at the end of their contracts. I then went into town and found an internet café, where I spent two and a half hours sending my update and writing e-mails. I then went down the fish market and had lunch. Fresh Mackerel and grilled plantain. Just a shame the sun was not out to make the view that much more enjoyable. I returned to the hotel and arranged to camp there for the night, as I could not afford another night in one of there hunts, and managed to get breakfast thrown in for the price. I then spent the afternoon and evening with the Dutch couple and their friends, drinking beer and going to a near by restaurant called the Hot Spot. One of which had done his own overland trip across the desert with a VW Beetle many years before. By the time I went to bed it was late and it had started to rain, so I was straight in the tent, and soon fell asleep to the sound of the waves.
I again enjoyed the hotel breakfast, packed the Landy and again chatted to the Dutch guy for a short time. I then drove out of Limbe and onto Douala, where I got a bit lost and it took me a while to find the right direction out of town. Once on the right road I drove onto Edea, where I fuelled up and continued onto Yaounde. It was late afternoon by the time I got there, and it took me quite some time to get my bearings and find the Hotel Ideal, which I wanted to stay at. Eventually I did find it, checked into their most basic room and brought my stuff in from the Landy. After having a shower, I went across the road to a Patisserie for dinner and had a short walk around the area. I then returned to the hotel and spent the evening working of website stuff, before bed.
I started the day by working on website stuff. I then went round the corner to the patisserie and got some fresh French bread for breakfast. I then drove round to the Gabon Embassy and asked to apply for a visa. The lady there just asked for my passport and 50,000 CFA and told me to come back at 15:00. It couldn’t have been easier. I then drove the short distance back to Hotel ideal and got to work on the Landy. I changed the front left hub seal for a new one, as it was leaking and oil was getting on the brake disk. I also did a few other little maintenance tasks while I had the tools out. During all this it decided to chuck it down with rain and made put the hub back together fun. Once I had packed my gear away and washed up, I then drove back to the Gabon Embassy. Where I just walked in and collected my passort without a problem. I then returned to Hotel Ideal, parked the Landy and went across the road to a restaurant to get some lunch. I then went back to the hotel room and got on with finishing off a update for the website. Which was ready to send around dinner time. So I went back to the patisserie to grab a snack and then went onto the internet café. I then spent an hour then sending off the update and checking mail. After which I returned to the hotel and chilled listening to music until going to sleep.
I got up and used the laptop to work out some GPS waypoints for the route I wanted to take to a coastal town called Kribi. With that done I packed my gear and grabbed some breakfast. First mission of the day was to find the bank, and once there I used the ATM to get some more money out, and continued on my way out of Yaounde. I then drove south to Ebolowa and then turned west following the piste to Kribi. The piste was in pretty good condition considering all the rain around. There was only five short muddy patches, none of which stopped the Landy. I arrived in Kribi late afternoon, and set about finding somewhere to stay. I didn’t like the look of the places in town and so drove south. A couple of K down the road I found a nice place right on the beach, called Auberge Tara Plage. I arranged with the Lady owner to camp, and got set up. I then watched the sunset into the sea and over the oil tanker, which marks the end of the Chad-Cameroon pipe line. I had some dinner and spent the rest of the evening reading and sipping a beer on the porch of the hotel, until going to bed.
After getting up and about I spent a couple of hours working on website stuff. During which the owner suggested I walk down the beach to see the water falls. This I thought was a great idea and so soon set off. The walk along the beach was idyllic, with rain forest meeting the sea, with a strip of gold sand separating them. Once there I walked as close as I could to the edge of the falls. They where not very high, more a set of large rapids, but where still impressive in there own right and falling straight into the sea. After taking a couple of picture I walked back, enjoying the sounds of the sea and the lovely views. Once back at the hotel, I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in a hammock reading and also went for a quick swim. I made some dinner, and again spent the evening reading on the hotel porch as it was raining, until going to bed.
When I woke it was raining and so I decided to stay in the roof tent a while and read. The rain didn’t look like stopping so I got up, made breakfast and reteated to the cover of the hotel porch. Where I continued to read all morning, as it kept of raining. Late morning it finally stopped, and I took a moto (motorbike taxi) into Kribi and the market area. I first went and got some lunch from one of the road side bars and then went around the market getting fresh fruit and veg. I then took another moto to the internet café. I spent an hour there and then returned to the hotel using another moto. I then made myself a nice cup of tea and relaxed reading for a while. I then recoiled the cable onto the winch neatly, as with all the rain I figured I might be using it on the piste back to Ebolowa. I then returned to the porch to read, and it was not long before a French man (Christian) asked me to join him for a glass of wine. How could I say no, and so we got chatting. He had just set up a far trade company back in France and was in Cameroon organising products to import to France. The previous couple of years he had spent in Cameroon, teaching the local craftsmen how to run a business properly. We were the joined my the owner (Nora) and we had a fantastic seafood dinner and chatted until early the next morning.
I was again greeted by the morning with a heavy down pour of rain. In which I was soaked through by the time I had had breakfast and packed away. I settled the bill, said my goodbyes and drove into Kribi. I fuelled up the Landy and then headed out along the piste back to Ebolowa. The rain infact had not made much difference to the condition of the piste and it was a straight forward drive, except for the odd muddy patch. I arrived in Ebolowa around lunch time, and first went and found a phone to called home with. As it was my Dads birthday and I wanted to wish him happy Birthday. I then got some lunch from one of the road side stalls, and continued on my way south toward the border. It was late afternoon by the time I reached the first of the border posts and started to go through the formalities. It had again started to rain in fits and bursts, but didn’t last for long. I cleared the Cameroon Police and customs and arrived at the river, which marks the border. There they were in the process of building a new bridge, and had a free ferry to get you across the river for the moment. After waiting for a while I finally got onto the ferry and we were across the river in minutes. Once on the Gabon side, I drove onto Bitman. Where I had to find the Immigration office and get my entry stamp. That done I then had a quick look around Bitman and found a motel to stay at. I parked the Landy in the ally at the side and took a room. The room was not very nice, but it was cheap, and I could get a shower. That evening I went for a walk round the town centre, stopping for a beer in one of the many bars, and watching the world go bye. I then returned to the motel and got ready for bed and read for a while before going to sleep.
I got up at 06:00, pack my gear, and had some breakfast at the back of the Landy. I then drove south out of Bitman and to Oyem. I then continued on my way to Lara. All the way from the border to Lara was good round, much of which had just been completed. At Lalara the road returned to piste, but there was plenty of signs indicating it would not be long before they tarmac this last stretch as well. South west of Lara I crossed the equator for the first time by land. I spent a little while playing around with the GPS and getting a picture of it reading all zero’s for the latitude. I fuelled up in Ndjole where the road was again tarmac and drove onto the junction at Bifoun, where I turn North and drove onto Libreville. It was late afternoon by the time I arrived in Libreville, and was soon crawling along in the traffic. I eventually reached the expressway that circles the citys and joined it going north. I found my way to one of the Catholic Missions that was listed in the Lonely Planet and have a dorm to stay in. I found the place and ask around, but they said they didn’t have any dorms or rooms, which they let people stay in. There I ment a guy who showed me round the corner to another Catholic Mission. There after a long talk with the head sister they said I couldn’t stay with them but could join them for dinner and then they would show me to the Catholic Mission Liberman, where I could stay. So after dinner I drove round with one of the brother in the Landy. Set camp and went straight to sleep after a very long day.
Days 171 to 180
Diary Index
Days 191 to 200