They Fly!

No account of life in the tropics would be complete without exaggerated stories of oversized roaches. I came fully expecting to find these giant creatures crawling all over the place. To my surprise, the garden-variety roach here isn’t much bigger than some of the bugs we have in DC and they don’t seem to multiply as fast. What I wasn’t prepared for was their bizarre self-destructive behavior.

My first week here, I woke up in the middle of the night to find a cockroach crawling on my arm. Why? Why is this cockroach crawling on my arm? Does it think I’m food? Is it looking for a little warmth? These questions kept me up the rest of the night. I’ve since come to the conclusion that they simply don’t have a natural fear of people: they fall on top of me when I come in the door, they flutter around cars while I’m driving, they fly into me while I’m sleeping, they try to lay eggs into my carefully folded slacks (the ones I wear every week). The roaches I’ve known in northern climates are masters of the escape. The roaches here, instead of running away when they are surprised, will come running at you, presumably seeking a hiding place under your foot. They seem to be controlled primarily by their appetites, rather than any sense of survival. Leave a partially empty glass of juice standing on the table, and you’re bound to find the next day a roach that has downed itself in an overnight feeding frenzy. I once found a roach that had managed to squeeze its way into an empty beer bottle. Fortunately, weekly spraying of my apartment seems to keep them away, so incidents have diminished. Still, you never know……

Here's a fellow who had the great misfortune of colliding with my cheek one night. That's a US quarter, for size comparison. 

Destination Kribi

On long weekends, when overcome with the need to get-away-from-it-all, many in Yaounde with the means to do so will jet off to Kribi, Cameroon’s beach destination. I was there twice in the fall. What the Kribi beaches lack in size and grandeur, they make up for in isolation. Beach resort isn’t really the right descriptor for Kribi, as it is really just s small town with miles of beach along which are scattered a few hotels. You’re as likely to encounter local fishermen in their hollowed out boats as you are other beach goers. Pictures tell the story best. Again, these were taken by a friend of mine, as I'm still without a camera.

River cascades into the ocean just south of Kribi 

Yours truly walking with a friend along Kribi Beach 

Rainclouds gather 

A fisherman casts his net 

Flowers like the rain 

Bananas for Sale at every corner 

The Mokolo Market 

The ubiquitous yellow cabs 

Candy Vendor 

A gated apartment building. 

The Town

Before I go much further, I should say a little something about my new home. Yaounde is located in the southeastern part of Cameroon, surrounded by rainforrest covered rolling hills, connected to the outside world via a small airport sporting a couple of flights a week to Europe. There are pretty decent roads leading to other destinations in the country, about which I will write later. Yaounde is a big city, with around 1 million people (?), but feels very much like a small town. If there is a bustle in the streets, it is that of ordinary undertakings, rather than grand plans. The biggest event seems to be the occasional and unexpected closure of the main road due to the passing of the presidential convoy.

When I arrived in August, the big rainy season was just beginning, and it was rain that defined Yaounde for me during my first couple of months. If you've ever lived in the tropics, you know what I'm talking about. If, like me at the time, you haven't, think of the intensity of the biggest downpour your ever experienced, the kind of rain that blots out vision, and then think of it lasting for hours. Think of roads turning into rivers and intersections into small lakes, and this daily. I would shout my way through my afternoon classes trying to compete with the hollow pounding of rain on our corrugated tin roof. Right before dusk, the rain would fade away and clouds would gently settle around the hills. Wow!

There is much more to say about Yaounde, other than that it rains a lot in the Fall. Instead of rambling on, let me show some pictures of street life in Yaounde, taken by a friend of mine. Enjoy!

View from porch 

The story

I arrived here in Yaounde, Cameroon back in August 2004, having taken a leave of absence from my school in the District of Columbia. As transitions go, this one went smoothly, but still, lots of new things to get used to. Half a year later, I look back and think: there's gotta be a better way to document my time here other than sending out the occasional group e-mail. So this is the story of my blog. I'll try to backtrack a little, to make up for lost ground, but not tonight. I leave you with a view from my back porch, taken my first week here. Note the direct line of sight to President Biya's Palace.