Driving in Yaounde Part III: The Road Block

Driving in Yaounde has been an experience so unique for me that I will find it difficult to adequately convey. There are numerous aspects to driving here that simply don’t have a translation into “Driving in the US”.

I mentioned before that when the President or some other dignitary drives through town, the main road get shut down. These road closings are always unannounced and never have a fixed duration. However, they are anticipated by a special police force lining major intersections in the hours preceding the road closure. So, when members of this police force are spotted, word is spread that “the road will be closed”, meaning that at some point during the day, the road may be closed and if you need to go anywhere, it had better be sooner rather than later. There are times when such rumors don’t spread fast enough.

A Sunday evening a few weeks ago was such a time. I was returning home after a long afternoon of tennis when my plans to spend a quiet evening of study ran into a blocked intersection. It just so happens that the main road lies between school and my apartment. Determined to get home, I followed some back roads looking for a way through. Intersections were all blocked, as I knew they would be. Now, there is one point where the main road runs over an overpass and it is technically possible to drive underneath. However, as this is the only crossing point, you can imagine what the traffic is like: pure hell. I had a choice: go through hell or join some friends who were president watching at the Hilton for a beer. I wisely chose the latter course. Not only did I soon find my friends sitting comfortably in the lobby of the Hilton, in a prime spot to watch the passing of Brazil’s president Lula, I was treated to an impromptu drum performance by Gilberto Gil, who was traveling with the Brazil team as Minister of Culture. Studies could wait for another day.