Day 15: And Back Again (Douala)

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Day 15: And Back Again (Douala)

Written by Eric Mathurin

Friday, 16 November 2007

A sign nearby reads: Silence! Academic minds at work.

I had some more chills in the night and was visited by the Ghost of Things-You're-Not-Supposed-to-Eat Past (my travel doctor's list of things not to do is practically a checklist of things we've done). Still, by the time morning broke I was feeling a lot better than the previous night though not fully recovered.

Better yet, the tough climb I had been dreading wasn't much at all and was over before I realized it.

We stopped for breakfast by the road and then headed for the city. The road to Douala was very flat, green, and had few people or villages of any kind along the way. We passed by vast plantations of bananas and rubber. By and large, despite the ease of cycling and prettiness, the ride felt mundane and sterile compared to the rest of the trip.

Gill and David at the local breakfast chopshop.

David had a flat tire and pumped it up a couple of times until we made it to a small roadside cafe where we could take a break and have Julius do the work of repatching the tube. (Unfortunately he missed a second hole and we had to stop further down the road to repeat the patching process.)

As we approached the outskirts of Douala, traffic (and the smog) increased and, of course, when we entered Douala proper the drivers (cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc.) were driving maniacally. We stayed near the side of the road which presented a myriad of road obstacles (potholes, bumps, people) to maneuver around. At one point I thought my tire was flat and turned around to see one of my panniers dragging on the ground — I've completely destroyed Arkel's new cam-lock system. I was rewarded by being clipped in the head, deflected by my helmet, by a passing motorcycle as I popped it back on and then tried to catch up with the others who were now far out of sight. It's funny that Gill is afraid to cycle in Toronto and here she is booting it down the chaotic streets of Douala.

Yau, Eric, Gill and Julius ensconed in the safety of our Douala hotel.

I kept chanting my mantra, "must not die, must not die" until we finally arrived at our hotel. It was a great homecoming as the hotel staff were all smiles, cheers and laughs at our arrival — they're really nice here and it felt like we'd finally arrived home. I half wonder if they thought to never see us again. We all gave in to a round of ecstatic high fives. We did it!

We showered, David packed his bike up, and Yau and Julius were in a terrific rush to get out of Dodge so after a lunch at the fanciest restaurant in the world (seemingly) we said our goodbyes and they headed to the terminal to catch a bus to Bamenda, and then ride the rest of the way home.

The sun setting with Mount Doom is the distance.

Douala seemed like such a ... hole ... after coming from Toronto and Paris, but now that we've come from the tiniest of villages and eating chop and street food the city now seems positively urbane. (I also suffered from sticker shock at the city prices.)

It was sad to see David off as his cab drove away in the night. And also anticlimactic that we have to spend another Sunday killing time in the city — our planes doesn't leave until almost midnight tomorrow.

Gill has changed her mind about the trip, which is gratifying to see. My Dahon has taken a severe beating — both on the road and back at the hotel where we had to use brute force to get the stuck, folding handlebar post to go down again.

We're the grubbiest things in Douala but even with the many grueling days I would turn around and do it again in a heartbeat.

Readers have left 2 comments.

No.2 Cam-locks

This certainly sounds like it was quite a trip. I'm sorry to hear that the Cam-Locks didn't perform to your expectations and I'm very happy that you were not seriously hurt. We'd be happy to repair your panniers and replace the Cam-Locks with our manual attachment system. So please, just send the panniers to us and we'll happily take care of all this.

Yves (Unregistered) • 2007-11-27 10:53:32

No.1 Greetings From Kumbo

Hello Eric,

I do firmly hope that you all did enjoy a safe journey back to your various destinations after our very powerful adventure.

In fact, it was so wonderful for God to have made it possible for us to meet. We also enjoyed a safe and powerful journey back.

We were also very happy to have seen what you all did give to us and we were so happy. In fact, we could admit it to ourselves that "we are the richest boys in all Africa." You did something so Great.

So now dear Eric, I do want you to deeply understand something so serious which so many people have never come up to ever understand. The fact is this, it is not money that binds people together. I and Yau wanted you to understand us that way because you can see for yourself that "WE ONLY LOVED AND CARED ABOUT YOU".

I do appeal to you in a very special way that you may also present our message to some Humanitarian Organizations in your country, to really assist me in our struggle.

I do firmly hope that you may also extend our warm Greetings to your Dearest Wife Gill and to all our Friends.

WE DO LOVE YOU ALL'
THANKS