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Date: 10 Sep 2007 12:38:00
Title: Maroua
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That's us safely in Maroua, where we'll be for the next week.  We're staying in the Baptist Mission, which is calm & clean.  There's also a washing machine - much needed now.  It's much hotter here than in Yaounde, but no doubt we'll adapt to some extent.
The journey here was fascinating, but tiring.  We left the hotel at 4.30pm on Friday and were taken to the station.  We were in "1st class" couchettes: sounds grand and was OK, but not 1st class by our standards.  I shared a cabin with the two other guys in our group and a dental surgeon from Maroua - a really nice guy.  Anne was in a separate coach with one othe VSO girl and two local ladies, one with three children!  Seems it was fine - the children did not cause any disturbance and the other lady was really helpful & informative.  The journey lasted 17 hours, the last 4 hours or so in daylight passing through tropical rain forest.  At N'Gaoundere, the end the rail line, we transferred to bus.  First we had been given tickets while on the train, then they were taken away to be validated.  We then had to stand in a crowd waiting for our names to be called to collect our ticket and get on the designated bus, fortunately the same one that our luggage had been put in!  The bus journey lasted 8 hours with two stops for police to inspect papers, a stop after two hours for a break another two hours later when they filled up with diesel, then a stop at ~6.15 so that the muslims could go to prayers.  We had been warned beforehand that there is a weight limit on the last bridge before Maroua and as the river was too high after all the rain they've had, we would have to take all our luggage off the bus so it would be light enough to cross the bridge, carry it across the bridge and put in back on again.  We were all feeling really tired by this time and not looking forward to it so when the bus diverted away from the queue at the bridge and went down to the ford, and crossed the river, there was a big round of applause for the driver.  During the journey, one little kid attached himself to us (see attached photo).  His name's Dimitri and his mother showed no signs of being anxious about his whereabouts (probably she was glad to have a break!).  Eventually, he fell into a sound sleep sitting on Anne's lap.  It was fascinating to see the countryside change from forest to pastureland to "savannah".  The villages really are mud houses with thatched roofs.  At one point on the journey, we came across a tribe of baboons at the roadside, but we were past before I could get a photo.  Now for more "training", then off to Zidim on Saturday 15th.

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