1/9/07

Arrived safely in Yaoundé . Good flight with Air France from Edinburgh then Paris. BA may think they’re “the world’s favourite airline”, but after the champagne aperitif and a really tasty lunch, they’re non starters compared to Air France. After negotiating queue for health & passport checks, hit the baggage recovery area & then the fun started. Local guys descended like locusts offering assistance with baggage, starting at 50 euros! Since our luggage wasn’t appearing that didn’t seem relevant! Eventually, our bags appeared (last off the plane) and with the help of Yussuf and Celestine from the VSO office, we got to the car park. VSO had brought bottles of water for us all, but the locals latched on to this and tried to get us to pay for it! Then, into a minibus which would have failed an MOT about 20 years ago back home. We did arrive safely at our hotel, which while basic by UK standards, is extremely comfortable. Dinner was good, despite the two hour delay between ordering and delivery.

2/9/07

After a good night’s sleep, a walk to the local boulangerie for some beignets for breakfast. Then we met with the VSO staff for the start of our in country training. A friendly briefing on the basics, including security, then off to check out the local internet café. Delicious lunch in local restaurant followed by a tour of some of Yaoundé including the local zoo. Then we were dropped off in small groups at different points to test the local taxi system & find our way back to the hotel. Standard charge for taxis is 60p a head for any distance in the city, but they start asking from £2 each. No doubt our negotiating/bartering skills will increase phenomenally in the next few days! Finally, enjoyed superb pizza for dinner in another local restaurant. Initial impressions of Cameroon are very favourable. After the tension building up to departure, we both feel a sense of excited anticipation.

The attached photo is the group of volunteers who all arrived on 1^st September. Boy, do we feel old!