Limbe

Today Bryan, an eccentric and religious AIESECer decided that it was time to show us around Cameroon and orchestrated a trip to Limbe. Limbe is as tourist-y as Cameroon gets according to my guide book. I was expecting a ton of white people and tacky hotels etc, but I was really surprised. What I love about Limbe is what I love about Cameroon overall: it’s so untouched by tourism that the epicenter of tourism consisted of a beach with little huts for beach-goers to sit and have a complimentary drink and a wildlife center with a relatively steep admittance fee for non-nationals. There was a hotel near the beach, but I don’t even think there was a sign for it. Today I did see the third, fourth, and fifth white person so far in the last two weeks. Pamela and Helen (co-workers from Elyon Rock Foundation), Aya, Laura, Helen (trainee from the Netherlands), Bryan, and Bill (our boss) had a fantastic dinner at Down Beach after a beautiful day of swimming at Seme Beach. I have never been to a black sand beach nor had such amazing fish (eating fish with your hands makes it automatically taste better) . The water was so warm I could have stayed in all day.

I think the trainees and the lifeguard may have been the only ones comfortable with swimming because most people just waded, or maybe it was too cold for the natives of Cameroon because it is their rainy season after all. Most say that it’s so chilly while I’m standing next to them frizzy and sweating.
Laura, Aya, and I are all taking a little break right now and uploading pictures from the day and exchanging music. It’s really nice to be at home but we are hardly ever on break from the hectic socialite lifestyle.

Cameroonians are seemingly bred and raised to seek out foreigners and make them feel like celebrities and keep them under their wings by cooking for them and protecting them. After eating fish with Bill today he helped us get a cab back to Buea. He made us get out of the first one we entered because he had a bad feeling about the driver, then when we got in the second he had a stern talk with the driver to ensure that he’d be careful on the road. I know it might seem like perhaps it was necessary for Bill to be so cautious, but it wasn’t. He’s an overprotective African father. I feel bad for his future kids and am appreciative of his care of us.

I love being shown around by the people who live in this beautiful country because we live the way they do- we don’t do things that are too expensive because they themselves can’t afford it, we don’t get jipped at the market, they’ll braid our hair (I wish the connection would be fast enough to upload pictures of the braids I got) and they’ll go into the back of a restaurant’s kitchen to make sure “everything is clean enough back there”.