What happened before: We used our first day in Cameroon to charge our mobile phone cards, gather information and meet up with the technician that build the last incinerator in Ndoungue. He is a confident guy that has not too much patience for our more or less unsophisticated French. Thankfully Gilles Hervé Nomegme has our back. He founded Connectica ( a Cameroonian NGO) and is one of our partners down here. He translated, advised and bridged the culture gap. Now we have a plan for gathering all the necessary materials and can focus on gathering the last founds needed…
5 am – Douala:
After having been to the airport yesterday at 12 pm to check whether our baggage arrived or not (it did not) we woke up rather tired.
Nevertheless our taxi was here and we took of to the train station of Douala. It is an impressive structure made from the Brutalist period and we bought tickets for the second of three classes. The cart we entered was quite old and we settled in. When they came for our tickets, we were kicked out. Not from the train but out of the third class we were sitting in. They escorted us into the second class which is about the style of the Berlin S-Bahn. The ride was splendid with some sleep and after arriving in Yaoundé we were picked up by a driver.
Our main stop for today was the German Embassy. Our Contact, Mr. Wiesenecker was quite bussy on his last days of his term in Cameroon but drew up the supporting agreement in time. After passing all the high security controls, we signed a supporting agreement granting us a sum of money for the materials used on the incinerator. All went well, we left the embassy with the money stored under current Cameroonian Custom. In an envelope in our pants. For safety reasons.
Afterwards we had a massive meal in a local restaurant with an interesting concept: You pay 1000 FAFC (about 1,5€) and different cooks try to pitch you their meal. You decide who serves you. Traditional Food for a good price for everyone. From Fancy businessman to regular worker, all walks of life were present here.
We found a nice little hotel which floorplan looks like a tombraider temple plan, had a beer and started planning our next steps.