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 I
didn't know it when I took this picture, but it shows the best weather of this
morning. It also shows our breakfast omelet chief. After breakfast
we got underway. A couple hours later it started to rain. We
selected the Cameroonian response; park the bikes and take shelter.
  In
the course of the conversation, while watching the rain-show shower down in
sheets, we learned that the village had a shed in the back with a wood fired heating
system for drying cocoa (left). More typically cocoa is dried in the open by the
sun (right). Because of the amount of fire wood consumed it
would seem
 like sun
 dried
cocoa would be more environmental friendly, but if you live in the Mt. Cameroon
convergence zone and you want to sell your crop it might be the
  best
alternative. Clearly they were more clued into the weather patterns than
we were. After the cocoa bean are properly dried, it is packed an ready
for market.
 Africa
is proud to be the source of the phase, "it takes a village to raise a child."
It looks like that is threatened with becoming, "It takes a television to raise
children." It is interesting that the walls of the house are decorated
with some of the traditional symbols that we had seen other places, especially
at the palaces: double gongs, elephants and snakes.
  After
the rain stopped people started to emerge from their shelters, interact and
become more animated. But it is interesting that the change didn't seem to
be sufficient draw out any of the young
television watchers.
We continued under overcast skies but there were no additional deluges. At
times the
 ceiling
lifted and the trees parted enough so that we could get glimpse of Mt. Cameroon.
We always had to imagine where the top might be. Eventually we were no
longer
looking at Mt. Cameroon
but climbing it. About ten of the last fifteen miles of the day are
climbing and we probably get to less than 3500 feet on the
 13,354 foot (4070 m)
mountain, but that is a sufficient work out.
  At
least the shoulder of Mt. Cameroon we came across seems to be covered with
banana. If the size of the project weren't enough, blue plastic bags,
sometimes impregnated with pesticides, that are used to protect bananas against
pests tied
 over
the maturing banana indicates that it is probably an export oriented operation.
The blue bags are removed before the bananas are packed and shipped. It is
a good sign that the countryside is not covered with blue bags.
Environmental progressive banana growers are now recycling the bags and
presumably organic growers aren't using pesticides. There is no
information one way or the other for Cameroon producers.
 One
of the reward for making it up to the old section of Buea is an expansive view
(on a clear day) of the low lands, all the way to Douala. Another reward
is cooler and drier air. In the morning it is almost crisp.
 Buea
early history was as the capital of the Germany's Kamerun colony in the decade
and a half before and after 1900. There a few vestiges of that period:
The former German Governors house (left) sit high on the hill.
 It
is now a presidential retreat for the president of Cameroon. Lower on the
hill are a variety of government office buildings (right) and residences, from
the same period, are still being used and don't look too
 much
the worse for wear. Even Kaiser Wilhelm still gets a nod in the form of a
corner monument. It doesn't look like it gets a lot of traffic or even
second looks, but it is not overgrown and the portrait is maintained.
  The
old market area of Buea is a little below and off to the side of the Governor's
mansion. (The absolute newest parts of Buea, including the University
of Buea (left) and a strip city, are 3-6 km lower on the mountain, where the air
is warmer -- or hotter.)
 Except for the million dollars views the old
market doesn't have much to recommend it. It
seems to have changed
very little from 1986 (two photos to the left) to 2007 (right), except for the
roads are paved. As the story goes the head of state came
to Buea on one of his rare visits to Anglophone Cameroon and was appalled by the
conditions of the roads
 that he ordered
 them paved. In the coarse of a few
month Buea went from hardly a decent road in the town to having every road, even
the alleys, being paved. Western Cameroonians are rarely shy about
complaining about how they are marginalized and don't get their fair share of
investment. It is a toss-up whether Buea support this contention of
refutes it.
 After
Kumba the languages change from the Narrow Bantu>Northwest>Lundu-Balong group to
the Narrow
 Bantu>Northwest>Duala
group. The largest language is Mokpwe, which is spoken around Muyuka, but
in some villages in the lowlands from near Kumba to Limba. To the west and
at higher elevations Wumboko is spoken. Out in the estuary, around Tiko,
Isu is spoken by a small population. (The photo was taken between Kumba
and Buea of an unidentified man.)
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