July 8, 2015: Nyasoso, Cameroon 鈥&苍产蝉辫;While Benji disappeared into a village for more than an hour this afternoon to try fixing his broken speaker, I found myself sitting in our parked car, trying to explain what snow feels like to our driver, Oliver. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really slippery,鈥 I said, a bit at a loss. 鈥淎nd cold.鈥 How do you describe snow to someone who鈥檚 never felt it?
Oliver then wanted to talk about American action movies. Do I know Arnold Schwarzenegger? (Not personally, I said, but I sat next to him in a restaurant in Idaho once. Oliver seemed impressed by this.) Do I like ninja movies? How about Rambo?
In turn, I asked Oliver if he鈥檇 ever owned a motorcycle, because it seems like everyone here has one. He said no鈥too scary, and if you crash, the medical insurance in Cameroon is terrible. 鈥淚n Limbe, they made a whole new wing of the hospital just for motobike accidents,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey all come in with broken legs.鈥 When I asked Benji the same question yesterday, he said yes, then added that he crashed once on some mud and spent two weeks hospitalized. Driving a car in Cameroon is interesting enough; I have yet to see a traffic signal or stop sign in this country (Oliver says they exist in Douala, but nobody pays any attention) and the roads are generally adventurous.
I鈥檝e seen a lot of roads lately鈥and, around here, the roads are so bad that getting anywhere takes all day. Today Oliver, Benji and I made our way to Nyasoso, a very remote village on the flank of a volcano called Mount Kupe, to prepare for a big mountain hike tomorrow. En route, the most conspicuous birds I saw today were colonies of Village and Vieillot鈥檚 weavers; their globe-shaped nests looked like decorations in the roadside trees and grass.
New birds today: 2
Year list: 3431
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