Surprises of southeastern Cameroon

Before our visit in December 2015, we knew that the East Region of Cameroon had a sparse population that was fairly isolated due to a number of unpaved main roads. We also expected that it would be poorer as a result of its distance from the capital and coast, as well as the limited infrastructure. The primary users of the main roads seemed to be logging trucks, which in turn drove a lot of commercial activity.

Dusk soccer match in Yokadouma.

That said, there were a few unexpected qualities of this region. One pleasant surprise is that the Yaounde-Bertoua highway is now fully paved; our guidebook (the most recent edition is from 2011) described the road as paved for only half of the journey.

Southeastern Cameroon also had a surprisingly large Muslim population. We frequently saw Fulani herdsmen with their cattle as we travelled, and indeed the transportation from Bertoua to points north and south was generally run by Muslims (mostly Fulas from the north). Given that the Sahel region is generally where demographics of African countries shift from predominantly Christian to more Muslim (although the West Region of Cameroon is an exception to this norm), this was definitely a surprise. Of course, CAR has a significant Muslim minority which may have contributed to northerners making their way down here.

Main roundabout in Batouri.

The climate was also quite cool, especially in comparison to Douala. We could have done with sweaters in the evenings and mornings in Lobeke National Park, even though the park is in the Congo river basin, which conjures (up) expectations of steamy rainforests.

Distances from Batouri to Cameroonian towns and Bangui, CAR.

Finally, the generator at Hotel Elephant in Yokadouma ran all the way until 5AM!

Religious life in The Gambia

So this won't be a very insightful piece; I want to upload the pictures. As I've mentioned in previous posts, the 'western' style schools face competition from madrassas, although attempts are being made to integrate them into the overall educational system.

Anyway, my friend Fatim (Grade 5 at Njau) goes to Dara (Koranic classes) on the weekends. In May her class had a day of teri, or recitals, so I dropped by her village (Lebba) on my way home to Njau from Kombo. So here are a couple of pictures of the community gathered around to listen, and Fatim performing her recitation. She was a bit nervous, but did well and helped show others that you can study both.




The Gambia as a whole is some 90-95% Muslim, and our students get daily Koranic instruction in the timetable. School ends at 1:45, so that everyone can perform ablutions in time for the 2 o'clock prayer, or thereabouts. So here are a couple of pictures of the daily ritual, with the consent of the teachers. Afterwards, it acts as our ad hoc announcements forum.