Scottspiel

Our arrival in Douala, July 31st...

The Airport – the humidity hits you when you walk off the airplane in Douala, though for some of us, it was like a handshake welcoming us back. Through the long hallway from the plane to the actual terminal, standing in line for the health check (yes, we all had the mandatory up-to-date yellow fever vaccination) and then immigration (Mike said the official suggested we really didn’t need visas for the children; but back in Calgary, they checked every passport carefully and probably wouldn’t have let us on the flight without that pricey stamp).  During this process, we saw some familiar white faces on the other side of the glass – some of our teammates, come to pick us up J. Now into a cooler room (well, cooler off and on) where we waited to see if any of our luggage really made the connection.  Finally, more than 2 hours after the plane touched down, all our luggage - 11 checked bags/boxes and 5 carry-ons -  was piled onto 4 luggage carts.
 
Aggressive porters gradually joined our trail of people wending through the crowd - not when we were waiting for our luggage, but after our loaded carts had passed the scrutiny of the customs people (after opening one box, they saw that the random contents WERE indeed personal effects and not imports to sell for a profit).  One porter tried to take the cart from me, insisting he was with our group (“I’m the driver!”) – NOT!  Another one started giving directions to a fellow-worker, like he was the boss.  Confusing!!  But our teammate helped Mike navigate the luggage to his waiting truck, and Mike tried to be fair in paying those who actually were asked to help (hint: you’ll never make everyone happy!).

NOTE: no pictures from the airport – you can’t take pictures just anywhere you please….

We slept in one of the rooms in this building.

Air-conditioning once we got to the rest house (after a quick stop for Cameroonian money – CFA – and some breakfast food for the next day).  A time of talking with our teammates, and actually a pretty good night’s sleep.  Notice the "effect" in this pictures - NOT intentional, but rather the humidity affecting my camera.  My camera malfunctioned about a week later, but 24 hrs. close to a light bulb with the battery & memory card removed dried it out enough to work again.







We didn’t have much time to enjoy the beautiful rest house (and no dip in the pool), as we packed up to head to Yaoundé the next morning.  

 

A driver had brought our Toyota Land Cruiser to Douala from Yaoundé, and he drove us back to Yaoundé as well, allowing Mike a chance to observe the traffic instead of having to drive through it right away.