Hotel Bahia Malabo

... no eruption to occur. From this part of the climb it would've given some amazing views of the surrounding area, but we were climbing in the rainy season so couldn't see anything through the clouds. We rested at the famous lonely tree (Magic Tree) and on a clear day in the dry season we would've been able to see the island of Equatorial Guinea.<br><br>We finally arrived at Hut Two, which at an altitude of 2860m would be where we spend the night. The climb was as ...

... organizational issues and questions particular to Cameroon. Around 6:00 pm we shook hands and said goodbye and he headed for home. I had a light meal in the restaurant and am now watching lightening flash in the dark sky, and listening to heavy rain and hail fall against the window of my room. I'll work here until around 10:00 pm when I can head to the airport for my 12:10 am flight to Nairobi. If the weather allows.

... we had a nice view of the Douala skyline, over patches of newly refurbished road done by the Chinese (who are increasingly everywhere in Africa where there is a suspicion of petroleum or other safe source of income). It was pleasant for a few moments before we got back to the nitty-gritty of grinding poverty up close. Along the way I glanced down on my trousers and found specks of black on them. They were bits of charcoal from the fires ...

... come back at 6:00 and he was right on time. We drove back through the darkening streets of Douala, through traffic jams and honking horns and clouds of exhaust, until I was finally dropped at the hotel a little before 7:00 pm. Tomorrow we should start at 9:00, it's Easter in a former French (so Catholic) country, so there should only be very light traffic. They'll pick me up at 8:00 for a very full day of activity.

... at nearly the same time: a Swiss flight from Zürich and our flight from Abidjan/Lomé. Two flights, two carousels: the Western thing to do would be to have luggage from one flight on one carousel and the luggage from the other flight on the other. But it's much more interesting and animated to mix the luggage from both flights on both carousels. This makes for much craning of necks, jumping up and down, jostling for position, pushing and shoving ...

... drinking ice cold beers and enjoying yet again the delights of street meat. Know where I would prefer to be. Jamie, NZ Mike and Luke didn't want to go with a guide so headed off by themselves at 1am, leaving the rest of the group concerned for their safety but wishing them a good trip all the same. They made it up and back by 4pm the day after. Suzy did 3 days volunteer work at the zoo/wildlife sanctuary. Sorting through 100's of ...

... l arret. Le chauffeur me rassure on est pas charge, la 505 supporte 3 tonnes de marchandises meme sur ces routes...Hallucinant mais on est passe et cela me donne le gout de faire plsu de route de jungle que prevue pour voir des parcs nationaux tres recule et voir les primates : gorilles, chimpanzees, mandrills, elephants , mais d abord le repos pres de la plage et puis la case visa et bien etudier les guides de voayges et cartes.

... from them by the forces of law and order.... About 15 minutes out of Douala we came to the Mungo River, but not before having to stop at three different checkpoints each of which required a bribe. The driver muttered as he got back in after the third one "are these security checks or toll booths?" They police made no pretense of what they wanted. I noticed there was a new bridge over the Mungo, and I asked about it. The old bridge had been in terrible shape, many of ...

... know how to cut white hair," I asked the barb**. "Oh, yes sir, welcome! Please come in and have a seat!" he said as he directed his little fan to blow right in my face to cool me down in the stiflingly still late aft**noon air in his little box. We had two full days with little to do but relax on the beach, frolic in the waves, and head into town for a wand** around, although the only real sights in Limbe are a small botanical garden and adjacent museum. But the ...

... realising that things happen at Écuador time´! With a couple of hours to kill we and the Aussies went to find a bar. Found a fantastic place run by an American hippy who has been in and around the area for the last 25 years. She had a great courtyard (on Via Sucre)with an open fire and really cool tunes playing. We had a few drinks and then went back to the cock fight. Inside the arena it was all a little weired and unnerving, the drinks however helped ...