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June 14, 2009
14 June 2009 - Ann Arbor
First….pictures (finally!): http://www.flickr.com/photos/avandeusen/sets/72157619743689114/
There aren’t too many as flickr doesn’t like to allow a whole bunch, but if Facebook ever cooperates with uploading new pictures I’ll post the link to those as well.
I officially made it home. Not wanting to leave everyone in the dark about our last few days in Limbe, here is a short recap of our adventure during the last few days in Cameroon:
We left Bamenda early Saturday morning, once again lucking out and riding with the Municipal Treasurer of a local village on his way back to the coast. The MT, Henry, was going to see his family briefly in Douala and then go to a meeting in Limbe, where he would drop us. It was a much shorter ride back to the coast than it was getting to Bamenda, as we weren’t on a bus! Once in Douala, we got to meet some of Henry’s family, including his wife and daughter. His wife ended up joining us on our way to Limbe.
Once we arrived in Limbe (after only about 7 hours of traveling), Jane and I checked into our hotel, the Holiday Inn Resort Hotel. Despite sounding like a very luxurious, Western hotel, this particular complex had no affiliation with the chain most of us Americans know. Still, it had air conditioning and a shower that briefly worked, so Jane and I were pretty much in heaven.
We spent the next few days relaxing in Limbe at Seme Beach and Mars Restauarant. We were both pretty exhausted and often opted for the wonderful air conditioned room rather than taking too many ventures out into the heat. We were picked up in Limbe on Tuesday morning by Anicestus, the same driver who originally picked us up from the airport. He drove us back to Douala for a not-so-brief dinner at Oasis (we hung around there for a little while to avoid getting to the airport too early), then dropped us off at Douala airport. There were far fewer harassers on the “departure” end, meaning Jane and got to go hang out in the halfway air-conditioned gate 21 boarding area.
After a very empty flight (literally less than half the plane was full), we arrived in Paris early Wednesday morning. I exchanged some traveler’s checks for Euros, bought a few souvenirs and tore into a very hearty breakfast of a chocolate croissant (I really wanted crepes, but I guess settling for croissants isn’t that bad). Jane and I spent the next several hours trying to stay busy, but mostly just falling asleep at various points around the terminal. I managed to get some great new sunglasses.
At 4:30 PM on Wednesday we finally landed back in Michigan. Jane and I had packed our traditional garments to wear for greeting our families in the airport and changed into them after making it through customs.
A great experience it was, but I am very glad to be home.
Posted by ajvandeu at June 14, 2009 05:17 PM