Kribi, here I come
This morning Akilah actually got up before me, that it itself is a feat. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been the one who hasn’t been able to remain asleep past a certain hour.
We stopped past the Kaelly Hotel to have an omelet, and it was pretty good. It was actually made the way I think omelet’s should be made. After leaving there it took about a half hour or so to find a taxi that would take us to the gare where we could find a bus to Kribi. Apparently it took so long because the gare is in the Mvan quartier which is almost on the outskirts of Yaoundé.
We were going to take Transcam or La Kribienne to Kribi, and it was good they were pretty much next to one another. That means we didn’t have to walk too far. I was carrying most of the luggage; yeah, luggage. Usually we travel light, one bag each. However, since we were at the PC HQ we picked up Akilah’s mail, which included two packages from me and one from her father.
It took maybe forty-five minutes for the bus to fill, and then we were off to Kribi. The ride was extremely long, hot and very scenic. The gendarme didn’t stop us, but the driver, of course, would stop to pick up some pocket change.
We arrived to the gare in Kribi and were kind of stunned. There were very few taxis in sight, most of what we saw were motos, and technically Akilah is not to ride them (especially without a helmet). But most of all, considering the luggage we were carrying, there was no way I was gonna hold these bags while on one of these things. In case I’ve never mentioned it, the motos are similar to mopads or smaller motorcycles.
After we found a taxi and darted the attempts of one of the employees of La Kribienne from trying to pilfer some money from us, we headed to the Framotel. The dude at the agency was trying to get money from “the Americans,” because America has lots of money. My response to him was, “if we had lots of money, do you think I’d be on a bush taxi?” Not.
Anyway, the Framotel was very nice. It’s good that we spoke to Serena before we headed to Kribi or we would not have known about this spot. Besides, they also gave a 10% PCV discount. Now that’s what I’m talking about.
The rest of the day was pretty stress free and very relaxing. We placed our bags in the air-conditioned room, and headed down to the beachfront – where the Framotel has an additional restaurant – to have a meal. The water was beautiful and serene. This is a place everyone should get to come and enjoy a little R&R.
While we were there a Cameroonian couple entered the restaurant area. We assumed one of them must’ve been very important. How many Cameroonians walk around with four gendarme following them? Not any I’ve met since being here.
After dinner, we casually strolled back to the hotel and rested for the evening. All would’ve been peaceful, but somewhere during the night I awoke to the sound of thunder and rain. I mean the heaviest rain I’ve ever heard. I’m not too ashamed to mention that for some reason my instincts were extremely heightened, I thought there was a serious storm around us. According to Akilah, during the rainy season, it rains like this at night on a frequent basis. Geez!