Cameroon: Bamenda

Bamenda is a city in the north-west province of Cameroon. It is famous because – well, I was born there for one thing. And I attended many wonderful summer schools close to Bamenda as a kid. And it says “Place of Birth: Bamenda” on my passport (Australian passports only show the city, not the country) – so I invariably get asked by security officers at airports, “Where is Bamenda?”.

I stayed in Bamenda for 9 days.

Here are some photos from Bamenda. Mud on my shoes and jeans:

The Bahá’í centre – side:

Other side:

Back, where some students were studying for their exams:

Plant growing beside it:

We went to visit the house in which my family stayed, when I was born. I have heard many stories about it, of how there was a yard infront of the house which would be filled with sunbathing snakes at noon, though they would retire at other times. Apparently my grandmother who was with us at the time was quite fearless and killed one with a stick. My dad preferred to ignore them. So here’s the infamous house:

There were no snakes out when we visited (3pm). This house, as well as the other one on the hill are owned by the Presbitarian church and two pastors live in them now. The view is quite picturesque, here’s a video:

More pictures of the view:

This is David’s car, which is 24 years old now, but of which I had many memories. It is still going, but on it’s last legs. It is thinking of going into retirement – just a matter of time now. It needed some help here with the fuel pump:

On the way out of Bamenda, on the last day there. Street vendors:

Driving through Nkwen (Bamenda is divided into three main areas, with Nkwen being one of them. The centre and Gillett house are also there):

Round-about, as you head to up-station:

Driving up-hill:

A nice house in up-station somewhere:

On the road – a “call box”. Mobile phones are prevalent everywhere in Cameroon. Everyone seems to own one, even in the villages, in the markets, etc. There are huge roadside posters for the two main companies operating there, Orange and MTN, on every road. You also see small signs on many shops, even in villages, as those shops sell recharge cards. There are also many call boxes, a small stall where someone stands and lets you use their phone, then charges you based on how long your call lasted:

Hills: