Post date: Aug 11, 2014 11:28:49 PM
29 May 1965
I just returned from a week in Cameroon, supposedly looking at some old Jeeps that the Peace Corps there wants to give us. I didn't see much in the way of old Jeeps, but I had fun. West Cameroon has some really beautiful scenery, which I didn't so much notice at Xmas because I was tired and also it was much more hazy then. It is heavily forested mountains, much like you can see in the USA. The north is grasslands. I spent more money in the excellent handicraft coop shop in Bamenda, which said purchases I had to carry home on a motorcycle and airplane. Fortunately the customs people let me through without any duty. Luck and the Peace Corps. I had almost diplomatic visas.
The Peace Corps in Buea was kind and found me a Honda for transport so I could go into the bush to see the Jeeps, as they were in use. To start I had to get a new tire for the cycle. I made 89 miles of a 120- mile one-way dirt road when the chain broke. So I stashed the cycle in a hut and hitched a ride on in to Mamfe. That night I stayed with the volunteers there, who took me into town to the Club [it was Friday and their night on the town]. The generator in their Jeep gave out. Fortunately, the PC doctor was thru giving inoculations, so the next day he took me back to Buea, where I got a new generator and regulator for the Mamfe Jeep, four tires for that Jeep, and a new chain for the Honda. The next day a Jeep went back to Mamfe to meet the Rep, who flew in from Yaounde, so I got a ride, with my parts, back to the disabled Honda, and after fixing it, continued on to a small place called Batibo, almost to Bamenda. It rained that afternoon, and I, of course, forgot a raincoat. It is cold in the rain there on a motorcycle! Not to mention wet. The next day, Monday, I went to Bamenda, spent my money, and continued on dirt road to Baffousam, to stay with a volunteer, who, in addition to teaching English in a French school (former French Cameroon) is studying pidgin. On Tuesday I rode 200 miles back to Buea, but all on good tarred road. There is a customs inspection between East and west Cameroon (former French and British, respectively) but I had no trouble, because I didn't even slow down.
I flew over and back, at government expense. Nice job I have.
I will probably have to finish sea freight delivery job, as we only covered half the region in four days. Also, the last trip brought out several requests for stuff we have in Enugu to be delivered, such as books, and other teaching aids.
If I order a VW here, I will have to pay for it before I leave Nigeria. I will get a car with US specs and a sun roof, though the new ones are metal and not plastic, and don't open as far. The dealer here does the same as the dealer in Salinas, and I can get a 5% discount for being in the Peace Corps. After I get to Germany I can arrange the shipping back thru the company in Hamburg which ships VWs for the factory. It is the cheapest way. I must order soon and deposit $150 (which I have now) as it takes two to three months, and I have only two months of service left! Time flies.