From Day 1 of service, a Peace Corps Volunteer will be told that "cultural integration" is a large part of your job as it increases one's safety and understanding. Thus, as I am organizing calabash design classes for women as an income-generating activity (see 'My Peace Corps Projects'), I decided to take classes myself!

Note: The calabash is a fruit that is not eaten, but rather utilized in many traditional ways, such as a drinking bowl. In this case, the calabashes are carved, painted, and sold/given as traditional wedding presents!

Calabash design artist, Haowao, teaching me how to cut my calabash

The finished products! Don't ask me why this blog/internet published this photo side-ways

So by day, I take calabash design classes and by night? Well, I go dancing with the members of my micro-credit cooperatives of course!

Breaking it down with 4o-year-old Cameroonian moms!

Yes, this is a baby in a bar. C'est la vie!

Came back from vacation to water that looked like this...

And a sunset that looked like this...

Peace Corps life. Can't help but love it.

We knew that before we finished our service, we wanted to explore other parts of Africa. So on a rainy night in Yaounde, we bought our tickets to fly to Mali in July! We’d head overland to visit Lindsey’s best friend serving in Peace Corps Burkina Faso, bush taxi down to Togo, and fly back from Benin.

Getting there was a triumph in itself as direct flights weren’t an option and we first flew to Ethiopia. Though we searched Couchsurfing for a place to spend the night’s layover, Ethiopian Airlines took care of us by putting us up in a swanky hotel complete with hot showers and an all-you-can-eat buffet. The next day, we flew to Togo to pick up some more passengers, and then finally landed in Bamako, Mali.

Our journey flying across Africa!

The whirlwind trip included climbing mountains, butterfly hunting, canoeing across lakes and rivers, napping on beaches, dancing all night, and shopping for everything from Obama pagne to hand-woven and decorated mud cloth. The trip was even more memorable as we met world-famous fashion designers, Peace Corps Volunteers, chiefs of villages, and some of the nicest random people that helped us out from time to time.

Hiking between villages in Dogon Country, Mali

A small boy sells fans at the Grande Marche, Bamako, Mali

People always ask us of the trip “Was it the same as Cameroon?” On surface level, yes, pagne was everywhere and transportation was uncomfortable, but when you take a deeper look, each country was beautiful in its own way. In Mali, we found not only mud homes, but ones that were multi-storied creating an ancient town of varying building heights. Burkina Faso, being a transport country, had remarkable roads and the nicest people (no “white man” or “nassara” yells!). Togo was a mix of tiny villages in the North, lush rain forests in the South, and beautiful beaches on the coast with voodoo culture thrown in. Benin was a great place to end with a trip to Ganvie, a village that rests on stilts!

The largest mud mosque in the world, Grand Mosquee, Djenne, Mali

Banfora Waterfalls, Burkina Faso

Stilt village of Ganvié, Benin

However, this is not to say that the trip was without its challenges! Bush taxis almost every day, a car accident with a visit to PCMO Burkina, five-hour long hikes beneath the beating African sun, worm and rash outbreaks, monkey attacks, and a brief runaway stint from the Togolese border are just the realities of backpacking West Africa. Luckily, we’ve mastered the fine art of negotiation; I saved us from paying 5.000CFA in Mopti, Mali for a “mandatory” visa extension fee and let’s just say that Lindsey Dattels has a future immigration officer husband waiting for her in the Contonou airport who allowed us to board the plane back to Cameroon.

Monkey attacks are no fun on a vacation

If you’re looking for an adventure (because it was anything but relaxing!), consider backpacking West Africa. We’ll send you our Excel itinerary!

*Note: The first version of this article appeared in the November 2011 edition of the US Peace Corps Cameroon's Small Enterprise Development Gazette.

This village on stilts should be noted as an official World Heritage site! Just outside the capital city of Contonou, Ganvié is home to about 30,000 Tofinu. The entire village’s buildings sit on 2 meter high stilts above the water. Back in the 17th century, the Tofinu fled to Ganvie to escape slavery by the Dahomey. Their attempted captors, who were afraid of water and disallowed to enter it due to religious reasons, thus left the residents alone. And what do the residents live off of? Fish of course! *Tip: Take public transport or a private person’s canoe if you can sneak it! The Ministry of Tourism will charge you 25x what locals pay (and they are a government agency).

After three weeks of intense and uncomfortable traveling (backpacking West Africa is far from relaxing my friends!), we spent a necessary day sleeping and strolling on the beaches of Grand Popo, Benin. Nothing to report on this blog post, just a beautiful beach!

Grand Popo, Benin

What’s the best way to say goodbye to a place? Relax on its beaches of course! Before checking out of Le Galion Hotel, I spent a couple hours reading on the Lome shore and yes, my guilty pleasure is a good ole’ Nicholas Sparks’ book!

Lome, Togo

We soon made our way to Chez Alice (chezalicetogo@hotmail.com), a German-run hostel 12km outside of Lome in Aveposo. Unfortunately, the street was under construction, so few clients meant no music or dancing like usual Wednesdays, but at least we (finally!) had peace and quiet! All except for the noise of the monkeys! The little guy may look cute until he attacks you!

We took a 500CFA (~$1US) taxi to Lake Togo where we would canoe over to Togoville, Togo’s “voodoo” island. It would be here that those who practiced voodoo were taken to Haiti as slaves. The driver initially believed the canoe would sink if I drove, but to his surprise, I was one of the best rowers he’s seen! Note: If you get a private “tourist” canoe, it’s 4.000CFA (~$8US) one-way. Otherwise, I highly recommend taking public transport as they were paying 200CFA (~$.40) each! I was a pro!

The Artisanal market at Togoville is only one room but proceeds go towards a local organization and you can find a few gems. After exploring the German Cathedral, we headed off to the voodoo market. We could have paid 2.000CFA (~$4US) to see “voodoo-in-action,” but decided to pass based on the creepiness factor. Togoville's port (top), stage at the German Cathedral (middle), and voodoo market (bottom)

Back across Lake Togo, we searched for the elusive promise of water sports, but it turns out everything but the paddle boat was broken. So while the other girls napped on the shore, I jumped in an 800CFA taxi to Aneho, home of arguably the best beaches in Togo. With a chicken sandwich at La Cote du Soleil, I could agree! Beach at La Cote du Soleil, Aneho, Togo - beautiful!

Short on cash, we had a delicious street food dinner of spaghetti, turkey, and French fries – all for 300CFA (~$.60US) mind you! Tomorrow, Benin!

Even the best planned traveler runs into scheduling snafus along the way especially in West Africa! Often, the reason for this is the good old expiring visa. At Immigration, the line extended about a dozen people deep with a larger throng surrounding the Service Passport window. Asking around, we soon learned that a 500CFA (~$1US) fee was necessary for an application and the 1.500CFA (~$3US) visa could be done tomorrow (which here in African time could extend to 2-3 days). Thanks to my petite stature, I was able to squeeze my way to the front window to show the Immigration officer our 7-day visas. “When exactly would we have to leave the country?” “The 18th" he said. Sigh, I was hoping for the 19th. So, with a day cut short, we went into high-gear-let’s-explore-this-great-city-before-we-get-kicked-out-of-the-country mode! First stop was to Lome’s Voodoo Market. Unlike other markets, Lome’s Voodoo Market is not so much a place where one haggles for souvenirs. Rather, one explores and observes traditional voodoo practices. In fact, there is actually a mandatory entrance fee and tour guide fee. Upon the parking in the gated market, we were approached by two Togolese who wanted 15.000CFA (~$30US) AFTER the fact that we explained we were PCVs. After much haggling, they said 9.000CFA ($~18US) to visit the market – no thanks! From the five minutes standing in the market the same size as a couple large living rooms, we saw all we needed! Lome's Voodoo Market - I'm so sketchy taking pics out the car window

To ameliorate the annoyances of the morning, we headed off to the Grand Marche to do a little bit of shopping. Let it be noted that I LOVE haggling: I bought a Togo soccer jersey for 2.000CFA (~$4US); the vendor started at 6.000CFA (~$12US). The power of the Peace Corps Volunteer – it’s not just that we know how to pay local prices; it’s also that we don’t physically make enough money to pay tourist prices! "Artisinat" - The Artisan Market

We spent lunch eating fish with a world famous fashion designer. It turned out that my old supervisor’s sisters, Grace and Wonder, live in Lome. We met up with the wonderful women while Grace showed us a DVD of the latest fashion show for Vlisco (the Tiffany’s of African fabric) that featured her clothes.Just a world-famous fashion designer in action!

Cameroonians like to call this a family photo

Afterwards, we headed back to Artisan Market to finish up some shopping before heading to dinner and a movie at Greenfield. Love Lome! Note: It’s best to go to markets in the late afternoon. Vendors tend to haggle easier as it’s the end of the day and they want to make final sales.

After yesterday’s 12-hour bus ride (oh, the fatigue), we arrived to the small, cool-climate town of Kpalime (pah-lee-may). Caught in a tropical paradise, one can easily admire the hilly forests, artisan markets, and cocoa and coffee farms. Only 120km from Togo’s capital city of Lome, this Southern town is a must-stop for any traveler! Top of our priority was...butterfly hunting! The ride to Kluto, 12km from Kpalime, led us through the lush, green rain forest. Not wanting to ruin my camera as it was gently sprinkling, I can only describe the moment as a ride through the tropics surrounding by jungle and peace. Lovely! Kamalo Falls, a mineral-spring waterfall, on the way to Kpalime

Unfortunately, it was too foggy and misty to be surrounded by hundreds of butterflies (they only come out during the sunshine), but we still caught our fair share of little guys (okay, maybe 5, but still worth it!).Butterfly hunting can easily make one look youthful again!

Got one!

After shopping at the Artisan market, we checked out of Hotel Bafana Bafana for lunch at Le Plaisir before the two hour drive to Lome. The rest of the night was spent eating at Nems 24, a Vietnamese restaurant. Luck would have it that the owner was actually Vietnamese and though he couldn’t speak English or French nor could I speak Vietnamese, we somehow stumbled through the three languages to have a nice conversation. And yes, it led to free pho!Spaghetti bolognaise at Le Plaisir, Kpalime, Togo

After an hour or so of chatting with the chief's son (who would also serve as our tour guide along with five of his buddies!), we headed off in search of a fortress in the cliff!

Chief's compound. Not pictured: his four wives!

According to Lonely Planet, the "castle in the cliff" is a mini-fortress built into the side of Mt. Semoo. During the 19th century, the Chokossi Empire established an empire over Northern Togo. However, the Moba people resented this and built the cliffside fortress to hide themselves and their possessions from soldiers and tax collectors. Just like the IRS!

After prepping water for the 3-hour hike, Lindsey and I for some odd reason ended up leading the group through the swamp-like farms! After realizing we had no clue where the trail was, the chief's son brought us to Mt. Semoo where we hiked straight up at about a seventy-degree angle (how do we always end up on these tough hikes?!).

As the top plateaued out, we came across...a door? The door opened to steel ladder, but as the door was locked (pointlessly locked I may add), we walked around the door to access the ladder from the adjacent rocks.

After that rocky, steep hike, I was happy to see a steel ladder!

We were soon walking in the fortress that laid in the side of the cliff! The chief's son told us that in times of war, women and children could hide in the fortress. Much cooler inside the mountain, we darted in and out of the small caves while bats flew around us. Even remnants of baskets that were hundreds of years old could be found.

Mini-fortress of Mt. Semoo, Gaoundoga, Togo

Climbing in and out of the caves of the mini-fortress!

That night we said goodbye to the little village of Gaoundoga and headed off to the city of Kara, a transit point to southern Togo. Though we could have splurged 20.000CFA (~$40US) for the Hotel Kara (tennis courts and swimming pool!), we decided to stay in the hostel of La Lumiere for 3.500CFA each (~$7US) just down the street. Ahh, the Peace Corps budget! Luckily a great dinner of pizza, fruit, salad, and pasta was had at Le Chateau!

We spent the night in Kompoega, a small village in Burkina Faso and post of PCV Anna Callahan (a.k.a. Lindsey’s best friend from high school)! It was highly convenient as Anna lived only about an hour and a half outside of Ouagadougou and the village was on the way to Togo, our next stop. Kompoega, Burkina Faso

As the country sits in the Sahel, cold drinks were necessary! Though Anna doesn’t have electricity at her house, the market area luckily did – even enough kilowatts to host a film club for the community! After touring the health clinic she worked at, we headed back to say hello to the family that lives in her compound. The rest of the night was spent making dinner (wearing headlamps in the dark of course!) and relaxing. Simple day, but a good day!Typical Peace Corps photoIn other places, you would take away a knife from a four-year-old. Here, she is the best cook in the family!

Traditional outdoor kitchen

While living or traveling in West Africa, one must get used to waiting. Time is relative and life rolls on at a leisurely pace. The taxi guys that Anna called to take us from Koempoga to the main street were about 45 minutes late, so we waited. We took a car halfway to Sinkasse and then the driver made us get out and wait for another car. A car finally came and in Sinkasse, we found a van to take us to the Togolese border (after waiting for it to fill up with people of course!).Why yes, that is a motobike hanging off the side of the car...c'est la vieWe are becoming quite skilled in traveling in uncomfortable positions

We negotiated 750CFA (~$1.50US) for the taxi guys to take us to both immigration offices (leaving Burkina and entering Togo). Thank goodness that we had legitimate visas because we were stopped by police even before reaching immigration. In all of my traveling experiences, the visas for Togo were the easiest to acquire! In the main room, there was a large sign dictating the prices for each respective country. Further, after providing the 15.000CFA each (~$30US), we received a receipt-looking stamp inside of our passports dictating exactly how much we paid – no corruption here! At the Togolese border, we found a bush taxi (normal size taxi that crams in 8 passengers) to Dapaong for 1.000CFA (~$2US). We wanted to stay for the Saturday market of this lively city, but alas, we were called to the tiny village of Goundoga, 22km from civilization, in search of a secret castle in a cliff (okay, maybe not too secret as we read about it in a Lonely Planet travel guide, but it’s definitely off the beaten path)! The ride was beautiful as we rode past Northern Togo’s mountains and greenery. My taxi man asked me where we would spend the night. There should be a hostel in the next village 1km out, I thought. “Would you like to stay at the chief’s house?” he inquired. Let me think…yes! Road to Goundoga, Togo

The chief’s son met us at the local school to direct us to the house. The taxi men also arranged to our transportation as well – so nice! The rest of the night was spent talking to the chief’s family.

Goundoga, Togo

So there we were just chatting away underneath the stars in this tiny West Africa village at the chief’s house. Moments like these make life feel dreamlike, yet so real at the same time.

First stop was to where else, but Burkina Faso’s Peace Corps Medical Officer! No worries, we are fine, but this allowed us to stock up on necessary medical supplies. Warning: Peace Corps plug coming…Having a worldwide Peace Corps network is very handy as staff/PCVs are very willing to assist you in places to stay, equipment, etc. Love being a PCV! After leaving a note for a fellow Cameroonian PCV who is now serving Peace Corps Response in Burkina (can’t believe we just missed you, Mike!), we headed off to run our errands. We had to go to same places that we were all too familiar with: the bank (thank goodness for plastic!) and Immigration. The Visa d’Entente allows entry into Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, and Niger all for just 25.000CFA. As border crossing visas in third-world countries could be debatable, we wanted to have our visas in advance. Of course, the Immigration Officer stated that if we were lucky, we could have the visas in two days. We’ll take our chances at the border then! And if anybody out there knows where you can acquire this magical Visa d’Entente outside of the five countries it serves, please let me know! They “ran out” in Cameroon! Ouagadougou (still can’t pronounce the name correctly!) is surprisingly an expat city. Burkina is one of the poorest countries in the world, yet since it is a transport country, the government (this is what the local Burkinabe tell me) upkeeps the roads and the infrastructure is impressive. There are also Western restaurants and hang outs for expats of all worlds. Walking around the center of town, we stopped for hot dogs and ice cream sundaes for lunch. What? Afterwards, we headed off to the Village Artisanal de Ouaga, a government-run cooperative center that hosts a variety of artisanal crafts. Here one can find everything from baskets to leather goods to dolls to wooden giraffes! Interestingly enough, the overwhelming majority of pieces are fixed, so if you’re not one to haggle, this will be your spot! And if you’re like me and love the fine art of negotiating, don’t worry, you can still bargain hard on the marked prices away! Needing some time to relax, Liz and I headed back to the Peace Corps “case (transit house)” to pick up laundry, check the internet, shower, and relax. Dinner was spent at a Chinese restaurant and then back into town with some of Burkina’s PCVs. At Salon du The, I ordered a “Grog drink” for my sore throat and we spent the rest of the night dancing away. Good times!

After my fellow travel mates picked up medication for worms and giardia (c’est la vie), we headed off for some serious shopping! First stop: Gafreh Boutique. A fair-trade organization comprised of women members, Gafrah showcases products created from recycled plastic bags. I picked up a wallet, while the other girls picked up handbags.Gafreh Boutique - Bags are created wholly from recycled plastic bags!

At the Grand Marche, I negotiated for a waist belt ($1.50US) and a leather keychain ($.80US). Though we had some annoyances (local Burkinabe men following us ALL throughout the market), it was much tamer than most market experiences, so it was all good! Best buy of the day? Obama pagne (fabric) for $4US! I think I’ll make an Obama apron. Afterwards, we made a quick pit stop at the Grande Mosquee. Resembling the Grand Mosquee in Djenne, Mali, the building was built in the 1800s and is comprised of mud and clay.

Note: The entrance fee (5.000CFA/$10US) to walk inside of the Grand Mosquee in Djenne, Mali is NOT worth it as the outside architecture is much more impressive than the empty inside room. However, 1.000CFA/$2US donation to enter the Grand Mosquee in Bobo-Dioulasso , would be worth it to satisfy one’s curiosity. Grande Mosquee, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - Yes, look closely, I'm there!

After lunch, we headed on a straight, four-hour bus ride to Burkina Faso’s capital city of Ouagagoudou (say that five times fast!). It was interesting to stay in another country’s Peace Corps “case de passage (transit house)” and listen to other PCV’s experiences. Resembling the experiences of the PCVs in Mali, the PCVs of Burkina Faso share one country that is relatively the same everywhere in terms of climate, landscape, and language. Needless to say, they were very jealous of Cameroon’s “Africa in Miniature” reputation with 10 regions and 250+ ethnic groups with rainforests, waterfalls, Sahel, beaches, mountains, etc.! And as most Cameroonian PCVs have electricity, most PCVs here don’t! Thank goodness, otherwise, how would I write this blog?

After flagging down a car from Bobo-Dioulasso, we headed off to Banfora, a transport town 85km out from the city (argh, can't wait to start using miles instead of kilometers again!).

Once at Banfora, I contacted Omar (+226 76 60 37 23), a taxi driver that was put in touch with us by another traveler. He would drive us 10km to the Karfiguela Waterfalls (Banfora Cascades) for 10,000CFA ($20US). Luckily, we were able to swing the "Peace Corps discount" and entered the falls for only 500CFA ($1US) each. After walking through the mango trees, the multi-layered waterfalls made for a great backdrop to our photoshoot!

Note: If time allows, a bike ride out to the waterfalls would be worth it!

I'm taking full credit for the timing of this shot!

Karfiguela Falls a.k.a. Banfora Cascades

After dozens of photos, we headed out to the Domes de Fabedougou just 2km away. I had no idea that you could actually climb to the top of the peaks until we saw people easily traversing around.

Domes de Fabedougou

Being fiercely Zen in Burkina Faso

Note: If interested, check out Lake Tengrela, a small lake in the village of the same name. Why go? Hippos!

While waiting for the VIP bus to take off (yes, it actually leaves on time), we spoiled ourselves with a meal from McDonalds...err...MacDonalds that is. We didn't care as the hamburgers and spaghetti bolognaise were the closest thing you could get to McDonalds in these parts of West Africa!

P.S. Burkina Faso has beautiful baskets. I'm obsessed, but will not put up photos as any reader will think photos of baskets are boring.

Finding information about visas in West Africa can be a bit challenging especially when requirements are different for those living in other countries, travelers with direct/indirect flights, etc.

After checking government and travel websites with contradictory information, we learned and decided that it would be better and cheaper to buy our Burkina Faso visas at the border crossing between Mali-Burkina. It should have been around $40US.

While in Mali, we learned from our Italian CouchSurfing host that a "new requirement" upped the price of the Burkina Faso visa to ~$120US. Upper further inquiry, a Returned PCV stated that another recent upgrade made the visa cost ~$185US!

Sigh...at the border crossing, we stayed quiet and kinds to see what would happen. The immigration officers actually spent much time flipping through our passport pages as we already built a collection of stamps (gotta love those passport stamps as a traveler!).

"For the three visas, that will be 196,000CFA," the officer stated without hesitation. So, that would be 65,333CFA (~$134.70US) for each of us. Interesting!

We were happy enough not to pay the $185US, so after the bus full of Africans waited for us to finish, off we all went! Finally arriving in Bobo-Dioulasso eight hours later, we were exhausted!

After realizing that we couldn't make it in one day to Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso (yes, these are names of a city and country respectively), we traveled just a few hours to Segou. Often forgotten when overshadowed by Djenne and Dogon Country, Segou and its port make for a worthwhile stop!

After yesterday's ATM fiasco, Lindsey and I tried pulling out money again. First ATM...fail. Second ATM...fail. Third ATM...sigh. We were about ready to give up, but Bank of Africa to the rescue! This was a relief as I literally had empty pockets and we needed to buy visas at the Malian-Burkina border.

After running around for a bit with a rickshaw taxi, we were able to buy tickets for the next morning's eight-hour bus ride. Whew! Two big headaches out of the way.

Strolling by the port, Lindsay and I bought a bunch of bracelets, postcards, and general trinkets at the artisan boutiques. Note: If you ever see a man with a Lakers jersey, buy from him! He'll give you fair, non-tourist prices :)

For 6.000CFA (~$12), we found ourselves in another canoe to the artisan center of Ateliers SOROBLE in Bogolan .

My new wooden turtle is so excited to see mud-cloth!

Atelier Soroble (23 21 367; soroblecentre@yahoo.fr) is a mud-cloth workshop that sells beautiful hand-woven and painted works! We were able to walk the entire premises watching cloth being spun to admiring the finishing touches. Who knew mud could be so elegant?

Spinning cloth and rocking an Abercrombie t-shirt!

The different colors are made from different mixtures of mud - gorgeous!

On the way back, Lindsey gracefully handles men from Timbuktu

At dinner at Hotel Djoliba, we had the most amazing service that I've seen here in West Africa. Often while eating, I take short rests (I'm a slow eater, it happens). Upon seeing one of my breaks, the waiter came over to ask if there was anything in my pasta. Umm, meat? It turns out that because I only took a few bites and then sat back, he assumed that it wasn't good and was checking up on me! In a world where customer service doesn't really exist (no smiles, orders taken and plates given at different times, hunts to find the waiters, etc.), this was refreshing!

Tomorrow: Burkina Faso!

Final day of our hike across Dogon Country! The 6:30AM departure allowed us to start before the sun came out. We thought the intensity was behind us as we passed the villages of Anou, Ibi, Nini, and Banani (yes, I have a good memory!) without any problems…and then we realized that Sangha rested on the TOP of a mountain. Here we go!

Look closely! Do you see the waterfall?

What's one more mountain after hiking for two days straight? Oy vey...

Village of Banani

At the top, we received a much needed break while a group of young girls found us to be quite the attraction. I held a staring contest with two of the kids, but only beat one of them. They may look cute until they start harassing you for candy - I really don't have any!

Note: When hiking Dogon Country, do NOT give away candy/gifts to the kids! This builds the notion that foreigners are rich and this has already led to kids following and bothering all along the trail. Aid does not equal handouts. With our original chauffeur in Timbuktu (literally, not figuratively), we waited a bit after lunch for the new chauffeur to come. This was actually a great opportunity as it allowed us to explore the artisan boutiques and see indigo dye making. So pretty! Indigo dye-makingWomen carrying traditional calabashes

After two hours to Bandiagara and one hour to Severe, we stopped by the bank(s) to pull out money to pay our driver. The ATM at Ecobank (which didn’t work before for me) had a red barrier preventing any cards from entering. At another local bank, Liz’s Visa card wouldn’t work. At Bank of Africa, Lindsey’s card wouldn’t work, but Liz could get money. One down, two to go. Knowing that there was an Ecobank in Mopti (fifteen minutes away), we stated to the driver that we’d give him another 5.000CFA to take us there. Well, the Ecobank ATM in Mopti accepted the card, but my money never came out of the machine! I checked the balance of the account and the ATM debited the 200.000CFA ($450US) I never received! Where’s my money?! As the bank was closed (Friday evening) and I had a panic attack, a man popped up out of nowhere and inquired why the foreigners were so alarmed. Luck was on our side as he was the chief of the branch and just happened to own a boutique across the street and saw us. After explaining the situation, he brought us into the branch and called the main office in Bamako. He was also kind enough to allow me to use his phone to call our contact in Cameroon – too bad she hung up on me! He filled out a Reclamation Form and stated that Cameroon will take care of crediting my account, but there would be nothing that could be done that day. And Lindsey? She tried three other ATMs and still could not pull money out…sigh…c’est la vie. I bet this guy doesn't have to worry about ATM issues

*As of October 23, 2011, Ecobank Cameroon credited the missing 200.000CFA! All was not lost!

Today would be Day 2 of our three-day trek across Dogon Country. Seven hours of walking, here we go!

Tip: If you are traveling across Dogon Country, bring snacks (i.e. peanuts) and Gatorade! There aren’t too many options along the road. With the day just beginning, the first hour was a simple walk through farms and fields (of course, our tour guide, Amadou, continued to carry me over his shoulders anytime we came across a river). The hike drastically changed; however, as we approached...a mountain. “Are we climbing that or are we walking that?” I asked. “Juste comme ça (just like this),” Amadou stated while lifting his knees up. As we realized we would be walking and not rock climbing, we were in.See that patch of green grass? That's where we started!Hiking up rocks and jumping from boulder to boulder was tiring to say the least! After an hour or so of traversing the “trail,” we came across a rest point at the ancient pygmy village of the Tellums. The Tellums were the indigenous people to the area before the Dogon people arrived. Believ!e it or not, they actually built dwellings directly into cliffsides!Tellum pygmy village. Could you live in a cliff? Basket weaving!

Amadou then gave us two choices to continue on: 1) We could take the usual trail that leads to the ladder, which would be more dangerous or 2) We could take the safer way, but wouldn’t see the village in the mountain. It’s moments like this that are highly frustrating when there are language barriers! Amadou stated that we shouldn’t do the ladder and I understood that it was because the ladder was 90 degrees upright for an hour’s walk. After discussing some more, we understood that the ladder would take just a five minute climb. Finally, another man stated that the ladder was easy and found us a practice ladder that was just 2 meters long. When we asked Amadou again, he stated that the ladder was dangerous because we were women and women were not strong enough for the ladder. Game on, Amadou! We decided that we must attempt the ladder! Actually, we agreed that we would just walk to the ladder, look at it to see the safety of it, and then decide if we wanted to climb it (hey, safety first, right?). Continuing the hike, we came across the top of the mountain and traversed a bridge constructed completely of rocks and wood. Surprisingly, our porter had phone signal and could make a call albeit the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere! Don't worry, Mom and Dad. If I'm posting this, that means I'm fine!

We finally reached the ladderit was a tiny two meter ladder. Even if you lost your footing, there was a wooden patch of sticks that would save you. All that hoopla for something so simple! The two-meter ladder was obviously frightening!

After our death-defying climb down the ladder, we realized that we were literally inside the mountain’s crevices! It was about twenty degrees cooler and as we wove in and out of caves, we even found a man-made river.

The village of Youga Dogourou sits inside and on the mountain!

I finally hit my hiking wall after the village of Youga Dogourou as I started slipping and sliding on all the rocks from general fatigue. Amadou was patient as I grabbed his arm while descending the mountain. Thank goodness we received lunch and a long four-hour break at Youga Na! The village of Youga NaWe started back up again at 4PM and walked an hour and a half to Hotel Togouma in the village of Coundou, population 1,000. Exhaustion!

Today, we would trek what many seasoned travelers rave about: Dogon Country, Mali. Settling on a three-day hike, we received the contact of tour guide Amadou from Malian PCV, Jeremy Coats. After calculating everything for Dogon Country (50.000CFA/person, 30.000CFA/car ride to Sangha), I would have about 3.000CFA left ($3US). Thank goodness for my travel mates as the Ecobank ATM was out of commission! Amadou arranged a driver for us (who was appropriately named Amadou as well), but as a good husband, the driver decided to stay at home to tend to his sick wife. Thus, our chauffeur ended up being a very elderly senior citizen that barely spoke a word of French. His age would have fooled you though as his playlist included Rihanna’s “What’s My Name?” and Cyndi Lauper's “Girls Just Want to Have Fun!”After the driver was lost for a bit (story of our lives), we found a farmer that showed us the way to Bandiagara. Bandiagara was only about an hour from Mopti – too bad it was another two hours to Sangha! Note: Tours of Dogon Country usually begin in Bandiagara or Sangha. Bandiagara is the more typical path as there are the Falaise de Bandiagara/Cliffs of Bandiagara with sandstone cliffs labeled as a UNESCO World Heritage Site; however, Sangha is more off the beaten trail. Dealer’s choice! Traditional medicine man, Sangha, Dogon Country, Mali

Amadou had just finished hiking for three days with Jeremy and instantly came to hike with us! I was a bit surprised at his announcement right before lunch though. “We are going to hike for 15km this afternoon. That will take about five hours if you walk well,” he stated. Sigh…this is being told to a former New Yorker that used to take the subway from 34th Street to 42nd Street. Tip: Always get the porter! It’s only 5.000CFA/person for all three days, but he will hold ALL your baggage with ease! This is a happy me before the five-hour hike...photos of an angry me after the hike will not be posted

So off we went hiking underneath the beating African sun with just a bottle of water in one hand and a camera in the other. After our starting point at the village of Sangha, we walked straight on a continuous (and sometimes never-ending) journey. There were barely any people and each small village was miles from the next one. There was no end in sight until… We reached the beautiful village of Tiogou! To the right of us was a river and to the left were the village houses. We walked down a bit more and realized the village was built on rock formations and water would trickle down step by step forming a village on waterfalls! Each step was more beautiful than the first – silly me for wanting to conserve my camera battery and not making a video! The beautiful village of Tiogou!We had the opportunity to ford some small rivers, but I just let the porter and tour guide carry me over (i.e. as the rivers could have diseases like schistosomiasis!). We reached the village of Yendouma right at sunset. With a population of only 800, Yendouma brings enough tourism to have Hotel Mare aux Caima cater to guests.Our sleeping arrangements on the rooftop of Hotel Mare aux Caima complete with mosquito nets Sunset over Dogon Country - gorgeous!

The spaghetti and meat dinner with Yogi tea (thanks RPCV Eric!) was an excellent way to finish the day before going to bed on the rooftop (way too hot to sleep inside!)

First let me discuss the visas… Djenne to Mopti only took about 3 hours by “bush taxi” (caravan car where they stuff in 20+ people), so it was definitely one of the easier rides here in West Africa.

At arrival, we walked next door to the police to renew our visas. The serious looking man and woman stared at us intently as we put down our bags. “That will be 5.000CFA each,” the male police officer said. “Oh, we already paid at the airport,” I smiled back. The woman stated that was Bamako, not Mopti, so we would have to pay 5.000CFA. He proceeded to state that a group of Americans had just paid as well. “No, we already paid at the airport. You must be kidding, my friend. We can call immigration there if you would like us too.” When she asked for the name of who we knew, I pulled out immigration officer’s card. Bam! They finished our paperwork and out the door we went with 5.000CFA still sitting in our pockets. Hazaa!

Always, always get phone numbers of authority figures and know how much to pay for visas! Now let’s discuss the day… Thanks to CouchSurfing, we had pre-arranged to stay with Marta, an Italian that lived fifteen minutes away in Severe. After having a nice chat at her place, Lindsey, Liz and I headed back to Mopti to grab lunch (i.e. pizza!) at Bissap Café and to meet a tour guide, Ousmane, that was the older brother of Modibow, who we had met in Djenne.

Our pinasse (motorized canoe) driver was so ready for a photoshoot

Jumping in the pinasse (motorized canoe), we enjoyed finally being on the water! First stop was to a Bozo village. The Bozo are fishermen who work on the Niger River. It was quite a juxtaposition as one side of the river lies Mopti, a bustling transit city, and the other side lies some of Mali's poorest and smallest villages. Bozo village. We didn't plan this typical-Peace-Corps-Volunteers-in-Africa photo, I swear!

We actually thought that the tour was done as we paid 12.000CFA/hr., but Ousman was nice enough to take us to the village of the Tauregs. A nomadic people, the Tauregs practice a mixture of Islam and animists beliefs. And apparently, they wanted to make us play dress-up!Being TauregsTravel buddies...we like to wear colors here!

Djenne is easily one of the best parts of backpacking West Africa as the multi-story mud homes make for an untouched ancient city. Tourists, beware though! You will receive throngs of tour guides trying to offer their services. There was no better way to start the day than by eating meat-on-a-stick accompanied with onions and cucumbers. After our healthy breakfast, we hit the Grande Marche with its beautiful colors. Note: Try to visit Djenne on Monday Market Day! The sleepy, little town comes alive with people, colors, and sounds. I'm such a creeper for taking their portraits, but they came out so beautiful!

After meeting the chief at his house, we went to the Grande Mosquee (Great Mosque) for photos. Noted as a World Heritage site by UNESCO, the Grande Mosquee is the larget mud building in the world. With its Sudano-Sahelian architectural style, the Islamic building is one grand sight to see! Note: Do NOT pay the 5.000CFA (~$10US) to go into the Grand Mosquee (they actually tried to make us pay 10.000CFA (~$20US) each). There is really nothing to see, but podiums. As for the library they wanted to show us? It was a closed bookcase. If you want to make a donation, maybe 2.500CFA (~$5US) to be nice, but otherwise, it is not worth it as the outside of the mosque is much more impressive than the inside. These animals are normally so average, but are interesting to an American since they're in Africa

The day was great…until we tried to send postcards at the post office. Here, for whatever reason, people do not have small change, even for a small bill. All I wanted to do was break my 2.000CFA by paying for the 665CFA postcard and stamp to my parents. It is a fact though, that post offices are the one place with change! So we went back and forth with the post office man and then he finally sent his daughter to find coins. Now, too bad Lindsey had to break her 2.000CFA… Let’s just say he closed the window on us and said that he was going home. Lucky for us, it started raining and for whatever reason, people don’t really use umbrellas here, so he couldn’t leave! And there came the daughter with small change – we win! Photoshoot at the Campement

After taking some more pictures of the Grande Mosquee from a rooftop terrace, we ended up at our mini-tour guide’s house. There he served us tea before eating dinner at Kiro Korou. Disclaimer: If an adorable little kid tries to be your tour guide during a school day, say no! He needs to be in school!

Djenne, Mali - A beautiful ancient city

5:20AM wake up call! Luckily, our taxi driver Adama was ready and waiting for us outside of The Sleeping Camel. Today, we’d head out to the ancient town of Djenne, Mali. By buying our tickets the night before with Afrique Express, we were able to secure seats as it’s first-come, first-serve. Finally, at 7AM, the bus was ready to go! The ride was long, but we luckily received a break at the city of Segou at 11:30AM. As I was buying a pen for my journal, the bus took off (i.e. it sped away with me chasing it!). I looked around and did not see any of my travel mates. Luckily, the few Malians that spoke French told me that the bus would come back after filling up with gas. After a few minutes, I was thankful that Lindsey showed up as I was the only one with a cell phone. Everyone said that the bus would come back, so we just relaxed and ate meat-on-a-stick. Soooo…two hours later we were still missing the bus, our luggage, and our third travel-mate. C’est la vie. Cheers of joy throughout the crowd were heard as the bus came back! Liz, who had taken some pharmacy-prescribed drugs for the foreign disease she picked up, had been asleep the whole time! Apparently, the bus was around the corner? Aargh…

At arrival at Carrefour Djenne, we were a bit nervous being the only ones out of a bus of 50+ to descend. It was the middle-of-nowhere. So...where do we go from here?

So…we waited for something, anything to come. Car, bus, horse, donkey, etc. Luckily, after about twenty minutes, a taxi stated that he was going our way for 1.500CFA each and we would just need to pay the 1.000CFA tourist tax. We called our PCV buddy, Jeremy Coats, who lives in Mali and in reality, yes, the tourist tax is legal! While on the ferry to cross the Bani River, I soon noticed that the man sitting next to me (or rather, the man who I was sharing the front seat with) had an Ithica New York College t-shirt. First-world clothing is often donated to the third-world, but apparently, this self-described nomad spent three weeks in NYC doing a slideshow (I later learned that he meant PowerPoint presentation at a tourism conference). In Djenne, once everyone found out that we were PCVs, they wanted to take us to “Sophie’s house.” Sophie, whoever you are and wherever you are, you were very well-integrated PCV in your community!

After dinner at Chez Baba, the night was spent sweating and sleeping in the humid and hot sub-Saharan weather! Sheesh! The Grande Mosquee, Djenne, Mali

First stop this morning was to acquire our visa extensions, so we wouldn’t be deported. Though the friendly airport officer told us immigration would be open today, the office was definitely not. Luckily, I had asked for the man’s number and he told us we could get them extended in Mopti, one of the legs of our trip.

If we were as well-dressed as this woman,

we wouldn't need to worry about being deported

Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, but looking at Bamako’s infrastructure, one would never guess that. With a population of almost 2 million people, Bamako is regarded as the fastest growing city in Africa. Investment has poured into the city so much as that there are multi-lane and elevated highways! Crazy. A highway! What?!

Being the shoppers that we are, we went straight to the Grand Marche and Artisanal. At the Artisanal de Sculptes, boutiques after boutiques of wonderful sculptures and artwork abound. There, I bought what later would become my favorite souvenir: a wooden pineapple (yes, I know that sounds like a lame souvenir, but I love it).

Adorable kid? Good photo? I think so. He was so happy to make my drum. Great deal for 3.000CFA (~$6US)I thought that this sweet woman in front of the Grande Mosquee was selling these bracelets at 500CFA ($1US). She was actually selling them for 50CFA ($.10US). We had to buy. Looking ridiculous and the crowd that watched us look ridiculous

Unfortunately, rain came in the afternoon, so we weren’t able to make the afternoon trip to Sibi (maybe I have a reason to go back to Mali!), so we waited a bit at our hostel, The Sleeping Camel. Lindsey’s ATM card finally worked after yesterday’s fiasco and we headed off to Route Blah Blah in Hippodrome, a lively street full of restaurants, bars, and yes, a bowling alley inside a nightclub. It was good to start the trip in such a lively city with so much art. Tomorrow: the ancient town of Djenne!

First let it be said that the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport is beautiful and large though it only has 11 gates. Lots of great shopping, clean, and best part of all: we got two passport stamps for our one-day entry and exit! Travelers and our passport stamps – we go hand in hand. Again, flying from Cameroon to Mali was no easy task. As direct flights don’t exist, we first flew to Ethiopia where we spent our night’s layover, then to Togo to pick up more passengers, and finally to Bamako, Mali. For those who enjoy visuals, please see our flights below:

Yes, we started in Cameroon, flew east to Ethiopia, then west to Togo, and then North to Mali!

At Bamako, we bought our visas hassle-free for $40US each. All we would need to do would be to get them renewed as the airport only issues 5-day visas. Making sure that the extension visa would not cost anything more, I also took the man’s phone number in case we ran into trouble later on. Note: When traveling in West Africa (or any country for that matter!), always, always, take down the phone number of the legitimate government worker/nice person that helps you. It will save you hassles later on (and you’ll see why when I blog about trying to get the visa extension!). Right outside the Bamako's airport entrance was an Ecobank (same bank in Cameroon that Liz has and accepts Visa cards) and an Orange phone store (so we could buy our SIM card). Things felt too easy…and then the ATM ate Lindsey’s debit card. Sigh…this is backpacking Africa. Note: If the ATM does not accept your card after two tries, do NOT try again!

After a year of serving as Peace Corps Volunteers, Lindsey Dattels, Liz Adamo, and I decided to spend Ramadan discovering the rest of West Africa. Who knew finding more adventure was even possible? The next few posts will tell stories and show beautiful pictures from our trek across Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Benin, but for now, let’s describe the journey (i.e. challenge) that it took for us to get there. At Douala International Airport, we checked in without problems, but Lindsey was later stopped for carrying a 9kg bag. Though it fit within the carry-on bag size, the baggage man stated there was a 7kg limit. We stated that we already checked with the front desk and there was no problem to which he stated that there was. The second we replied that we would talk to the main Ethiopian Airlines office, he let us go and said that we were being too stubborn. We win. Security went surprisingly well (which it never does for me), but right before the boarding gate, Lindsey was stopped again for her bag. We went through the same speech, but then I was stopped for having an over-sized contact lens solution bottle. “Do you have an ordinance for this?” “Yes, I do!” showing my prepared note with my own personalized stamp. We win again. After we sat down, another man came by to check our boarding passes and passports. Normal procedure…or so we thought. “Ladies, you need to come with me,” he stated outside the waiting room after twenty minutes. “I cannot allow you to board the plane without a Malian visa.” And here we go… “We will buy the visa at Mali’s airport as there is no consulate in Cameroon,” I easily replied. “Only direct flights require visas and we have to transfer in Ethiopia first, so it’s an indirect flight.” (Special shout-out to Travelindependent. You saved our life with that one!). He continued to say he could not let us board; we continued to say that we could. Well, no need to explain that though we were nice, you could see the anger growing in his eyes and we were sent us to the main Ethiopian Airlines office. Interestingly enough, he wouldn’t give us his name. And so we retraced our steps and passed by EVERYBODY that stopped us before. I explained the entire situation to Mr. Essaya, but he couldn’t understand my Americanized-French accent. I explained again in English, but he only spoke Cameroonian-accented English. Fail. Luckily, Lindsey explained everything. Again, he asked us if we had a “pre-arranged visa.” “We’ll buy it at the airport.” He laughed in our faces. “We have already registered with the US Embassy. They know we’re coming.” You can always count on the US Embassy! After he made a phone call (which took what seemed like a lifetime), he simply hung up and said that we could board the plane. CHAMPIONSHIP WIN! After all the back-and-forth, Ethiopian Airlines put us up in the swanky four-star Panarama Hotel where we spent the night’s layover in Addis Abba. Hot shower, air-conditioning, all-you-can-eat buffet, and free internet. Definitely some things PCVs lack in our lives and can appreciate! Don't tell us that we don't know how to pack light for three weeks!

Every good trip begins with a pedicure!

When I came to Cameroon as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I expected that I would not return to the States with anything that I came with. Though extremely careful and watchful, I was completely right.

Let's just say somehow and someway, the following electronics disappeared from my life in the past year:

-External harddrive

-Laptop computer

-Ipod

-And new to the list, digital camera!

What do you do then? As it is too risky to send expensive materials by snail mail, you rely on the friendliness of the "Peace Corps post system" (i.e. random PCVs/Americans traveling back and forth will bring you your latest electronic goodies).

Thus, a PCV on vacation brought over a new external, a new PCT packed my laptop, and a good friend who lives in my region was luckily home when my camera took a dive. Thus, this post isn't really about Yaounde's rebuilt stadium...it's actually one of the first pictures that I took with my 12.1 megapixel, 14x optical zoom Cannon! Pretty, no?

Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium a.k.a. "Omnisport" sits 40,000+ people. You can squeeze in another 10,000 if you want to stand Cameroonian-style!

Every year in early June, Peace Corps Cameroon welcomes a new training group of Education and Small Enterprise Development Volunteers.

Chosen as Host PCV a.k.a. “Greeter”, I will be co-welcoming the 43 new trainees. What does this entail? I’ll be part of the team that welcomes them as they first step onto Cameroonian ground and will help take care of all the little details before they move in with their host families. It’ll be five days of answering basic questions (‘Will I have electricity’?), assigning them LOTs of paperwork (Visas, homestay questionnaires, etc.), and prepping them for their PC service!It's incredible how fast the first year went by. Bucket baths are normal, I have enough pagne dresses (i.e. Africa fabric) for a fashion show, and I can actually speak French now. Crazy!

Before an intense week of welcoming and training the new Peace Corps Trainees, I took some vacation days to go fishing in Limbe, Southwest region, Cameroon.

First stop was to the barber shop as my buddy wanted to get clean-shaven or as Cameroonians like to say, “Oh, you want to be fresh?” Thank goodness I was there as I stopped them from putting black gel into his hair that I’m positive is only for African hair.

Best idea that we had was to stay in Limbe’s Botanical Gardens. Founded in 1982, the Gardens cover almost 48 hectares and are ideal for nature-lovers of all kind (too bad I'm not one!). Birdwatchers was booked, so we checked into Hotel Miramar for 15.000CFA. It was an okay view as our room overlooked the ocean from a cliff. Not too shabby! View from Hotel MiramarAfter eating at Mars, we headed off to the black sand beach. With a gentle breeze and the sun setting, it was very relaxing to say the least. The rest of the weekend was spent beaching it up, exploring Limbe’s Wildlife Center (one of the few primate sanctuaries in the world) and fishing at midnight. Cameroon is actually one of the few countries where coastal and lowland gorillas exist, so it was great to see them being saved in the sanctuary instead of being poached. See the video below for some good times!

Manjo lies in the Littoral region of Cameroon with a variety of ethnic groups including the Bamileke. An agricultural city, the biggest cash crops are coffee, bananas, and pineapples.

Today, Ashley and I headed off into the jungle!

The jungles of Manjo Living in a regional city, I find it great to explore other PCV's posts as each PCV has a widely disparate experience! From her house, we walked about forty-five minutes to come across this bridge – it’s nothing more than a hollowed out tree.

A fantastically classic bridge!

Before the night ended, I attempted to send my dad an e-card as it’s his birthday today (happy birthday, Dad!). Hopefully it went through, but with a sketchy internet connection, who really knows what I actually sent him?

A good PCV friend will be finishing her service in a few weeks, thus, I wanted to say goodbye and see her youth business club before she left Cameroon. And the journey to say goodbye begins… At 7AM, the VIP car agency (Le Car) that I wanted to take said that the next car would not leave until 9:30AM. Thus, I jumped in a yellow taxi to another agency called Centrale Voyages. Luck would have it that they have their own VIP bus leaving at 7:30AM and for 6.000CFA (~$12US), I would receive my own seat (a luxury in itself!), curtains on the windows, reading lights, a chocolate pastry, and a cold drink!

After three and a half hours of luxury cruising, I arrived in the city of Douala where I took a motobike to a friend of a friend’s workplace. From there, the friend of a friend and I jumped in a private car and he helped take me to Carrefour Roundpont to find a big sharebus taxivan. It took about two and a half hours to head off to the next transfer point as there was an incident… The man sitting next to me wanted to exit early; however, the driver wanted to go to the normal stop. The man next to me became angry, leaned out the window, and threw the van’s spare tire into the road. The driver realized what had happened a few moments later and stopped the car…and then the man and driver argued for about half an hour solving nothing. When we finally arrived in Loum, I was advised out of the van into a small, private car (I would normally think that this is sketchy, but here in Cameroon, c’est la vie). After about half an hour or so of sharing the front passenger seat, we arrive in Manjo at 2PM! Seven hours of driving done to travel 220 miles - phew!

So happy to finally reach Manjo!

Found the waterfall!

Gorgeous!

May 20, 2011. Today marks fifty years of the independence of Cameroon. I try to keep this blog free from anything from being politically-related as it's 1) a travel blog and 2) the U.S. government wouldn't be too happy (hence the disclaimer on the right-hand side of this).

So here are a couple photos!

Fellow PCV Janelle Walikonis and I at the parade in Yaounde

Snipers on top of the big grocery store in case anything should occur

I visited my buddy, Muburak, who currently studies at the University of Yaounde. Taught by a PCV while in high school, he can understand American English extremely well! Surprisingly, the University of Yaounde strikingly represented an American University. The library was about five stories tall and there was wireless. The oldest university in the country (built in 1962, mind you) is a mix of old and new. Yes, there’s wireless, but final grades are still posted on one big wall.One of the graduate student buildings Clearly, I have lost my fashion sense since moving to Cameroon

We walked over to Muburak’s dorm room, which goodness, is small! What can you do? This is college after all - complete with an NPR magazine that features “American” culture: flea markets, barbeques, and...the Peace Corps!Muburak's kitchen, bedroom, and office

NPR magazine listing all things American from rodeos to summer camps. And of course, the Peace Corps! (sorry for the photo rotation, I'm in Cameroon and internet is way too slow to change it!)

After a long day of pagne shopping, Ben Ace and I ate delicious fried rice at L’Orient Rouge. It was good to catch up as Ben and I live about 21 hours away from each other! Luckily, being active with Peace Corps background activities lets us catch up from time to time.

After some great Chinese, we headed off to the French Cultural Center where there was a highly entertaining hip hop show. The dancers were great, but the song “Je ne donne pas de lait (I don’t give away milk)” was even better! If you’re confused, let me put this into cultural context. Here in Cameroon, it’s very customary to give away gifts whether you are coming back from vacation or just because. It’s easy to buy drinks for someone; however, if you don’t even give away milk, you must not give away any kind of gift.

It took a taxi man to explain that one to us :)

We decided to continue our little taste of the USA by attending Happy Hour at the Hilton, Yaounde, Cameroon. The best part for me? Shopping at the 'Stop and Shop', which resembles a 99cent store. There, I bought the necessary slippers and kitchen mitts. Yes! I think that’s the main difference between being an expat in a country and being a Peace Corps Volunteer in a country: you get excited by kitchen mitts. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

View from the top! (top photo) View of Marche Centrale (bottom photo)

Nothing beats live music (top photo) and good friends (bottom photo).

If you’re living in America and reading this post, this will be irrelevant to you. If you are a Peace Corps Volunteer living in a developing country, you will know what I mean! Five others PCVs and I headed off to Pizza Roma, the most fantastic (and only!) PIZZA place in Yaounde. And yes, it’s real pizza with real CHEESE! Between the six of us, we ordered Pizza Margherita, Hawaiian, and Vegetarian. I had three huge slices for less than $6US. They even provided OLIVE OIL for us to put onto our pizza. Heaven. Afterwards, we saw what looked like a huge boulangerie (bakery) a little ways across the street. It turns out that the new Dovv Supermarche is two stories and sells BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER and…YOGA MATS! Additionally, there’s shopping carts, concierge service, a fountain, and a computer in case you need to check your internet! I found America. It’s in the Bastos neighborhood of Yaounde, Cameroon. And again, if you’re living in a first-world country, I apologize for the boring post. But for my fellow PCVs and me, tonight was pretty awesome.

Today’s the second day of our week-long Training Design Workshop. Here, PCVs and staff members plan training for the newest group of Peace Corps Trainees! After deciding which sessions are relevant and necessary, we sign up to lead specific training sessions. I’ll be co-leading “Role of a SED PCV,” “VSLA (Intro, Follow-Up and Final Wrap Up),” and “Youth Empowerment.” It’s hard to believe that the group that trained my group is preparing to leave and their replacements are soon arriving. I’m very excited to get the newbies pumped about being Peace Corps Volunteers.

One year later and loving it.

While waiting between the GMAT test disaster (see previous post) and preparation of training for the newest group of PCTs, I took the weekend to visit fellow PCV, Greg Clements.

Edea, Cameroon. Located in the Littoral region just 50km from Douala, Cameroon's business capital. It's hot here, folks!

First stop was Calao Club. Here, one can find the best 'soja (street meat)' in the country. It was a nice relaxing place to lounge and we found...COTTON CANDY! Mind-blowing to find that here in our corner of Africa.

Greg gleaning over cotton candy in Edea

After passing Edea on trips before, I always found my eye catching the hotel below:

Hotel photoshoot!

It has no name, but if you say "Ya know? That hotel with colors," people will know what you're talking about!

Best stop was the market! I highly recommend Edea's market as one can find everything and anything without the annoyances (and aggressiveness) of those markets in Yaounde and Douala. Most importantly, the 'pagne' (fabric to make clothes) is beautiful! I found silky black and white pagne to make American-style dresses.

Before buying supplies for tonight's dinner, Greg and I stopped off at Livio Bar, which lies on the shortcut between the main Yaounde/Douala and Marche du Bord roads. I like the blocks!

Livio Bar

The night ended with a delicious tortilla dinner and yes, it was all made from scratch. Delicious!

After roughly 3 months of studying for the GMAT, today is go day here in Yaounde, Cameroon! A Computer Adaptive Test, the questions become harder as you get more questions correct.

Nearing the end of the Math section, I come across a question along the lines of:

34) If a two-year loan is taken at x% interest and another loan is at a% interest one year and b% interest the second year, what is the increased difference of the loan?

A) .1 + x[(square root)x/a+b(ax)]

B) etc.

C) etc.

D) etc.

E) etc.

Needless to say, I'm on my way to a legit score. Unfortunately, THE ELECTRICITY GOES OUT! The proctor states that we can continue where I left off once the electricity comes back.

After 3 1/2 hours, the electricity never comes back on. I am rescheduled for next week.

As the title of my blog, c'est la vie.

Today marks the beginning of six weeks that I will spend away from site and in the Grand South of Cameroon. Usually, I would take an overnight train from Ngaoundere to Yaounde, but luckily, there is a Peace Corps car driving down! What does this mean? I will travel in an air-conditioned land cruiser that takes a third to half less the time as normal transport! And in this country, when you’re squished into a van with twenty-eight people and three goats when there should only be twenty-two people and no animals, the PC car is a gem! Right as I get into the car, I learn that Osama bin Laden is dead! Without constant access to internet, news can be slow moving here. We spend the next hour discussing everything from his living in a mansion to the helicopter mission. Crazy that it’s almost been a decade. At Meiganga, we visit fellow SED PCV, Claire Hutchinson, and eat banana bread at her house for forty minutes or so. Otherwise, with public transport, you would stop for ten minutes and you can’t count on any public bathrooms in this country! We stop for another half an hour or so in Garoua-Belai to enjoy a delicious lunch. I have intestine with rice. Once at Bertoua, we met up with other PCVs and a Fulbright scholar to eat at “Secret Fish Lady.” She owns a grilled fish stand in a parking lot - you eat there too. There’s no water or refrigerator at the PC transit house in Bertoua, but it’s okay as I got to ride in the PC car for 735 kilometers. That means that a usually 16-hour trip was done in 9 hours - sweet!

About 50km outside of Ngaoundere lie the Tello Waterfalls. These are the most spectacular waterfalls that I’ve seen yet in Cameroon!

After Peter finished up teaching the cyber café staff how to fix a decommissioned computer, we headed off to watch the Friday prayer at Mosque Alhadji Garou. I could be biased, but this is certainly the most beautiful mosque in Cameroon.

Each Friday at 1:15PM, hundreds of Muslim men (mostly of Fulbe descent) come here to prayer. It’s quite a sight to see!

Fellow PCV, Peter Pakowsky, and I collaborated with a cyber café to train women how to use the internet and send e-mails. Below is the collaboration report submitted to PC Administration. Atlas Café, Ngaoundere, Adamawa This project was a success. Over the period of the project, 8 women were trained in basic internet usage (researching topics, reading news, finding recipes, etc.) and email account creation and usage. We were able to negotiate lower prices for first time women customers (300CFA per each two hour lesson), removing a barrier to women’s computer education. The cyber café is owned by an MC2 client and the project also served as an income-generating activity for him. The women were trained over a one week period, with two hours of instruction each day. Most women attended two courses and received four hours of training over the week, thus two hours were spent learning how to use the internet and two hours were spent on creating and sending e-mails. Over the course of the week, 6 email addresses were created which allowed the women to practice email writing to retired PCVs, Peter and me, and amongst themselves. Over the same period, Peter was able to work closely with the cyber café staff to give training in computer maintenance and repair. There were a total of 4 staff members who benefited from this training. The staff seemed very interested in gaining skills in this area. They were able to fix one decommissioned computer and evaluate the broken components in three others.

Peter and I were also able to promote continued educational courses at the cyber café. The owner, an MC2 client, will take over the teaching position. At the time of this report, the owner has already continued classes with 2 women and 1 child. In addition, many educational materials from the ICT toolkit as well as my Peter’s lessons were given to the cyber café as resources for their internet literacy and computer classes.

This was a simple and fun SED/ICT project and I'm glad to see it continue on!

A couple months ago, I spoke at a church to discuss a promotion for savings accounts for women at my host institution of MC2. As I briefly mentioned that I work with women’s groups, I was approached by Haowao, a teacher at the Amity International College (which is the equivalent of primary and secondary school in the U.S.). She worked herself up from nothing to something and now wants to help other women do the same. “I can teach,” she stated, “Can you introduce me to women’s groups?” Right up my alley. So, Haowao has started teaching how to design calabashes. They are traditional bowls that have been carved and painted. Calabashes are appropriate gifts for weddings and grand events and sell for approximately 5.000CFA ($10US). As the materials for a calabash are under 1.000CFA ($2US), it’s a great income-generating activity for women. Thus, Haowao currently teaches one of my women’s groups. They pay her 5.000CFA a month for eight hours of lessons (one two-hour class each week) and it takes between one to three months to learn. Everybody benefits!

This is a world away from my previous life in the city!

It turns out more than a few PCVs planned to go to Waza National Park for a safari. Since there were a total of fifteen of us, it ended up costing each person less than 10.000CFA ($20US) for the whole trip! Alim (+237 99 71 73 40) picked us up from our front door step as we hired a car from Maroua to Waza. I shared shotgun seat with Jasmine Junk and Jenny Wang while the rest of the car blasted 80s music from an IPOD. It was good times as when we got closer to the park, monkeys darted right in front of us.

It was a hot day (I’m estimated 95+ degree Farenheit), but well worth it as we saw giraffes, vultures, warthogs (Puumba!), ostriches, antelope, and deer. First safari in Africa: check!

Maroua, the regional capital of the Extreme North region, is known for its handicrafts and cotton. Here, one can find the best artisan work in the country from paintings to jewelry. After a nine-hour bus ride from Ngaoundere to Cameroon, we were finally in Maroua. With two trip buddies on a paved road, this was one of the easier travels in Cameroon! If you're ever traveling in Cameroon and you're hungry, just grab something out the window!

First stop: the Artisan Market (“Artisinat”)! In a period of an hour, I spent about 20.000CFA ($40US) buying gifts and crafts. Luckily, all the merchants there understand that PCVs like to bargain hard and as I spoke the little Fulfulde that I know, I was able to walk away with fair prices on everything from shell earrings (500CFA) to calabash shakers (1.000CFA). Andrea and I headed to the “Beauty Institute” at Domayo where our friends have a salon. In December, we met Joserne and Esther while taking the train from Ngaoundere to Yaounde and promised them that we would visit when we came to Maroua. It was really great to meet women who own their own successful business in a place where some women need permission to leave their homes. Go Joserne and Esther! First things first: Esther wants to do my hair! As she’s worked with foreigners in the past, I let her go while Andrea received a pedicure. The salon also offers massages and has a portable sauna. Never thought that I would be at a salon here in Africa!Joserne in the salon's portable sauna!

Back at the PC house, PCV Martin Case requested a meeting with me. He had just changed sites and wanted to discuss project ideas and city living. It was highly productive as we discussed how to empower youth to how to figure out who has serious projects. The hightlight (beyond everything earlier that day!) was attending dinner with Joserne and Esther. We went to Restaurant Venice and enjoyed chicken and plantains over good laughter. Naturally, of course, Esther brought along her son in case Andrea was looking for a husband.Our delicious chicken and plantain dinner with red wine at Venice

Andrea realizing that she's been set up on a date with her (potential) future husband

Oh, Cameroon!

My neighbor, Mariamou, is currently hosting a study abroad student from the Students of International Training (SIT) Program. Since Ashley is currently sick in the hospital with malaria, Andrea DeRocco and I came to pay her a visit yesterday. She must be hungry, I thought. I’ll bring her meat on a stick. Too bad she’s a vegetarian. Fail.

This past week was crazy busy and productive. The IST for the Agroforestry and Health PCVs was held in Ngaoundere, thus, this whole week was a blur as it was spent with Peace Corps staff, volunteers, and administration! Fellow PCV, Harley Hunner, and I collaborated to donate approximately 300 textbooks to the University of Ngaoundere. Apparently, a few hundred textbooks were left as an unfinished project by a former PCV and were just sitting at headquarters! Needless to say, the University was happy to receive them and we attended a small ceremony with the PC Country Director.At the Book Ceremony with PC Country Director LaHoma Romocki With the staff of the University de Ngaoundere

The next day, I had a site visit (PC staff member coming to your site) by Gaston to discuss cross-culture and language integration. Since he was in town, I found it a perfect opportunity to have a translator for my presentation on VSLA to the Agroforestry PCVs and their counterparts. Presenting a year-long project in seventy-five minutes in two languages was no easy task! Luckily, Gaston understood American slang (when I said “The loan section is usually where people get tripped up,” he translated, “The loan section usually gives people problems”) and from feedback, I believe the fifty PCVs and Cameroonians enjoyed it. The same presentation was given to two sets of Health PCVs to which I had to promise training handbooks to later as the Agroforestry PCVs took them all! It’s been a good week, but I’m glad IST is done and over with as I’m exhausted! Whew!

After living here for seven months, I decided to go search for the waterfalls that apparently exist in my town. We call my moto driver (No, I don’t have my own chauffeur – he’s just a guy I can trust!) and he says 4.000CFA for two people to Chute de la Vina is just fine. Unfortunately, he has no clue where it is!

After inquiring a few other motos that pass, we find Hanzel, a nice and knowledgeable Anglophone Cameroonian who knows the way. I call my other moto guy, Adamo, who is ridiculously kind as well and accepts only 2.000CFA as he’ll take one person.

So with the eight of us ready, off we go!

The Chute de la Vina is apparently only 15km out from my city; however, Hanzel wasn’t too sure of its whereabouts either. I was convinced that it existed in a fourth dimension until we found some local village boys that led us back to a bridge…the same bridge I had been on when lost trying to find Lac Tison a month earlier! Last time, we had no clue we were sitting on waterfalls, but today, all we need to do is turn a corner and voila! There lies the waterfall! With my awesome moto drivers

After slipping and sliding down rocks and dirt, we discover an underground cave beneath the waterfalls. With the mist of the falls in front of us, we proceed to do a photoshoot! Chute de la Vina (Vina Waterfalls) on the way to Meiganga, Adamawa

I ask Adamo if he wants to take me back as I know he’s only receiving 2.000CFA, but he wants to see the volcanic crater lake of Lac Tison too. Allons-y! (For photos of Lac Tison, please see February postings!)