I had booked Cameroon more as a stopover than a proper trip as I have a trip booked with friends next year, so I’d come to Douala, rather than anywhere on next years itinerary. The visa system had been relatively simple and luckily (given my Gabon trip cancellation due to the coup) was still valid for 90 days so I didn't need a new one. However getting the visa in my passport on arrival, was not easy!! every time I got to the front of a queue, they closed the desk and I had to require at the back of another queue. The poor taxi driver I'd booked had to wait over two hours for me to grace him with my presence. Felt rather bad when I finally got through, only to find the bag I'd been forced to check in, had been searched, despite two padlocks on it, and my AirTag, which I struggle to find in my bag, was lying on top of my clothes, when I opened the bag.
Cameroon, I should have guessed was named after the Portuguese word “camarao” or prawns as we would call it. Douala was a vibrant town, on the water and stooped in history and I was looking forward to my day tour. I had booked a guide as I wanted to learn as much as possible! Oh how wrong could I be! Haha. He messaged to say, “I’ll pick you up at 12!” This was a strange time to start a day tour!!
We went to the maritime museum where he made me wait for an English speaking guide. After 10 mins one appeared and we walked up to the first floor. He then told me to read the boards (not sure why we’d got an English speaking guide). I stared at the board pretending to read the tiny green writing crammed next to the French writing in white. Not a clue what the museum was about as there were no boats or ship stuff so far. I wondered how long I should stare at each board for to make it plausible that I’d read it. I gave up! After the first few I just wandered past them to the pictures! No point wasting my own time! Lol.
Some of the first passenger vessels
Some old school marine techonology.
The second floor was far more interesting as it was different parts of a ship. I love boats and being on the water so this was interesting, plus there were no boards to read so I was feeling a lot better about things! There was a lot of old items that used to be used on the slave ships and then more newer items. There was also a section on safety as apparently so many people try and get from Cameroon to Europe for free healthcare but many perish on the way!
After the museum we went to the main square to see the courts of justice (no photos allowed), the monument of the king who rebelled against German rule despite being the one to sign for German colonisation papers, and the fountain with the statue commemorating those who died in the Second World War.
We walked around the back of the square to the graves of the former presidents and important people in Douala's history.
Once back towards the square, just on the corner, was a strange building, I couldn’t quite place it, but apparently it was a Vietnamese designed palace - known as the Bell Palace. I didn’t necessarily detect anything Asian about this building (not that I lived there for three years) but it was very special in Douala.
We wandered round to the cathedral and went inside to see the beautiful stained glass windows.
Opposite the cathedral was the football stadium with a statue outside of famous footballers. Sadly, the stadium itself was shut.
It was now 2pm and the tour was over! Amazing day tour! I suggested from looking at google maps there maybe were a few more places to see so we went to the port to see the views over the river and then to lunch.
Back at the hotel, I made the most of the indoor swimming pool that must have had a cooler in it, it was so cold and grabbed a beer before heading to bed for an early night. My flight was at 6am and I didn’t know i'd be in for an adventure with that one…
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