Caboose

Once it got light outside I kept peering out of the windows of the ferry to see if we were near land. Just before 7am we could see small Mount Cameroon (locally known as Etinde) appearing through the mist. Shortly afterwards the crew served us each a cup of tea and a cake. I stood out on deck for a while with Charles and Amy, watching the coast go by.

Around 9.30am we berthed in Limbe’s harbour. It took a while before we could get off, as everyone struggled to unload their luggage and negotiate customs. We just sat in the cabin and waited for things to calm down. We had to show our bags to both customs officers and soldiers and then settled down in one of the warehouses while Pete retrieved our passports from immigration. Pete is an exceptionally calm person and he managed to wear down the officials so that we got our passports stamped without having to pay anything.

Once we had left the harbour we hopped into one of the yellow taxis waiting outside and went to the Park Hotel Miramare. The Miramare is recommended in both the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet, it has a beautiful setting looking out over Ambas bay and pleasant (but pretty basic) rooms in little huts. Although there’s no beach the hotel has its own pool and a very nice restaurant. A room with one single bed and one double cost XAF 18400 including continental breakfast for two. We decided to have lunch at the hotel while our rooms were being prepared, so we sat in the restaurant looking out over the bay and had a lovely meal.

We then wandered up past Limbe’s famous botanic garden to the nearby bank, where I changed some of my euros into CFA Francs. The CFA Franc is fixed against the euro, so I got the fixed rate and wasn’t charged commission. We then wandered in to town to find somewhere that would change dollar, sterling and naira. The banks all seem to be along the quiet bayfront road, near the old Presbyterian church. They were closing but the security guard from the Credit Lyonnais walked us up through the busy market to Charlie’s Shop, where the others changed their money.

While the money changing was going on Mary and I wondered at the wide range of products available in the shop, including Cameroonian chocolate, cheese and wine. In the market there seemed to be much less hassle than in a Nigerian market, Cameroonians seem more relaxed in general.

After a short motorbike ride back to the hotel we all went for a swim, some nice beer (not Star or Gulder) and dinner. I had a delicious seafood platter, with huge tasty shrimps.