I try to keep this light...

But this post is going to be a gripe. (Fair warning to my mother, if you are going to ever skip a post, make it this one)

   This past week I did a good bit of traveling. I don’t love traveling here in Cameroon; it’s part of the territory and necessary for some parts of work and if I want to see other ex-pats. The thing is, it’s dangerous, like really dangerous, and to give a fair and balanced view of what life is like here in Cameroon it is something that should be disclosed at some time.

   I travel by public transportation, very rarely do I find myself in a privately owned car, and when I do it is usually for a short trip. The different options for public transport are buses, motorcycles (as long as the road is unpaved), mini-buses, and cars. Which mode is preferred or available depends on the exact trip you’re taking: Motorcycles are the go to for travel on unpaved roads and short distances and mini-buses are the most common option between cities. Cars have the advantage of filling up quicker than either kind of bus, but are usually even more crammed. In a five passenger car four in the back three up-front is standard and when the driver is especially ‘industrious’ he can usually get one more person in by sharing the driver’s seat (referred to a petit chauffeur). It is amazing how accustomed a person can get to this kind of arrangement, it is what it is.

   The picture in this post is the evidence of the worst incident I’ve been involved in, and it was relatively mild. This happened on the road between Mbouda and Bamenda just after Santa. Had the wheel come off at a few other places (e.g. the switchbacks descending into Bamenda) it would be a different situation. Car accidents are common and people are so crammed into cars that any built-in safety devices are made obsolete. This past month, a friend from Bali was recently in an accident that led to his arm being broken and a woman losing her life.This is the kind of news that is shared widely and tut-tutted at, but that is about the extent of the outrage.

   Life is invaluable. Putting each other’s lives at risk to save a thousand francs on a trip from here to Bamenda is lunacy. That being said, have I ever coughed up the extra cash to pay the driver to only take as many passengers as they have seatbelts? No, I haven’t. But I wish that at one of the dozens of police and gendarme check-points a car will pass through in a day an officer would compel the driver to follow those laws that are definitely on the books here. Instead, any driver simply puts out a little bit of money and passes without any regard for the overloading of their vehicle.

   People at every level gripe about these issues, but they are so institutionalized that no one can imagine a way to change them (is David Simon looking for a new project?). I don’t have exact details, but I heard that the mayor or some official at about that level actually did start strictly imposing the limit on the number of passengers leaving one of the cities here in the North West (Belo, maybe?). The result was a strike by the transport workers. I’m not sure what the resolution was and maybe I should have waited til I had my details straight to even mention it, but I’ll get back to you on it.

P.S. Actually, I do take the First Class service to Yaounde from Bamenda when I can, its 1000 francs more than the other bus and everyone gets their own seat. Funnily, it’s like being on the Chinatown bus between Philly and NYC, but here it feels like being in a Lincoln Towncar.