People of Cameroon

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We did a lot of driving in Cameroon. Many of the roads are unpaved. They are generally in very bad shape due to the endless stream of big trucks. We drove about 1,000 km (600 miles) on these dirt roads. I wear a Fitbit watch that counts steps. On one day we drove for 12.5 hours on these roads. My Fitbit counted over 35,000 steps due to the tremendous, constant, shaking in the car.

All goods are moved by trucks, so big trucks are everywhere. On the roads to Douala there is an endless stream of big logging trucks with huge logs. One big truck holds only 3-6 of these big logs.

Houses in local villages are mostly sticks, plastered with mud. I visited a Baka village to watch a dance performance and a demonstration of how they set traps in the forest.

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.

On the road

Rutted dirt road. These were some of the worst roads that I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot in Africa. (860k)

Truck traffic on a dirt road. Visibility gets real low around such traffic. (658k)

All the vegetation along the dirt roads is covered with dust. Only new leaves are bright green. (1406k)

On the way to the Lobéké National Park. (1421k)

Traffic in Douala. (761k)

Traffic in Douala. (805k)

Traffic in Yaoundé. The motorcycles with vests are motorcycle taxis. (717k)

Loaded motorcycle. (752k)

Traffic in Yaoundé. Yaoundé and Douala had lots of car taxis, as well as the more common motorcycle taxis. Outside of the big cities, there were few car taxis. (598k)

This was one of the cars that I was transported in. (816k)

Many of the diesel cars and trucks produced copious amounts of black smoke. (770k)

Big cattle transport truck. (794k)

Logging trucks with huge logs. (570k)

Logging truck. The rear wheel chassis can be removed and loaded on the tractor for the return trip to the logging operation. (633k)

One of the folded-up logging trucks on the way back to the logging operation. (708k)

Speed bumps. (700k)

Some of the speed bumps where huge. (607k)

Charcoal for sale along the road. These big bags of charcoal for sale were everywhere. (650k)

Car corpses were everywhere. (856k)

Views like this overturned truck were common. (823k)

Hotel room. There was no running water, and the toilet doesn't have a seat. (613k)

People

Produce vendors along the road. (636k)

School children on the way home. (792k)

People usually carry stuff on their heads. (781k)

Local youths playing foosball. (764k)

Woman and child in the Baka village. (734k)

Woman and child in the dance performance. (1101k)

Young child watching the dance performance. (913k)

Dance group in the Baka village. (1289k)

Musicians in a village of the Baka people. (1217k)

Dancers in the Baka village. (1404k)

Old dancer in the Baka village. (1243k)

Dancer in the Baka village. (1239k)

Old dancer in the Baka village. (1261k)

Woman in the dance group in the Baka village. (587k)

Woman in the dance group in the Baka village, clapping and chanting. (771k)

This drummer was having a great time. (676k)

Close-up of one of the solo dancers. (692k)

This dancer worked up quite a sweat. (673k)

Kids in the Pygmy village. (924k)

People in the Pygmy village. They are almost a foot shorter that people from other villages. (1028k)

Man showing how they set up traps. (1402k)

Trap. (1472k)

Close-up of a trap. (1407k)

Gold mine. It is all done with manual labor, washing the sand. (1063k)

Villages and towns

Local Pygmy village. (1201k)

Local Pygmy village. (999k)

Local settlement. (838k)

Local house in the Baka village. (1068k)

Local village. They dry cassava on plates on the roof. (1015k)

Local village. The locals put dried cassava up for sale on high platforms, to protect it from goats. (980k)

Houses along the road with dense forest behind them. (1113k)

Local house. Most houses away from the cities look like that. (1159k)

Local house with graves in front. Many houses had the graves of the family next to them. (740k)

View of a part of Yaoundé. Everything is covered with the dust from the roads. (809k)

German colonial fortress in Doumé

German Cameroon (German spelling: Kamerun) was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. German Cameroon also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern parts of Chad and far eastern parts of Nigeria. The fortress in Doumé was build between 1903 and 1911. It now houses a school.