1/7/11 1:00 AM (Douala time)
I have been awake for 19 hours! Woot! So apparently even flights flying out of Douala operate on Cameroonian time. We didn't board the plane until after it was meant to take off. We are flying over Benin right now. They are about to serve us some food which is great because I am hungered.
So after our grand send off we hopped into the van and hit the road for Douala. The chairlady of the congregation came with us to see us off at the airport. Along the way she had us stop a few times to buy produce. She bought sone awesome looking carrots that Shelby and I both thought looked very yummy. According to the travel clinic they're a no-no but I had a ton of salad and other no-no things this week and um doing alright. The ride was a bit crazy, the driver did 120 kilometers in areas that were marked 30 kilometers/hour. I'm nit sure what the kilometer to miles conversion is but I know we were going damn fast. We made it from Bamenda to Douala in five hours and thirteen minutes. Pretty good timing. We stood outside of the airport waiting for Gilbert, Caroline's brother, to come. He came into the airport with us and waited until we could check our baggage and proceed past the first security point. The lady as the swissair desk made Cindy check her carry-on, Cindy wasn't too happy.
Once past that level of security we went upstairs to the airport bar. It was very empty and very sketch. Shelby and I each ordered top grenadine and Dave and Cindy each got castel (the beer of Cameroon). Cindy ordered the seasonal fruit and the brought us a quarter of a watermelon with one fork....so Shelby hacked it up. On this trip every time someone offered Shelby and I wine and beer we said no, but tonight we both had some beer to end the trip.
We finished up in the bar and went to our gate. After waiting in the lounge for several hours, they made us all go out into the hallway and go through another security inspection. This time they took everything out of our carry-ons and examined them and gave us a very thorough pat down. They took away Shelby's knitting needles. A man searched Shelby's bag and apparently he had never seen a tampon before because he examines it thoroughly. We were sent into the lounge to do some more waiting. Finally they allowed us to board the plane! After everyone was on they sprayed the overhead compartments with bug spray. Even though we have left Cameroon I feel that our trip isn't over, there is still time for interesting excitements. I still can't believe our time in Cameroon is over. No more top, no more amazing food, no more feeling like a tourist attraction, it will be good to be home but I'm going to miss it.
Showing posts with label airplanes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label airplanes. Show all posts
Monday, January 10, 2011
Cameroon #1
Day 1 (December 27th-28th)
Well yay the "blizzard" hit Boston but was pretty much cleared by the time we got to the airport. After fretting about whether or not our flight would be cancelled it ended up being 4 minutes delayed. Ultimately it was over an hour after we were meant to take off but oh well. The plane in front of us was a British airways flight. The pilot decided to go 90 degrees against the wind. Apparently that wasn't a good idea because he had to turn around and land and try again. Our take off was a little rough. I thought the wing might fall off but it didn't. I didn't sleep much from Boston to Zurich. I love my new headphones but they are too big to try to sleep with. Cindy got attacked by a tray of food. It just fell off the cart and all over her. Eight hours later we landed in Zurich. We were worried about making our connection because we landed late but the flight from Zurich to Douala was delayed as well. Zurich is beautiful. It looked like a Christmas card. I even saw a horse pulling a sleigh as we got closer to the ground. Looking out the windows as the airport it seemed so serene and peaceful. We are currently aboard the flight to douala. Its 5:53 Douala time. We just flew over Tamanrasset...I have no clue what country that is even in. On this leg of the trip the four of us are sitting together which I like. I'm pretty sure we are the only people on this plane that do not speak French. All of the questions are asked in french. We say "English?" to the flight attendant and they try again. Shelby and Cindy both got pat downs at security in zurich. The questions by the security officers were in German and I actually understand what she said. I was proud of myself. :)there is still 1916 kilometres until we reach Douala. I'm not sure how many miles that is. Oh the screen says 2 hours and 29 minutes. I seriously need to learn the metric system. I'm sick of sitting down now. The 8 hours to Zurich and the 6 hours to Cameroon...my butt hurts. Airplane bathrooms scare me (I'm claustrophobic). So I can't even go walk there. Whoa just looked out the window and the sun is setting. It's a pretty epic shade of peach. I love it. I am flying over Africa and in a few hours I will be on the ground in Africa. One of my dreams is coming true. They just handed out the Carte D'embarquement/ debarquement. Uhhhh??? Oh I like when it has English translations. Apparently we hand it over at customs, with our passport, visa and yellow fever card. It's negative 77 degrees outs of the plane (-77°F) it's funny because we are above Africa which is known for being HOT! When we land it will be around 90°, so that's a change of approximately 160° crazy!
Well yay the "blizzard" hit Boston but was pretty much cleared by the time we got to the airport. After fretting about whether or not our flight would be cancelled it ended up being 4 minutes delayed. Ultimately it was over an hour after we were meant to take off but oh well. The plane in front of us was a British airways flight. The pilot decided to go 90 degrees against the wind. Apparently that wasn't a good idea because he had to turn around and land and try again. Our take off was a little rough. I thought the wing might fall off but it didn't. I didn't sleep much from Boston to Zurich. I love my new headphones but they are too big to try to sleep with. Cindy got attacked by a tray of food. It just fell off the cart and all over her. Eight hours later we landed in Zurich. We were worried about making our connection because we landed late but the flight from Zurich to Douala was delayed as well. Zurich is beautiful. It looked like a Christmas card. I even saw a horse pulling a sleigh as we got closer to the ground. Looking out the windows as the airport it seemed so serene and peaceful. We are currently aboard the flight to douala. Its 5:53 Douala time. We just flew over Tamanrasset...I have no clue what country that is even in. On this leg of the trip the four of us are sitting together which I like. I'm pretty sure we are the only people on this plane that do not speak French. All of the questions are asked in french. We say "English?" to the flight attendant and they try again. Shelby and Cindy both got pat downs at security in zurich. The questions by the security officers were in German and I actually understand what she said. I was proud of myself. :)there is still 1916 kilometres until we reach Douala. I'm not sure how many miles that is. Oh the screen says 2 hours and 29 minutes. I seriously need to learn the metric system. I'm sick of sitting down now. The 8 hours to Zurich and the 6 hours to Cameroon...my butt hurts. Airplane bathrooms scare me (I'm claustrophobic). So I can't even go walk there. Whoa just looked out the window and the sun is setting. It's a pretty epic shade of peach. I love it. I am flying over Africa and in a few hours I will be on the ground in Africa. One of my dreams is coming true. They just handed out the Carte D'embarquement/ debarquement. Uhhhh??? Oh I like when it has English translations. Apparently we hand it over at customs, with our passport, visa and yellow fever card. It's negative 77 degrees outs of the plane (-77°F) it's funny because we are above Africa which is known for being HOT! When we land it will be around 90°, so that's a change of approximately 160° crazy!
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