Monday And Tuesday In Yaoundé

I spent a pretty relaxing 2 days in Yaoundé.  Just exploring and enjoying the last few days in West Africa.  I had coffee in the (late) morning at Espresso House.  I went downtown to the internet cafe down there.  They have internet at Espresso House but it is ridiculously expensive--CFA 1500 (US$3) for an hour.  I got pastries at the pâtissirie across the street from the Ideal Hotel. It is a wonderful pâtisserie and it is open really early to really late.

On Monday, I ate a nice salade vert for CFA 1000 and Poulet basquaise for CFA 3000  (green salad: US$2, Basque chicken US$6) at Le Sintra,a nice place downtown where I had a croissant and coffee a few days previous.  That was my only meal of the day.

On Tuesday, I ordered a take out pizza from the grocery store close to the Chez Wou Chinese restaurant.  I got a bottle of wine and just enjoyed pizza with the French news and Knight Rider dubbed into French.

I went back to Concordia in the evenings.  It's very nice and the beer is reasonably priced.  Just a pleasant environment to hang out.  The owner came over and introduced himself to me and asked about my trip a bit.  He thanked me for coming and I told him he ran a very nice place.

On Tuesday, I needed to get a ticket for returning to Douala on Wednesday.  I headed south to look for the Guaranti Express.  The Lonely Planet says it is 1km off the bottom of the map.  It actually says the same thing about Centrale Voyages.  I walked pretty far to the south.  I passed the large brewery complex and found a Guaranti Express storage yard but not the station.   So I walked back.  On the way back, I spotted the Centrale Voyages off on a side street.  I explored a bit around that area, but nothing.  So I decided to head into town and rest with a beer at the Sihusa again.  Next I tried a cab, but he wanted CFA 3000 (US$6) round trip.  So I decided, why not try Centrale Voyages.  I headed back there.  They now charge only CFA 6000 (US$12) for their Prestige service.  It's pretty much identical to the Guaranti Express VIP service--you can wait in an air conditioned waiting room, you get a cake or sandwich, a soft drink, and they play music videos on the bus.

Well, that was my two days.  It was pretty relaxing.  A lot of walking and reading Le Zahir.

Thursday, December 11, 2008 7:42 Cameroon local time