Central Africa 2001: 5 - Douala, Cameroon to Bangui, Central Africa Republic

The Le Meridien Hotel business center wasn't open when Tim and I went down at just past 8 AM, so we had breakfast and checked again - the staff had wandered in. We had expected good internet here, as this is the industrial and business capital of Cameroon, and were not disappointed. All emails went off efficiently. We aren't counting on too much in Bangui, so the next report may be from Nairobi, Kenya.

We hired a car and driver at the standard $7 per hour we have paid throughout this trip, and had him take us to the Air Cameroon office to confirm our 5:40 AM flight to Bangui in the morning. A lot of time gets spent waiting in line for service in airline offices on this type of trip, but as flights are changed or cancelled regularly it is necessary. Also, without the reconfirmation stamp of the airline on the ticket there is a very good chance of being bumped off the flight.

Our second stop was at the Air Kenya representative, where we decided to take a chance and cancel our reservation to Nairobi on the 23rd and make it connect with our return from Bangui on the 21st. Our return flight gets to Douala at 9:30 PM if on schedule, and the red-eye for Nairobi departs at 12:10 AM. This would put us a day ahead of schedule, something which can be a big benefit if something goes wrong. The risk is if the return flight from Bangui has a problem and we can't get back on our original Kenya flight.

After business was concluded, our driver - Dennis Fugetta, a very nice fellow who spoke good English, took us on the tour of Douala. It is a city of 2.5 million people - the biggest city in Cameroon, the next biggest being the capital Yaounde at 1.8 million. The city is on the River Wouri, about twenty miles from the ocean, and is a major port. The river is dredged regularly allowing ocean going freighters and container ships to come up stream - the river is tidal at the port.

We first did the regular tourist run around - there are not a lot of special things to see - and then the driver bribed the port guard to let us in for a port tour. There are good container handling facilities, and there were literally hundreds of miles of pipe for the new oil pipeline from Chad to the ocean in Cameroon. They were stacked high for a about a mile, and around 50 trailer trucks were loaded, ready to roll. In addition there were dozens of rail cars also loaded with pipe. The line is being built by a US company.

Dennis ended by taking us through what he calls "Deep Cameroon", where the bulk of the city's population lives in poverty. It was a moving but depressing ride for miles through this area. After changing a poorly planned flat tire - once again, not in front of a pub - we headed back to the hotel to goof off for the afternoon. Our driver agreed to be at the hotel for a 4 AM departure to the airport. I had a swim in 30 degree water in the hotel pool, then lay there and read for awhile. Something I ate yesterday has caused me not to venture too far from a toilet!

We had a great dinner, and headed to bed early; agreeing that whoever got to a phone first would call the other at 3:30 AM. I got a couple of hours of sleep, but then dinner started to work through the system and I spend the rest of the night wearing a path in the carpet between the bed and the bathroom. No worry about the 3:30 AM wake up!

Our driver was waiting for us - we left the hotel at precisely 4 AM and were at the airport terminal 5 minutes later. Check in and customs went fairly efficiently and the departure gate was air conditioned - very welcome, as it was stifling hot and humid even at that hour of the morning. The plane was right on time. After a stop at Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, we winged our way smoothly to Bangui.

The Central Africa Republic (CAR) customs and immigration were courteous, and Sofitel - the hotel where we had a reservation - sent their controller to pick up us in the hotel car. He spoke some English, and gave us a bit of a tour on the way to the hotel. Parfait - seriously, that is his name, I wrote it right off his identification badge - showed us the national assembly, the president's house and his offices. There was a big military presence at all three, including rocket launchers and armoured personnel carriers. There were also military at the airport, and in very conspicuous presence almost everywhere, all armed to the teeth. This is perhaps understandable, as there were three coup attempts in 1996 and four more since, the last one in May of this year.

There is a reasonable sized downtown area, which we won't be able to video as cameras are prohibited here. The hotel is very run down - I'm amazed it keeps its Sofitel flag, but it is in a great location right on the Oubangui River at a set of rapids. There was lots of action right in front of the balcony just below the rapids. Local fishermen in their pirogues were casting their nets all day, and the ferry across to Zongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is the far shore of the river plied back and forth. (What do you mean you haven't heard of Zongo in the Congo?) Further downstream this becomes the River Congo, the same river where our boat broke down on crossing from Brazzaville to Kinshasa. That seems a very long time ago! The river is navigable to river steamers and freighters from the rapids below Kinshasa to the rapids here in the rainy season, so we have now been at both ends of the navigable stretch.

The room smelled very musty, and the whole hotel has not seen a paintbrush inside or out for some years. I'm back to wearing sandals to keep from sticking to the carpet. This is home for four days and three nights, the minimum time between flights! The Novotel Hotel Le Centre appears a better hotel, at least from outside, but is right in town with no view so we will stay put. The food here is good and everyone friendly and helpful. There are few other guests.

We decided to lay around on our arrival day to let my system fight off whatever it has contacted. By the end of the day I was feeling a lot better. Unless this sort of thing is prolonged I'm inclined to let it run its course without taking medication to clear out the problem, and to build up my immune system.

The next morning the hotel car and driver was laid on for us to do a city tour at $5.70 per hour. We went to Novotel to pick up the city translator, who speaks English, German, French and the African language common to this area. He learned English and French in university here, and spoke quite well. We thought he must have lived in an English speaking country for awhile, but he hasn't been out of the area - until we came along he hadn't been out of the city!

There turned out to be quite a bit more to Bangui, a city of 800,000, than we had expected, and we laid a number of warnings that had concerned us to rest. The Canadian External Affairs department warning dated July 18, 2001 said:

"Canadians should not travel to the Central African Republic (CAR). Travel in the CAR is dangerous, particularly at night. Banditry and crime are prevalent, especially in the northern and eastern regions. An attempted coup d'état occurred on May 28, 2001, in Bangui. While the coup was unsuccessful and the situation appears to be returning to normal, conditions in the city may still be unstable. A curfew is in effect in Bangui from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The border with the Democratic Republic of Congo is closed until further notice. Victims of crime may have to pay for the transportation of police officers to the scene due to a shortage of police vehicles. Canadians should avoid the KM5 market."

Lonely Planet's Feb 2001 edition said, "Bangui is one of the most dangerous cities in Central Africa for petty thievery, pick pocketing and violence." It further states, "Avoid the market at K-Cinq (KM5). There are more thieves than things for sale here and there's a good chance you'll be mugged."

It is a good example of the difficulty in getting current information on countries in Africa, as although these reports where true when written things have changed greatly now. The border to the DRC is open - we watch the ferries going back and forth steadily. The "after coup" situation has returned to normal - there is still a curfew in effect but it has been extended until 10 PM, and damaged buildings are rapidly being repaired or rebuilt.

To address the problem of banditry a special division of the police were formed - we saw their headquarters building; it said something like "Office of repression of banditry" in French. They were apparently amazingly quick and successful at eliminating muggers, and the Kam Cinq (KM5) market is now safe. Tim asked our guide if the bandits were in jail, and he said no, the new police division had been given the power to kill them, and that's what they did. Any survivors have headed for the hills across the river in Congo, along with the surviving members of the attempted coup. Life here is very cheap!

Markets and suburbs are named here for the number of kilometres they are from the Place de la Republique, from which all roads radiate, thus the Km 5 market is five kilometres from city center. We visited one suburb at Km 12 where the markets specialize in the sale of game meat supplied by poachers. These are apparently armed organizations from across the Sudan border that come into the Central Africa Republic to kill animals for skins, meat and trophies for sale. They apparently have few qualms about killing anyone who discovers them, either.

Our guide said the coup on May 28, 2001 was headed by Andre Kolingha, who was a one party president here from 1986 until 1993. Everyone we talked to is sure that France engineered, financed and armed the coup, as Kolingha's successor, Ange-Felix Patasse, had ordered the removal of French troops from CAR, and stopped dealing exclusively with French companies. According to our guide, France had previously ruled CAR through Kolingha and the troops were sent in to back him up. Dennis in Douala, Cameroon, had told us the same thing - that where a government leader did not go along with exclusive concessions to French companies, that he was usually overthrown by a coup arranged by France. Elf petroleum apparently has kept quite a competitive edge in the area through this arrangement.

Kolingha and his family had lived luxuriously in Bangui on his ill gotten gains from his presidential days until his coup attempt, on three large estates just outside of Bangui. Since May they have been reduced to nothing but rubble, and he has fled to Uganda. The battle over the May coup lasted about a week, as armed forces from the same tribe as Kolingha supported him. It ended when Libya responded to a cry for help and sent in troops, equipment and helicopters. The rebels fled across the river to the DRC.

There are a lot of large, abandoned buildings that were factories or warehouses, but whose owners have pulled out of the country because of the fighting over the years. The government is desperately trying to attract investment from anywhere. Currently larger businesses are owned by Lebanese, and the small to medium sized businesses are owned by West Africans - largely from Senegal, Ivory Coast and Mali. The biggest operation in town now is the Cristel brewery - which I believe is South Africa owned.

Almost everything here looks shabby, unpainted, not maintained and run down. There just isn't any money. What little money does trickle in is grabbed at the ministerial level of the government. The president is big in forestry and mining - there are lots of trucks of logs lined up at the port for shipment down river.

Education is free until the end of high school. The catch is that there is no money to pay the teachers - so they work now and then but have to work elsewhere when they have the opportunity to make enough to live. Apparently after three months they might receive a month's wages, then nothing for another few months. This is true of most government positions including police and military, which has caused many to use their position and weapons to go into business for themselves. The people here are very open and friendly, but one has to watch the police and army.

Usually in Africa, if you want to take someone's photo, you must ask them first and then agree on a price. It could be due to the scarcity of cameras here, but whenever we thought we could get away with photos without getting our cameras confiscated, people would come up to us and ask to have their picture taken with no idea of being paid for it. It is an interesting turn around!

On Tuesday we were picked up by our guide/translator who had hired a taxi. The hotel decided they wanted CFA 100,000 for the return trip to Boali Falls in their car, about $143, an offer we found easy to refuse. The taxi was charging CFA 4,000 ($5.71) per hour, the same as Charles, the guide, plus we pay the gas. The entire trip turned out to be 6 ½ hours.

We were underway shortly after 9 AM. The city of Bangui is surrounded by military gates on all roads out of the city. The soldier on the gate required a bribe to open it to let us out. If the poverty of a country can be determined by the amounts demanded for bribes, it will tell you something about CAR - we were paying bribes of 20 to 30 cents, amounts that would have been sneered at anywhere else. A few coins are considered a lot of money here!

Once out of the city we hit military and police check points about every five minutes. These all took time, but were dealt with by the driver and guide - they were mostly looking for money. Our passports were examined and re-examined. One of the problems in being in a country where no self respecting tourist would come is that no one believes you are a tourist. All officialdom, and everyone else for that matter, gives the "Oh yeah, right, a tourist! Now what are you really doing here?" sort of look or even says it out loud. This slowed things considerably at check points, however we were finally through the last one and on the open road - which was in surprisingly good repair. We passed a major new bridge under construction - a gift from Japan and being built by a Japanese construction company. The Chinese and Japanese, who are the largest donors here it would seem, are clever. They don't let any of the money get into the hands of the corrupt government officials - they just build whatever they are going to give themselves.

Things went well as we travelled through the relatively flat, forested countryside, but then we descended into a river valley and headed up the other side. The car began laying a thick, blue smoke screen behind us, and eventually all around us including inside where we did our best to keep breathing in the choking fumes. The driver nursed the car to the top of the slope on the other side, where the terrain flattened out, and was able to get going again, but slowly - about 60 kph. The dense clouds settled into an emission which at least we could see through. It did little for our confidence, though, when about 110 km from Bangui we came to the dirt track that went the final 5 km to the falls. It was essentially a four wheel drive trail, but our driver was able to urge the car over about the first 3 ½ km until we were warned by locals not to try going further.

Shortly after we set out for the final lap on foot we found out why - the road became almost non-existent, having been completely washed out by rain. Tim managed the hike with his bad leg by moving slowly. As we neared the falls we came to a large police detachment, who were friendly, and a village. The police are there to protect the Chinese built power generating station which supplies Bangui and the surrounding area.

In spite of the water siphoned off for the power plant, the falls were spectacular. They are one meter higher than Niagara Falls, and have a large volume of water going over them - we are just after the end of the rainy season. There are several falls stretching across the cliff face. Access to the falls is through what was once a pleasant looking hotel, bar and restaurant but which is shut down. An admission is paid to the guard and an official looking ticket given in return for the 70 cent charge.

By the time we had visited the various view points of the falls and left the hotel grounds, it was 12:30 and the sun was at its hottest. We were expressing concern about the long, steep uphill hike on the virtually unshaded track, particularly with Tim's bad leg, when along came a four wheel drive vehicle. It was the local police chief, and he agreed to drive us back to where our car was parked - a real stroke of luck!

Our driver then crawled the car to the main road, and we headed back to the city. He maintained a very slow pace, which seemed to bring the level of oil smoke and carbon monoxide down to acceptable levels and kept our hopes of making it all the way high. We had planned another excursion for Wednesday, to go off in search of the nomadic pygmies who live as they have for millenniums in the forest some 150 km out of Bangui in another direction, but after discussion we decided that the risk of car failure or other problems causing us to miss our evening flight were too high - so we cancelled the plan. There are apparently still about 20,000 of these hunter-gatherers living in the area.

The rest of the trip back was uneventful. Tim went to change some money while I stopped at an internet outfit, where I was amazed to find about 25 computer stations in a comfortably air conditioned room with fast access! This is the last place in the world I'd have expected it! The place was busy, but I had no problem getting a computer, so this may get sent from Bangui after all.

The time here passed much more quickly than we had thought it would, but it is a depressing place to be. Over half the population would consider the dirt poor of North America and Europe to be stinking rich in comparison. It is a country without hope! They have a nice new hospital built by the Chinese, but if you can't pay you get nothing, so for most people a serious illness is a death sentence. The Japanese built a number of schools, but the government isn't paying the teachers. There is no work for those who do finish school.

It'll be a long night tonight. We leave here at 6:55 PM if the gods of the flying machines are with us, change planes in Douala and arrive in Nairobi at 6:40 AM tomorrow morning. Having two back to back connecting flights in Africa is like waiting for the lottery draw - you can only hope your number comes up!