Mission Failed

So on xmas eve we started climbing the mountain. I stopped having fun after about 2 minutes. It was so hard and steep and the guides didn't want us to stop because our muscles would cramp. We started around 8:30 am. I called it quits at 12:30. I made it up 2,000 meters to the end of the treeline. It took three hours to get down. I was disappointed not to reach the top but I felt like I accomplished something, since I've never been mountain climbing in my life and I did a full day.

So on the way down the mountain I called my friend who was at the beach. I didn't have any money or clothes except for a kaba (a moo moo) and a tracksuit, because I had planned on just climbing the mountain then returning to the city. My friend offered to borrow we money and clothes so I immediately set off for the beach, only a 30 minute bus ride away. I was amazed when we started driving without the bus being full, but somehow we were driving down the street and people were just hopping on as we went along. Then I spotted a child selling cotton candy, so of course I bought some out the window of the bus. About 2 km from our destination, the bus broke down. I was able to squeeze (literally-there were about 20 other people) into another bus that appeared on the side of the road. I also had to transfer my backpack from the top of one bus to the other. Finally I made it to Limbe. Then I spent about 10 minutes negotiating the price of a taxi. The driver ended up dropping me off outside the botanical gardens when the hotel was inside somewhere. So there I was walking around in my mountain climbing outfit, covered in brambles and dirt (from falling as I was going down-its steep!), sunburned, smelling to high heaven. I finally asked someone where the hotel was and he said I had passed it. So I backtracked and made it right at dusk. My friends were sitting in a little cabana right by the ocean and it was wonderful. I sat down for a bit and we had cotton candy, then they asked if I wanted to take a shower (I smelled REALLY bad). The next day, Christmas day, we went to the beach, which was glorious. I had the BEST fish for lunch. It did not even need any seasoning it was so good and fresh, huge too. They serve it whole and we eat it with our hands (its easier that way I swear).

In the morning, Claire had texted me that she was coming down the mountain as well. I told her to come to Limbe. She made it the next morning. Right when she got there, we realized we did not have much money between the two of us, so we went to the atm. Of course it wasn't working. So I borrowed money from Louise to pay for the hotel and then we headed to the beach. We pooled our money between us and figured out we had enough to get to Douala where there are more atms. So after a nice morning at the beach and a dip in the ocean, we headed to the biggest city in Cameroon. We took a bush taxi. This is a small car, about the size of a geo or a toyota tercel. There were 6 passengers, 4 in back and 2 in the passenger seat. They were all adults of course. Needless to say, it was a tight fit back there. The worst part about these situations is where to put your arms. It usually ends up with some people putting their arms around the person next to them, leaning forward and putting their arms on their knees, or some type of layering effect with the arms in which the person whose arms are in back has trouble moving them people the other persons arms are resting on top of theirs. At one point in our voyage, the lady next to Claire said, “Why are you breathing like that, are you asthmatic or something?” and Claire responded in her sweet little voice, “No. I'm just really squished.”