Journey Impressions: Duala

Duala: approx. 1.49 m inhabitants (2001)
Camerun: approx. 19.1 m inhabitants
Population growth (2008): 2.3%
People per km²: 40
Gross national income per person in 2008 PPP: 2,180 USD


09.02.2011 Duala: On 9 February we had arranged to meet Francis for a tour of the city. At around 9.00 a.m. we started out in a dilapidated vehicle calling itself a taxi.

Francis said that unemployment in Duala is particularly high. Young people often only have few opportunities. As a result, more of them come to the city. We hardly saw any white people here. They tend to be in smaller towns. Francis said that as a white person it was risky to walk through Doula on your own. He said that there was a criminal element that saw white people as a source of income. The police simply can't put a stop to thefts. But nevertheless there are apparently more thieves than murderers. The majority of them only want your money, so the advice is not to put up a fight.

We passed a large fish market in the harbour. Neither Martin nor I wanted to get out and eat fish. Quite honestly it didn't even smell very pleasant. The traffic was murder. People drive mopeds like mad men. There is clearly only one traffic rule: there is no traffic rule. To drive, people follow a gut feeling and are simply bold. At the same time, hardly any accidents happen and the speed is on the low side.

After lunch in the hotel we decided to drive to the capital Yaoundé. We agreed a fixed rate with the taxi driver. This trip was however to have unexpected consequences.

First of all we headed off through the jungle on a rural road at breakneck speed. We saw coconut plantations and villages only very occasionally. The jungle isn't the most dangerous aspect, but the dilapidated looking trucks on the road. A tanker was driving in front of us, fully loaded with a burst back tyre and was swaying precariously, Parts of the tyre could have flown into our windscreen at any time. Some of the timber trucks looked as if they didn't have any brakes. They hurled down the hill at breathtaking speed - we couldn't help but wonder what would happen if something fell out...

To cap it all, the heavens suddenly opened with bucketing rain and fast-flowing torrents that rushed towards us down the hill. The water reached to the door frames. Sometimes I wondered if we'd ever get out of this adventure safely. But at some point, we arrived in the Hilton and recovered over dinner.

Francis talked about his life in Germany in Hagen. His mother lives in Switzerland. He was the German champion in Taekwondo and is still very fit. In Germany he joined a sports club and found friends. But there first year was very hard and defamations occurred frequently. Actually he had wanted to study journalism, but it all turned out differently. Now he's a handling agent and glad to have found a good job here in Cameroon. He hopes that certain traditions will be overcome, young people will have a chance, corruption will be combated successfully and more democracy and freedom of speech become reality.

10.02.2011 Duala/Yaoundé: Francis picked us up in the Hilton again and we did a guided tour of Yaoundé. We saw the German embassy and government buildings. Francis called his boss several times. He was still talking about the four-hour hold-up and the 220 dollars for the visa. Now it was beginning to get interesting. Francis reported that his boss knew someone in the police. And that he had phoned him up and complained. He asked whether we couldn't do something about what had happened. I agreed to write a letter of complaint to the German embassy. I didn't want to visit the embassy myself because I was reluctant to tie myself up in hours of bureaucracy.

Francis called his boss again. Then someone from the secret police suddenly phoned Francis and asked us to go to the police station. The chief of police in Yaoundé wanted to speak to us and we were requested not to go to the German embassy and complain. The embassy means diplomatic problems. They explained that that was to be avoided. The message was that the police could handle the issue better and more quickly internally. The chief of police had already spoken to Cameroon's police president. He wanted the affair to be dealt with. So we could hardly refuse such an offer. But I was concerned about having to stay for several hours in offices.

Then it got really interesting: after four checks we reached the chief of police. Witness statements from me, Martin and Francis were taken down and the passport stamp checked. It turned out that despite our application, we hadn't received a transit, but a seven-day resident visa so that charges could be demanded. After about three hours, we had finished giving our details and were allowed to go.

We'd only been in the car for ten minutes when the police called again: the police president (Délégue General à la Surété Nationale) of Cameroon Martin Mbarga Nguele, would like to see us himself to handle the issue personally. We couldn't refuse such an honour, even though we had no time. So we agreed and then spendt another one and a half hours with the chief of police in the president of the police's office. In front of us, a six and a four-star general were waiting for an audience. But we were asked to go in first. The president of the police called the police chief of Duala and the airfield in our presence and used an abrupt tone to ask for explanations and written reports. He said he didn't want excuses and justifications, but explanations and consequences. He then gave orders that we were to get our money back at 8 a.m. the next morning. He commented that the chief of police in the airport office was personally responsible for seeing this was carried out.

After the phone calls, the president apologised for what had happened. He praised our behaviour and the good relationship with Germany and the positive impact the Germans had left on Cameroon and wished us bon voyage. I told him we were pleased and promised to report on the positive things we had experienced in Cameroon.

Francis was incredibly impressed by the whole affair and thanked us effusively for letting him be our interpreter. In his opinion, this was always very helpful against corruption in sections of the police.

The most dangerous section of our trip was in front of us: a dangerous drive by taxi from Yaoundé to Duala at night, with sometimes heavy rain. Sometimes you could only close your eyes and hope everything would be fine. A number of heavily loaded timber trucks with tree trunks from giant jungle trees approached us at high speed, or taxied towards us from the rear. Trucks carried out some risky overtaking manoeuvres and vision was poor because the windscreen wipers and fan only just about functioned.

At about 12.30 a.m. we'd had put this chaotic drive behind us and actually arrived in Duala.

11.02.2011 Duala/Yaoundé: On the next morning, 11 February, as usual we finished breakfast and then went by taxi through the chaotic traffic of a vast African city to the airfield. When we arrived there, the last act to the play 'Two visas for two pilots in Cameroon' was played out. But more of that in the Duala-Lomé flight log.