The waterfall

On Saturday afternoon, following a half day in the hospital, we decided to take a day trip out to some nearby waterfalls. We grabbed some water, snacks, our tour guide, Yerima, and our four wheel drive, manual Toyota, and we were off on our "safari."

We initially headed outside of N'gaoundere on a back dirt road. Not only was the road a dirt road, it had apparently not been maintained for years. There were giant holes, roots, ditches, and miniature rivers paving the road. Endlessly bouncing up and down and swerving to all sides of the road to avoid the huge bumps, Yerima led us on our way. As we drove, we passed several villages far outside the boundaries of N'gaoundere. These villages would pop up as if from no where. They usually consisted of a group of little houses that looked like huts, with grass roofs or occaisionally no roofs at all. Every now and then we would pass a larger building, which we were informed were schools. We wondered how children got to the schools as they appeared to be in the middle of nowhere with no nearby surrounding village. As we drove further, we got confused stares from the Cameroonians, as well as some children yelling "Nassara."

Finally, after around an hour and a half of driving and some roadblocks by an occasional herd of cows, we arrived at a small hut next to a stone pathway of steps. "We are here," said Yerima. We migrated down the stairs in the sweltering heat to come upon three gorgeous flowing waterfalls. They seemed to have no beginning. They fell into a small lake below, which generally gets much larger as the rainy season progresses. We could stand as close as we could to the falls to feel the cool mist chill our skin against the hot sun. We wandered around the falls, to the back side, and as close to the water as we could get. It was beautiful. After taking hundereds of pictures and relaxing for a little while, we made our trip home.

It was a wonderful short little day trip. We ended the day drenched in sweat and red dust, turning one of Courtney's great little white tee-shirts to a dull orange shade. We had finished our little safari and decided to treat ourselves to a nice fancy dinner at the Plazza Restaurant that evening; a great ending to a great day!

--Courtney Steller