This weekend we went to Limbe, a beach town in Southwest province. We passed long stretches of rubber tree plantations and banana farms as we drove and I marveled at how different it is from the grass fields I'm used to back home. People were selling rubber balls the size of cantaloupe along the highway. If you asked me they looked an awful lot like a giant ball of rubber bands, but their bounce was quite impressive. And did you know that they wrap bunches bananas in these big blue garbage-bag-looking things to ripen them quicker? Learning new stuff every day!
When we got to the hotel I collapsed in a heap on the bed and didn’t move for several hours. It was the first nap I’ve had in a month and oh how I needed it. When I awoke several hours later I was ready for action! We went to a private beach nearby which was nice, but definitely had a different feel than Kribi. The whole “private” beach thing seems odd to me; an imaginary line in the sand that separates something so beautiful in its wholeness—but they didn’t ask me. The beach was crowded and busy so relaxing on the sand was a dangerous business because you could easily find yourself in the center of a roaming soccer game, or caught by the incoming tide, or listening to an aerobics class a few hundred feet away. I kid you not. Needless to say it was better for people watching than sun bathing. (Side note: I haven’t gotten sunburned the whole time I’ve been here! Good for me and my 100 SPF sun screen.) Did I mention I had my first hot shower since arriving nearly three weeks ago? It’s the little things.
As we drove back to Mangamba late this evening we noticed that the surrounding towns and villages were awfully dark…which probably means that the power’s out again. Which would then mean no running water. Low and behold, we were right. But it’s good to be home- with our without power; besides, the kerosene lamps add a sort of rustic beauty to the place.
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