John Hamilton in Ndop, NW=20
Cameroon Wednesday 11 February 2009
Had my first siesta today. Didn’t sleep much, but read a bit of an ancient Alistair McLean which I liberated from the Bamenda Guest House. We all went and lay down being pretty tired after a few hours in the middle of the day in Ndop town at National Youth Day. It took place at The Field – bit like Orange parades in July back home in N. Ireland! In fact it was not dissimilar in some ways. Thousands – it must have been – of school kids both primary and secondary marched past a stand with a bunch of dignitaries, instead of Orange Lodges marching past a stand with a bunch of dignitaries.
The difference of course is that Orange Fields are invariably green while today’s Field wastotally devoid of grass and amazingly dusty and uniformly brown.It was very hot!!! The whole Field was surrounded by market stalls, mostly selling food and drink – but also Valentine cards!!!
Anyway we pottered about for a good while seeking shade under Sandra’s umbrella or occasionally sneaking under someone else’s shade. We did manage to spot a few of the young people from this area in the groups of marchers.
Having had enough of the marching and there being no sign of the traditional dancing starting, we headed off up the road to the Atlanta Hotel for a cold drink. We passed various establishments including “One to One Modern Barbing Studio” and “Black Joe Super Cut”. Pity Sandra had cut Jon’s hair yesterday; I would loved to have seen Jon getting a Black Joe Super Cut! We had a big bottle of Top Pamplemousse each.
Sandra has just been on her mobile phone from Bamunkaland to her daughter in Edinburgh giving her a recipe for salad dressing. It’s amazing how much gets done around here by mobile phone!