I have been very neglectful of this blog for the last few months so this is to catch up the remainder of my trip. I am now back in Canada where it is cold, cold, cold and dry, dry, dry, especially compared to Douala. Today the weather is -27 C but windy so with the wind chill it is -40 C with a weather warning so it is a good day to stay inside and catch up the blog. There have been some warmer days so I've been able to get out into the mountains for some cross-country skiing where the snow is beautiful which made me glad I returned in time to experience winter.

In late December I returned to the palace of the Fon of Bafut (see an earlier blog about my first visit to the palace) for their biggest celebration of the year - before Colonization this would be the day they sacrificed virgins. Fortunately for the virgins, that is no longer done and the day was filled with celebration, ceremony and dancing. We got to meet the Fon (he commented about how it can be cold in Canada, naturally!) and were invited to the invitation-only lunch with all sorts of food and palm wine, beer and regular wine. The traditional clothing was awesome, full length outfits with a black background and red, yellow or orange designs, and very inventive hats. There was lots parading, shooting of guns and dancing, and we saw the contestants for the queen contest.

I also attended the Traditional wedding. If you are counting along, this is the second of a total of four wedding events in all - the family meeting and discussion to set the Bride Price that happened in early December, this Traditional wedding, then in January there was a legal wedding where the couple was married by the mayor, and then lastly the church wedding. The customs vary for each tribe, so what I saw might be different for a different tribe - for this one, the bride presented each of her future father-in-law, mother-in-law, and husband, and her father a drink of palm wine in a special goblet made of leaves, there were speeches about the seriousness of marriage, and about the joining of the two families. Then a traditional meal was served and people visited and celebrated with the couple along with some champagne - though I`m not sure how traditional the champagne was.

We made a one-day trip to "the village" (which actually is called Oshie, but everyone refers to the village they or their parents grew up in as just "the village"), which meant driving on some really rough, dusty roads. The village wasn't a cluster of houses like we are used to, but consisted of groups of buildings spread out over a hilly area maybe 5 to 10 km wide, connected by unpaved, red clay, roads. I rode on a horse that was actually owned by a local Muslim, which meant you said "yalla" ("let's go") to tell it to go, but since I had traveled in Morocco previously I was prepared!

I actually drove a car (a Toyota RAV4) in Cameroon, mostly around the city of Bamenda, and found it not near as hard as I expected. I wasn't too worried about the rough roads but I was worried about the traffic and the "flexible" traffic rules, but was able to manage ok. I even got yelled at by a traffic cop for being too aggressive, when my main concern was that I would be too polite.

In January I visited a pygmy village, though the pygmies were much taller than I expected - from grade 6 social studies, I was expecting people that were about 4 feet tall. A guide takes you up-river about an hour in a pirogue (large canoe) then you walk about 10 minutes down a path and find a small group of huts with about 20 people. They are nomadic, so this group might move on and another group will live in the huts for a while.

Then it was time for the actual church wedding. It started later than the posted "11 :00 am prompt" but only half an hour late. Almost everything in Cameroon started late, I never could figure out how people knew that an event would start an hour late or three hours late, but they somehow seemed to know. There were two choirs, 12 pastors (yes, 12!) though not all of them spoke they were all listed in the program, 9 bridesmaids, 7 children with various roles, and of course lots of dancing in the aisles. Afterwards we went to a hotel for speeches, entertainment and a meal. The gifts weren't left on a table by the door, you kept them with you until they have the presentation of the gifts. Then everyone lines up to present the bride and groom with their gift, photos are taken and you dance with them a bit.

I-Vission held a going away party for me right before I left, with food and some going-away gifts, where I got to say good-bye to all the wonderful people I met during my time in Cameroon.

Calgary has been mostly cold since I returned, but I did get out a few times so I included some photos of Canada in winter so you can see how beautiful it looks so you can plan a visit in the winter (which ALL the travel books will recommend against, but it really is beautiful). Just make sure you pack your long underwear!

I plan to stay here in Canada until September, though I am taking my mother to Hawaii in March, and then she and I might join my brother in Cuba in April so I`ll still get in some traveling. In September I plan to continue my RTW travels, to India and more countries still to be decided.