Commune de Santa where I'm working is in a lovely spot. It's high up among the hills, with fantastic views and a cooler climate. The people are very friendly and sociable. When I'm introduced, people shake my hand and say "You are welcome". Even little children are taught to shake hands!
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So far I've only been in the main village of Santa itself, which is on the main road between Bamenda and the capital Yaounde. The council area covers about 530 sq km, with around 200,000 people and 10 villages. They have schools, health centres, churches, a radio station, markets and lots of bars.
Markets are important here, since most people are in farming. They grow Irish potatoes, cabbages, carrots, avocados, bananas, yams, coffee and other crops, and keep animals like cattle and pigs. There's forestry and furniture workshops, a big potato marketing shed and buyers come from nearby African countries to buy crops here.
It's volcanic soil and there are crater lakes but Mount Lefo is not active, at the moment anyway. Now the rainy season has begun, we should see waterfalls, but it does make getting around even more difficult!
3 comments:
How interesting! We are trying to guess how long your use of song titles will last! I can't believe that this is almost the end of your third week. As a result of your trip, my African geography has improved (thanks to Google Earth). Which languages are spoken in Cameroon - is there a National language and is there an European influence i.e. Spanish, French, English, German? How many native words have you picked up yet? Fascinating! Take care - the rainy season has started here and yes Honey, it's cold outside! (or is that another song?) Have a good weekend. Sian x
Maybe it's the song she's listening to on her laptop while she writes her blog! Feeling a lil bit christmassy! That little kid is so adorable. Be careful in the rain, wear your wellies and raincoat. Love you x
Don't know when the song titles will run out, they just seem to pop into my head when I'm thinking about the next topic.
Languages- Cameroon has French and English as the official ones. English here in the north west, French everywhere else - the country was in 2 parts for years. Then there is pidgin, which is vaguely English, and everyone has their own village language - over 230 in Cameroon!
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