From the Nigerian border to the Chadian border in a day

Scenery on the way to Tourou

A Kirdi kid from Tourou

The day after Christmas was Thursday which was a market day in one particular village north of Mokolo that I had hoped to visit time permitting before I headed east to Maroua and then further towards the Chad border. Tourou nestled in the northern reaches of the Mandara Mountains and is famed for the painted calabash hat the women of this village wear.

Market day in Tourou

Tourou woman with calabash hat

Market men

Hoping to make a quick half day trip to this village I left Mokolo and as had been the case so often in Cameroon I did so with a motorbike taxi. If one is willing to take the risk of riding on them then they are the best modes of getting around some of the remote corners of Cameroon. The bikes are efficient, cheap, easy to hire and can go even where some 4X4’s struggle…the downsides are comfort and to a lesser extent safety. But having owned a similar bike in my college days and having had a few accidents along the way I am probably more comfortable on them than a novice.

A witch's hat

Left: Fried snack:  Right: Selling pili-pili to the senior citizens at the market
Center: Woman from nearby region trying to sell her ware 

Tourou was an hour’s ride from Mokolo past several military checkpoints. At each stop I had to show my passport and the questions ranged from “do I need a bodyguard?” to “do you know that the place you are going is insecure?”

Calling out my name to
enter the bus

Mud walled homes from the Extreme North region
of Cameroon

The ride was pretty with several hamlets with the typical thatched houses. The design of the thatch though was slightly different the further north I went. They were more pointed and looked very much like a witch’s hat.

Cotton market on the way to Maga

As I arrived in Tourou, the market was just getting started and people from surrounding areas including Nigeria were walking in with their wares. Dispersed among the people of varied ethnicity were the distinctive Tourou women with their rather ornate orange calabash hats.

There were a multitude of things on sale including millet, fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, and pili-pili. Some of the stuff was tasty but others quite disgusting…especially some kind of ground fermented meat that left a bad taste in the mouth for a while. My favorite was the guavas and the lady who sold me the guavas gave my change back in Naira (Nigerian currency) showing just how close this region was geographically and culturally to Nigeria.

Left: Fish from the Maga lake Right: Musgum woman buying the fish

Musgum woman

These are the same people on different sides of an international boundary that was created on colonial whims. The more I travel in Africa there more I see the vestiges of the “Scramble for Africa”. There are several tribes in Africa, and no doubt this sense of identity with one’s tribe is a major reason for the ethnic struggle in this wonderful yet fluid continent but I wonder if this demarcation of the continent on colonial lines plays a part too.

Bank of Lake Maga

Shuttle service to the other side of the lake

Mokolo wasn't terribly far from either Rhumsiki or Tourou but there were subtle differences in the culture of the people of these villages. Take the case of the calabash hats in Tourou or the slight variation of the thatch from Rhumsiki to Tourou. Although it might look homogenous at first glance, the culture of the people in this region is incredibly diverse and authentic and this was just a small section of the Extreme North region I had visited.

Breakdown of different tribes in Extreme North
region of Cameroon (source: Wikiledia)

Left: More species of fish from the Maga lake
Right: Musgum girl

Soon it was time to get back to Mokolo and pick up my bags and say goodbye to Kamini’s family. Kamini and Martin came to the bus station and waited with me till the bus was about to leave.

The beautiful mud-house of the Sultan of Pouss 

Kamini and his family had been exception hosts who pretty much allowed a stranger to live with them during their most important holiday and I cannot be more grateful for their generosity. I left Mokolo wondering just how kind and welcoming these folks were.

Decorated wall of the Sultan's home

Wall art

Open court outside the Sultan's house

The bus companies in North Cameroon have a weird way of boarding the bus and it goes something like this… 1) First you pay for the ticket at the ticket counter
2) Then you wait anything from 10 minutes to a few hours until all the seats are full
3) Next your name is called by a guy on a microphone indicating you can pickup your ticket and give your bags to the porter to load it on the bus after which you wait some more
4) Finally, your name might be called again to board the bus

It was an experience unlike anything I have encountered in Africa before.

Musgum architecture

Kitchen

Maroua, a city of about two hundred thousand inhabitants and the capital of the Extreme North region was just a couple hours ride on a good sealed road. In Maroua, I found a good secure place very close to the city center to pitch my tent and called up Eric (who I had met at the bus station in Garoua) for dinner.

Hippo tooth

Inside of the Musgum home

Inner wall painting depicting fishermen

Granary in the center of the Musgum home 

Entrance to the Musgum home

A pirogue on River Logone bordering Chad

We had dinner at one of the several street stalls serving grilled goat meat locally called as ‘soya’ and some delicious avocado salad while discussing the plans for the following day. As per my itinerary I was to head east towards the border with Chad in the domain of the Musgum people where remain some of the last remaining authentic examples of their vernacular architecture.

The region around Rhumsiki & Tourou was the land of the mountain Kirdi people who are internally distinct but then Maroua is dominated by the Fulbe (also called Fulani or Fula people) and the Musgum are further different again illustrating just how diverse this province of Cameroon is.

An abandoned musgum home on the banks of the river 

Tranquil banks of River Logone

The problem going towards Maga and Pouss was that it was nearly a hundred kilometer away on difficult track with scant if any public transport; time again for the humble motorcycle to come to the rescue! After checking we found a guy who was willing to go there so we agreed on the fare and decided that I would wait for him early the next morning at a nearby tea stall.

Fetching water in the company of ducks

Maga fishermen

The following morning I got up early and showed up at the roadside tea stall but the moto rider never turned up. Luckily Hamidou, the owner of the tea stall had a friend also called as Hamidou who was willing to help. He had a motorcycle and offered to help if he could get a few bucks more. I was in no position to bargain and comparing how much it costs to rent a 4X4 (60,000 CFA or ~$130) as opposed to a motorcycle (8000 CFA or ~$17) it was a no brainer.

The kitchen of a local establishment serving food in Maga...can't get more authentic that this

Chicken dish called Gortogol in the
local Fulfulde language

Seating area of the local eatery....lunch with the locals 

Couple hours of riding through Fulbe settlements and we made it to the village of Maga. There were a few more military checkpoints and though most did not care as long as they saw my passport, at one particular stop I was quizzed extensively. Though tall and brooding, I don't think he meant any harm and just seemed concerned with my safety in a region know for armed bandits owning to its proximity with Chad. The guy told Hamidou and I to be careful and let us go on our way.

Maga sits opposite a lake with the same name and it was a great place to watch the local fishermen bringing their catch while the women waited at the banks to purchase them.

A little further east of Maga was the village of Pouss with outstanding local architecture first of which was the sultan’s house. The sultan is the local chief of the village and when I was there his house was getting a makeover by a bunch of merry singing ladies. I have included a video of them singing and working on the walls below.

Outside the house under a shed were a group of village elders hearing a case of dispute the traditional non-court way probably in a way it happen in rural India under a panchayat.

Fulbe girls

Hamidou's extended family

A little further along the flood plains was the preserved musgum homestead with its amazing beehive structure. At a separate location not too far away was an abandoned site with a few more of these beautiful structures. These wonderful examples of vernacular architecture are sadly destined for extinction if not already since the cost to build and maintain them is higher than a simple mud brick structure; sad but inevitable.

Back at Maga and with so much fresh fish being caught I was sure I could get a good fish meal for lunch but to my dismay I couldn't find a single place serving fish. My suspicion is that all the fish goes to Maroua where they get better value so I guess as difficult as it was to fathom it, it’s probably dictated by commerce.

Fulbe village

On our way back we stopped by Hamidou’s village Bogo and visited his extended family. It was quite fascinating to get an inside view of the Fulbe culture beyond the mud walls. Almost all Fulbe practice Islam and in my personal experience they are very suspicious of strangers. This was certainly something that I had not planned or expected but was a surprise and I feel extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to see these people in a completely natural and relaxed setting. Hamidou did not speak English so interacting with his family was difficult though not impossible with some ingenuity.

With Maga and Pouss done, I was done with the cultural exploration of Cameroon and all that was left on my itinerary now was seeing wildlife starting with the Waza National Park…or so I though.