The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. - Christopher McCandless

20 August 2019, Ngoule Makong to Mbalmayo, 61.82km
Virginia Hotel 10,000CFA (R250)

At an intersection before Mbalmayo were vendors selling enormous pineapples in shades of orange and green. Also on sale were segments of pineapple, sliced and diced and contained in transparent plastic. We bought a couple of packets and devoured the tart-sweet, juicy fruit with a touch of salt.
The road was again in perfect condition with little traffic, running through less dense forest with more grass and agriculture. In a mist-gentle drizzle, we bought water and bread and tinned sardines at the marché (market) before departing Ngoule Makong, but ended eating a breakfast of rice and fish some kms beyond town. The vendor had a small square wooden table and two wooden benches under an umbrella. She offered pre-cooked rice or manioc, and fish in a sauce for 500CFA (R12.50), served on small silver platters with a spoon for eating. Near the table, she had two buckets of water, one for washing, one for rinsing. At the stall next door, a more permanent structure under a tin roof, we had coffee, served hot and sweetened with condensed milk.
We often see up to four people on an autocycle; and cars packed with bananas and pineapples - the back seat, the boot, the roof rack; and women whose dress fabric includes a portrait of the President, Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982. Today we saw a small bus piled high with goods on the roof under blue plastic. Tethered on the roof in front of the freight, was a sad-looking goat, its head drooping in the wind of the bus’s passage.
Dinner at the Virginia Hotel looked good, but was disappointing, the chicken being almost too tough to eat.
Worrying about Charl’s continuing cold, we did a malaria test with the kit we are carrying. Glad to see it is “just a cold”.

For today's route see below photos
For overview route, click on ROUTE tab above…