Easter Weekend Road trip, with Joyful-Team (West Cameroon Tourism)

(1) Easter Weekend recap.
#JoyfulTeam on the road to visit West Cameroon : Bangoulap, Bandjoun, Bamendjou, Dschang, Bansoa, Baham, Bangou, and Bangangte. 


 #TeamGoWithTheFlow #PositiveAttitude #Adventure #Discovery #KmerTour #Tourism #VisiterlAfrique #Friendshipping #Friends #Family

(2) Visiting #Bangoulap : VillaBoutanga and FondationGacha 

** The villa is a cozy small hotel in the middle of picturesque scenery. Price range from $40 - $ 90 

** The Fondation Gacha is a center of excellence for artisans and artwork. It is right next to the Villa. 

Beautiful discovery.




(3) His Royal Highness the Chief of Bandjoun, and Senator of Bandjoun, graciously welcomed us in his home. We couldn't help but grab a selfie with him. The story of that selfie will be told to our children.
We also visited and learned so much from the Royal Museum of Bandjoun. 
And the pillars that carry the thatched house of Palace Hut are interestingly carved to represent everyday people doing things. It's beautifully done!




(4) Thankful for the sumptuous dinners and breakfasts offered by Papa&Mama. They sure know how to be great hosts 😊



(5) The Joggers went running around the village. 
Jeff ran 10 Km! The basketballers had a 3-on-3 game. 
And we got to ride on this majestic horse.
#BamendjouLife




(6) Musée des Civilisations #Dschang earned its title as The Best museum in Cameroon. They did an excellent job of documenting the history and archaeology of all the Cameroonian people. I learned that archaeological findings found traces of life from 3 million years B.C, and that the first people of Cameroon were there #Sao who lived in what.is now the Far North of Cameroon.

There is a section in the museum that describes each of the regrouped ethnicities in Cameroon, such as The Fang/Beti, Sawa, Bamileke, Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri. I learned the origins of the Sawa Jengu ceremony, and the thoughtful architecture of huts in the North, and the rich soil and history of #Ndop...In short 2 hours were too short to spend there, next time I will plan half a day in the museum to read and learn Cameroon's #history and diversity in details.



(7) Fovu de Baham :
We tried visiting the caves on Saturday night but the #Baham residents told us "what? you want to go there at night? to the sacred caves?" So people do all kinds of rituals in those magnificent and mysterious forest of rocks. But we chose to return in the morning instead to have a much better view. It is a site to see. Amazing. We googled "how did the Fovu rocks end up that way" but didn't get any clarity. There are more of village-legends than researched and documented history. In any case, bookmark this place as a site to discover in Cameroon. 
#GrottesDeFovu 



(8) In #Bangou where Grandma warmly welcomed us for the Easter church service, and later on hosted us to a huge Easter lunch at her home. 

She is such a wonderful being. I love granma !!!



(9) Bangou site-seeing the upcoming resort by Mr Nana (Biopharma). It will be an #ecotourism resort with a botanical garden with thousands of species of flowers , and cozy eco-bungalows.

It looks very promising, especially after seeing how advanced they are with the construction site and planning of the land on acres.




(10) On the top of the hill in #Bangangte. 
Last but certainly not the least stop, with in-laws, my new roots and home. What was supposed to be 30 minutes with Uncle-Godfather-in-love Emma ended up being a 2 hour post-lunch scotch-tasting, politics-talking, and ping-pong-playing at the top of this hill in Bangangte, where the scenic view of the grasslands and forests just took our breath away...


What a great way to close this weekend touring the West of Cameroon, from the valley on Bamendjou to the top of the hills of Bangangte, discovering more of the beauty, wealth and diversity of our culture and our traditions; while deepening friendships and re-cherishing family bonds. Thank God for real moments with real people.
Thank the Joyful-Team for treasured times, for the laughter, the laughing-out-loud all throughout the weekend, for the positive spirit and flexible heart, for going with the flow and living authentic local experiences like sitting down in #Makenene market to eat soya and roasted plantains while listening to some random 60s music on blast in ur ears at the bar while flies battled to get to our soya quicker than our hands, and stopping at Carrefour #Baham to eat brochettes of beef and pork, and your enthusiasm around every site, spot and home : stumbling upon a beauty pageant in Dschang and making our grande-entrance to the beat of the bikini ladies doing the catwalk,and arriving to the "mysterious" caves late at night and the team ready to fight for each other if a "ghost" shows up (hehehe), to cheerfully coming together for the 100s of selfies we took everywhere, you'll thank me later...memories overload!This trip was simply amazing because of this awesome no-stress fun-loving, fun, and funny set of travelers!
I know when these memories will pop up on our timelines in the next year(s), from wherever we are in the world, we will relive these 3 days with a large smile on our face & heart. May God bless u all.


#EasterWeekend #Easter #JoyfulTeam #TeamGoWithTheFlow #PositiveAttitude #TeamNoWhining #Adventure #Discovery #KmerTour #Tourism #VisiterlAfrique #Friendshipping #Friends #Family #Love #HomeHospitality #WestCameroon #Cameroon