Cameroon From the Diary – Bamessing, the Prescraft Center and Sagba Hill!

Howdy all! Very busy here so just a short entry for you today, going back to 2011 and my time in Cameroon. This is another day trip from Nila and my Ring Road base of Bamenda as we headed out to a town called ‘Bamessing’ where we found the Prescraft Center, a center for Handicrafts and it also had a lovely guesthouse where we wished we had stayed. On the way back we climbed ‘Sagba Hill’.

Day 13 – 4th of July 2011

I guess I fell asleep at about 3:00 AM in the morning with the up at around 10:00 AM. Lunch was again at the hotel Spaghetti Bolognese which they didn’t have last night we also had the last Coke in the house – yes in Africa running out of things is just the normal! Restaurants and bars here I had thought I would rest today but I was feeling somehow better maybe the antibiotics were kicking in very quickly, who knows? Nose less blocked is the main one anyhow after lunch we headed on a Moto to get to a Bush taxi to Bamessing. Yes we were into the ring Rd heading eastwards today!

Well, this was a seriously squashed taxi it must take the record I’d say! We got to Bamessing, not very Far away – 45 minutes maximum. We had gone past the main thing in the village – the Prescraft Centre, a handicraft centre. We were put on a Moto and zoomed off a few kilometres to the place, the driver was really nice guy so we asked him to return and take us to our next destination.

Prescraft appears to run a very nice looking guesthouse. We had to look at it and the nicest place to stay with seen in Cameroon. Then there was the tray with giant grain fruit like huge unripe tomatoes on it. Nice little garden looked very clean we would have loved to have stayed there if we’d only known about it!

Across the road is the handicraft centre, mostly clay works we could see things happen as they moulded the clay. It was pretty cool – lots of birds running around. The prices were the best thing – I bought a small mask for dad and a bowl for mum.

Apparently our first Moto had engine trouble – same price and another really nice guy. Generally people are great here in Cameroon! He dropped us at the foot of Sabga Hill and the exhausting climb began. Thus dude appeared – he had directed the Moto from the village to the Hill but I was exhausted and didn’t realise it. I thought it was some madman pest! Nila told me after – I was so delirious from already being a THIRD of the way up! It took I guess 30 minutes to climb and the view was tres magnific.

I survive the climb which is good, I guess. The hills are pretty steep and high, but yet there is almost a feeling of ‘good old England’. Fown the Hill was quicker – Nila went a over t at one point! A tad slippery and pretty steep but my body seemed OK considering.

We snagged a taxi immediately we made the road. a transfer somewhere on the way a couple of snaps of the mountain and suddenly we were at the ‘chemist roundabout’. I used the Internet and got a lot of pictures onto the blog. We had dinner – a poor steak for me which was barely there at a place called Dreamland Restaurant, just near the Internet café. Though possibly in the same building as a brothel. Returned to hotel. ‘Prison Stories’ on Nat Geo. I hope I can get some sleep!