We enter in the north of Cameroon near Lake Chad, where its barren desert like landscape but this changes dramatically every few kms you ride. From dusty red sand to thick green rainforest through high plateaus & mountain ranges! What a gem this country is.

The spectacular ring round around Bamenda

Right in the north, motorbikes are refused entry into Waza national park, so we result to hiring a big old blue ute with the worst suspension to man. We are then subjected to 6 hrs of standing up, whilst being thrown around in the back like inside a washing machine (not to mention the numerous times the ute konked out & a puncture in the tyre) but it all payed off when we spotted a herd of giraffes running gracefully. We wait by a lake bed silently to watch them drink in their arkward split-like front leg positions.

thirsty giraffe in Waza National Park

Dusty red baja

Little tricky ring road

Tarmac or piste? sore buns? daily dilemmas of which road to take..... It's piste we decide to head along the Nigerian border to Rhumseki & see the gigantic 'Kapseki' peaks like structures. The dirt roads are better than expected & extremely calm compared to manic Nigeria but we still ride round corners to see green broken branches deliberately placed on the road, followed by another one behind it. This is the African way for 'caution, broken down Lorry, semi, truck, bus, car...... whatever ahead' (& usually with people sleeping underneath it)

Some tea pickers amongst the eversogreen plantations

one of the wells we stop at to refill our water supply.

We hear about a spectcular ring road around Bamenda that we want to ride, but we have also heard that its impassable in parts. Do we or don't we? Rob & I discuss that we don't need to go looking for adventure anymore as it's more unneccessary stress on the bikes. The general wear & tear we don't want so we'll make it to South Africa but of course we still want to see & do all the things we want.

As I have now ridden a bike almost everyday for over 5 months, I feel I can handle most terrains so I give Rob the thumbs up. We head in from Atta/Ndu and circumnavigate anticlockwise through windy, draw dropping scenery! Rob & I are loving it, it's beautiful!

Another reason why I came on the trip as Rob cannot find anything to prop up the front tyre! I sat there for over half an hour

Another Puncture!
We are in bed before 8pm, up just before the sun rises to hear Rob cooking oats & bananas, his new food obsession! We are trialling a our new mosquito net invention constructed with our tent poles, which works a treat!

A beautiful camp in the old Kimbi Game reserve around the ring road

Further south we go, making it to the Limbe on the coast below Mount Cameroon! We are exhausted but decide to take the 3 day challenge! talk about butt crunching stuff, we ascend to 4095m above the clouds to minus degrees celius weather. It's extremely tough on a different level but persevere & make it to the summit!!!! The best part was yet to come, the descent around horizons filled mountains ranges, walk right past erupted craters, steep hills of volcanic ashes, clamber over lava flows & camp between the craters and rainforests. What a feeling when we finished, not to mention that I can no longer feel my legs.

Climbing Mt Cameroon

sleeping huts on the Mt

Buttcrunching is finally over, We made it!