Today was just a drive day as we tried to get as close to the Cameroon border as possible. Along the way, we went through 39 police checks-
but only had to stop at 8 of them. Some are as close as 100 meters apart! The only trouble we had was with one asshole who was on the biggest power trip I've ever seen. He didn't like the fact that three girls with Oasis had business visas instead of tourist visas so he was wondering what their 'business' intentions were. He wouldn't let it go until they produced letters stating they were tourists. It took at least half an hour - his boss from town even showed up! What a crock! Then he asked Will if he was in the military because Will was wearing camo shorts and only, apparently, the military is allowed to wear it. Eventually he was satisfied and we wer on our way.
We stopped at a town for cook group shopping and gathered quite a crowd-
It was the same when we walked out of the hotel compound this morning. It's what I imagine it would be like if I was a movie star. Groupies hanging around all the time, just wanting to see me up close!
Making a shirt-
The country has gotten very dry as we head further northeast-
Fences Nigeria style-
Moving very skinny cattle-
They make a second level in the back of trucks to haul the cattle. I think they must tie them down because they are lying down and you'd think they'd be nervous being up so high and exposed-
More hut villages-
At a police stop we parked beside a tamarind tree-
There was a large wedding invitation in the form of a poster/billboard along the street-
Our lunch stop was in a deserted??? (Not possible in Africa) village and in no time there were around 100 people watching our every move. The guys that were taking selfies with me said they have seen white people before but very rarely-
Someone read about Gashaka Gunti National Park which happened to be on our way to Gembu. It's supposed to be Nigeria's largest with 6700 km2 and contains primates, hippos, elephants and lions. Really? It's mentionned in the 2013 Lying Planet but not in the newer editions. Hmm I wonder what that means? So, after a 45 minute ATM stop - it seems people are unable to find money on their own time, we stopped at the Park's Transit Camp in Serti and were told by one of the few honest Africans we have met that there isn't much to see but in the morning we could visit the entrance where there is a museum/interpretive centre. So, that's the plan. We set up camp and after a stroll along the street looking for chicken - we are always looking for chicken, I'm off to bed and am hoping for a good sleep in my tent.
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