Communication at last!

Yesterday I finally got a chance to talk to my friend in Cameroon. I spoke with her once in July to find out if we should book our tickets or not and she said, "Yeah! Do it!" But because Lana is in a tiny remote village in the far north of the country, communication is difficult and I haven't communicated with her since then.

Despite the phone line cutting off and calling her back about eight times, we managed to get some things answered.

So, here is what we learned:

1 - We need a letter of invite in order to get our visa to Cameroon. Lana will arrange for someone from her head office to send us one tomorrow.

2 - Lana thinks she may start Christmas break around Dec. 22, and said she will try to meet us at the airport in Douala on Dec. 27. That would be great, because landing in a developing nation can be an overwhelming experience.

3 - Before we go, we will add funds to our Visa card and then take out cash as necessary because it's likely our debit cards won't work there. And although there are ATMs in larger cities, the rest of the country is pretty much cash-only.

4 - In larger cities, Lana said to be aware of petty thieves such as pickpockets, but in general, Cameroon is very safe. The culture is very faith-based and the three main religions - Christian, Muslim and Pagan (or traditional) - live quite harmoniously together.

We also talked about a tentative schedule for the four weeks we'll be in the country. There is the possibility of a very exciting opportunity, but I don't want to say much in case it doesn't happen. More on that later!