Plugs

Gotta love the internet! A popular tourist destination in Camaroon is Rhumsiki--home of the "volcanic plugs". I had no idea such a thing as a volcanic plug existed--but the internet and google images knows all about them.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic landform created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When forming, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of pressure if volatile-charged magma is trapped beneath it, and this can sometimes lead to an explosive eruption. If a plug is preserved, erosion may remove the surrounding rock while the erosion-resistant plug remains, producing a distinctive upstanding landform.
Very cool. I like the mental image of a plug for a volcano like a plug in a bathtub, even if that image is completely inaccurate.

Hilton

Perhaps I should have posted this picture first in my travels in Camaroon---this is the Camaroon Hilton in Yaounde. It's the very first thing I found when I did an initial search in Camaroon and it gives me an excuse for a little rant that has been building up for the past 20 years or so. Here we go----WHAT ON EARTH IS THE POINT????!!!! Why would anyone (other than a Camaroonian looking for a luxury time) stay here? Why would a vacationer stay here? Presumably if you want to visit Camaroon, you want to see Camaroon? Why would you travel so far and then stay in a place that's as much like home? I suppose a business person might stay here to impress his client--but what a disservice! If a person is going to do business in a foreign country then it's crucial that they should experience that country. I suppose to be fair, I guess I can think of a very few situations where staying here would be a wise choice--but only a few.

I think I've been bothered ever since I went to Hermasillo, Mexico and saw the Club Med at the beach. Our group--which was staying with local people, was having so much fun! The beach was just as pristine--and we got to prowl around the street vendors and even had a few come to us--Pig Snout on a Stick anyone? I wouldn't trade that for anything. I could see through the gates at the Club Med and saw the --yawn--tennis courts. Wow. Tennis courts, nice rooms and American food just like home. I simply don't get it. Don't get me wrong, I like my luxury too but why go abroad and risk things not being the way I like them? If I want things MY way then I want to go where I know they are MY way--my favorite restaraunts, hotels, mineral pools, shows etc.

In Camaroon? I don't want 600 count linen sheets (unless that is what the country really goes for). I want hippos and rainforest and taxi drivers and different food and different languages and to see the homes, workplaces and shops of those who really live here.

Baka Pygmie

The Baka Pygmie people live in the forests of Camaroon as hunter gatherers. Their average height is 4.9 and the big threat in their lives is deforestation. There are several fascinating websites--groups like these seem to me to be the most exotic and alien to my life. This is the stuff national geographic is made of--mysterious initiation rites and big elephant hunts. The picture above is a house (not a hut). The thing I'm most interested to look up is the singing--some pygmie groups have performed for the BBC--so they seem to be aware of the outside world. According to several sources they have no wish to leave the forest and I can't blame them. From my romanticized point of view it seems like a good life--a tightly knit group where everyone knows who they are, beautiful surroundings, simple--yet meaningful work and a fine expression of the arts in music and basket weaving. It sounds like the kind of place where I could be happy. The downside of course, would be that the food wouldn't be as plentiful as I would like it, disease and superstition.

The picture above is of manioc root. It's a major source of food in developing countries--it provides great carbs, but not so much protein and you better prepare it right to avoid a type of cyanide poisoning. This is where tapioca comes from so I'd probably like it. If I were a Baka woman I'd be spending a lot of my time pounding the manioc root with a morter and pestle.