from the travels of hava and scott

Somehow in all the running around we did before the wedding (see last post), we actually found time to take a little trip out of the city to visit the family land and village. It was the perfect antidote to pre-wedding stress. Cameroon is so beautiful. Take a look.

Coffee Beans

They can be a little sour!

Family home that is being built on the land as a place to retire.

Guy was an excellent tour guide and nature interpreter.

He is about to give us a beetle nut to sample.
And we are about to become very wired.
Who needs Starbucks when beetle nut grows in your backyard?
A homemade whistle.

Some Other Pretty Things in the Yard

Beautiful papayas (in a picture that just will not rotate!!)

After a visit to the land, we stopped by the village for a walk through.
Saw some fantastic traditional architecture...

Lending a hand.

It's heavier than it looks...

Watching the scene

The highlight was a visit to the King's quarters, (a little community of his own) where he lived with his many many wives. Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to spend here as it was really interesting. We were also restricted to certain areas - ie places used for rituals were out of bounds for us "outsiders" as well as sacred drums which we could only view from a distance. The anthropologist in me wanted to soak it all in and ask a million questions, but we settled for a quick walk through.

Entering the Kings Quarters

Inside

The houses you see in this picture belong to the King's wives.


The King's House

At this point we thought we'd snap a few pictures and be on our way, but after a bit of discussion with the guards, we were invited in to meet the king. Sorry - no pictures of this! But it really did happen. Yes siree. We met a king. We were given a quick crash course in the etiquette of meeting a Cameroonian king and then entered the gates. We had to kneel down on the patio and when he came out to meet us, lower our heads and clap twice. Turns out he's really nice guy - speaks good English. A few speeches were made, we were welcomed to the country, we clapped again and were back on our way. Wowee. We met a king and clapped for him. clap clap clap clap. That's what you do when you meet the King. Who knew?

I am realizing that in our hundreds of pictures of us in Cameroon, we have very few that actually include us. We were too busy spending time behind the camera for that. So here's a blurry one of us leaving the village - just for good measure. We were actually there. Promise.