Mt. Djumbaul

Banyo is in the Adamawa region which is rather mountainous and therefore of course there mountains surrounding Banyo. And there is one mountain in particular, Mt. Djumbaul (I think that's the name) which people climb during dry season. So right now dry season is slowly creeping in and I have been dying to climb themountain since I got here so when my postmate said she wanted to climb it one last time before she leaves, I was totally in. So we have been waiting for a good time (you have to wait for the path to clear up and also for the rain to stop). Well this weekend the time finally came.

We (my postmate, 2 friends, and myself) headed out for the mountain around 7:30am Saturday. The path is actually right near my house too- convenient. We walked and walked and eventually came to some steps which were super steep but kept walking. As we got higher, we could see more and more of Banyo and there were huge rocks all around which kept getting bigger and bigger. we reached the top around 9am so only about an hour and a half to get up-not bad.

Now at the top of the mountain, there is not only a great view of Banyo and surrounding mountains, but some history as well. In case you were unaware, Cameroon used to be colonized by Germans (and yes others like obviously the French and British) but the Germans really left a lot behind and you can still see buildings and structures that they built all over Cameroon. So now at the top of the mountain in Banyo, there were a few things the Germans left behind: structures from where they possibly looked out and fought, some homes, and a prison- yes a prison which I dont know how on earth or more so I can't imagine how on earth a prison was maintained at the top of this mountain- having to make the climb up and then be left up there in chains- miserable. But it was really neat to see all these things left behind and also to imagine how life would have been for Germans in Cameroon in Banyo.

German prison

In addition to the history all around, there were also huge rocks (as I already mentioned). But there was one in particular at the top and the 2 friends (Cameroonians) said that people climb to the top of this rock so I thought I would give it a try. Huge mistake. It was an amazing view atop the rock but oh man it was scary scary to climb up and more so to go down- I had to sit and kind of crawl. I told them never again would I climb that rock.

The giant rock we climbed- from the other side though clearly no way from this angle

View from atop the rock

We spent a good while exploring the top of the mountain although it was a bit difficult to walk around since there was still a lot of grasses and plants (it's not quite ideal time to climb) and then we headed back down, stopping along the way to sit and rest and just enjoy the view. It was amazing just sitting and overlooking Banyo- it looked so peaceful from far away. But alas we did have to actually go back to Banyo. And man I must say the walk back or more so down was almost as painful as the walk up. But I made it and we actually finished it all before noon. So it was an overall success and I am so glad that I now know how to get there. I may even try to make it a regular routine to go up the mountain every weekend (I hope). But I do know I will be going up again soon- apparently the teachers and students at my school always climb it together- very exciting. This can all be practice for climbing Mt Cameroon- that is definitely on my list of things to do before I leave.

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