legoman's adventures in Chicago

It might have been my naiviness to have bought into the Western imagery of rural Africa or simple ignorance, but I was shocked by how urban the two biggest cities of Cameroon – Douala and Yaoundé – were. Yaoundé lies on seven hills and has lush greenery and scenic views from the hills and thanks to the altitude also milder climate. The business capital Douala has painstaking heat and a stressful atmosphere. Fog, cars, taxis, men in ties, pollution, stress. Above is depicted a traffic scene when leaving Douala for Yaoundé. Recent urbanisation in both cities has not yet been met with adequate infrastructure and hence the entries and exits of cities are often bottle necks. Yet urbanism à la camerounaise is always also balanced with elements of what a westerner associates with more rural modes of life. The blue sign below in the middle of this rather rural-looking scene points to where a hospital is located close to the city centre of Yaoundé.