Stage 2 — Gateway to the Jungle

With our love-hate relationship, Landi, we feel like we're in a Swiss 20s zone. If you've never seen roads like this before, you can barely imagine how difficult it is to maneuver a car over them. Thousands of potholes form an obstacle that we have only seen in “Crash Bandicoot” so far. The road takes on a constant incline and the car starts making weird noises. The erroneous assumption that the car has heated seats was solved as soon as the heated engine began to make steam signals. The Landi is DEFECTIVE! What a dilemma! Fortunately, we haven't gotten any further than the next village. On the side of the main street, we see a kind of garage and decide to stop there without further ado. The space around us is full of old, stylishly decorated motorcycles. The smell of diesel is in the air. A few meters away, we see a woman cutting a man's hair. It's fascinating how everyone runs their businesses everywhere. A young car mechanic approaches us, looks at the Land Rover and knows without asking what needs to be done. He calls his people together and a wonderful spectacle begins, which we can only watch. The well-rehearsed team knows what needs to be done: One of his people opens the hood and fixes it with an old piece of wood. They use screwdrivers and other tools to tinker with Landi. There is discussion and the tools are passed around. In the meantime, our country has already become the number 1 village theme. After a while, the mechanics close the hood and one of them climbs into the car. He turns the key and starts the engine. Unbelievable! We don't know how yet, but the mechanics in Cameroon were able to bring a seemingly broken car back to life within an hour. Imagine how long it would have taken in Switzerland.

We are now so far away from civilization that we only occasionally pass by other people and small villages with a few clay houses along the way. We stop at a small shop on the side of the road to stretch our legs a bit and relax our backs from the many potholes. Camilo, who is the only one who can speak French fluently, precedes. In front of the shop, he took a startled step back. “What did you see?” Alex asks. “Look for yourself” is his answer and we all see a monkey being grilled over a fire at the same time. You can still literally read the monkey's cry of fear on his face. An image that we will never forget.

On towards the jungle, the thickets get thicker and thicker. Huge trees rise up the sides of the road. Our Landi grazes leaves the size of a person. Unfortunately, we also have to recognize that deforestation is a major problem in Cameroon. Huge trucks filled with meter-wide tree trunks drive towards us every minute. A tragic sight that once again brings us to the reality of today's world.

In the evening, we will stop in a small village with around 10 houses made of clay, a school and a large school square. The village is the main town of the local area. A few minutes after we've parked, the whole village gathers around us. They greet us and lead us to the village chief's house. They look at us with curiosity. The Chief proudly tells us about his village school. Children across the region come every day to benefit from exciting lessons. Since the village is far away from the nearest civilization, there is no electricity here and only a well that supplies the entire village with drinking water. The residents advise us not to spend the night in the open wilderness and offer us to set up our tents on a meadow behind the school. We split up the work. Christian, Camilo and Fabian set up the tents while Alexandra and Aaron cook spaghetti over the gas burner. The day was long and exhausting. We eat dinner under the lantern light of the teal lamps. The jungle is right behind us and above us we can see the clear bright moon. The children from the village join us and ask where we come from and whether we would live the same way in Switzerland. We show them pictures of our home country and they listen to us eagerly. It's almost midnight now, time to lie down for a few hours.

In the morning, we are woken up by the sounds of the jungle. When we unzip the tent, we see that many of the villagers are already on their feet. The night was short and you can see that even on our sleepy faces. The only thing that can help is freshly brewed coffee from our sister company ViCAFE. The scent of fresh coffee also attracts the Chief. We offer him a cup. He takes a big sip and says “Ce café est très fort, mais il a un bon goût!” Strengthened, we break down our tents and pack our backpacks. In the meantime, the schoolchildren are also back with us and are curiously watching what we do. The headmaster calls them several times as the lesson has already started, but we were apparently more exciting for the children. The start of school is postponed. When Aaron unpacks the drone, all the children gather in a circle around him and watch him with fascination. For most children, the drone is something completely unknown, which is also reflected in their skepticism. Aaron must move in circles with the drone so that he can calibrate it. The children eagerly follow his movements and are probably wondering exactly what this big man is doing. We watch him from afar and can't help but laugh. From that point on, his name was Aaron the Drone Magician. Now that the recordings are in the box, it is time to say goodbye. We would like to thank the residents for their hospitality, who wish us all the best for the next adventure.

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