Trip to Kribi--the image on every postcard getaway

So we packed our swimsuits, lathered on some of our 50-proof sunscreen, and headed to Kribi for the weekend. Kribi is a well known tourist beach spot in Cameroon, about 3 hours away from Yaounde. We were all expecting very low toilet standards for the trip, because Dean B kept insinuating that the toilets were pretty… “sauvage” as the French might say. But we were in heaven when we arrived, realizing that Dean B had been pulling our legs, and the place was actually like a resort. There was even warm water in the bathroom-which is a huge luxury here. We immediately went swimming, and nobody could stop smiling. It was like floating around in the biggest bathtub on earth. I mean, I’ve never been in water quite so warm. Everyone was also really fascinated by the idea that we’ve all been to this ocean, all swam in this same body of water, but now, we are on the opposite side, looking homewards. We all kept picturing where we are on a map in our heads, and it’s just so unreal. While at Kribi, we got to watch a handful of young boys reel in a HUGE net…full of fish. They take the net out with a tiny little handcarved boat, drop the net-and then a bunch of boys pull it in. It was crazy. Doob got the most adorable picture of a little boy holding a handful of his very own fish. Peter made friends with a little boy who wanted to play catch with him. Peter mentioned to us that he asked the little boy his name in French, but that the boy didn’t respond. Peter said “but isn’t it nice that even though we can’t communicate with words, we can communicate with smiles?” About twenty minutes later, when we got him into the ocean on a little inner tube, we learned, to the hilarity of everyone but Peter, that the boy speaks English. The next day we took a trip to the Lobe Falls, which are pretty famous because it is one of the only places in the world where fresh water falls drain directly into the ocean. It was really beautiful, and we got to take a ride in one of those little boats—called piroques—around the falls. We ate fresh shrimp, plantains and French fries. The rest of the time there was spent eating delicious pinapple, papayas, watermelon, fish and amazing kebobs. We all tried to get up on the last morning before the sun came up to take one last dip in the ocean, but none of us ever made it…