Diaries of an AFCON reporter: Two nights at Le Bunker and the 'wild' driving in Cameroon

Monday, January 17, 2022.

Sitting quietly in the Media Centre of the magnificent Olembe stadium in Yaoundé, my mind wandered home for a few minutes and then it dawned on me that by the close of day tomorrow I will find out if my stay in Cameroon is over or not. I will travel to Garoua in the morning where I hope the Black Stars that beat Comoros convincingly if this adventure is to continue. It is been 8 days since I arrived in Yaoundé, Cameroon. I am beginning to settle; I now know a few places and making some new friends. It would hurt for this to end too soon.

I know many Cameroonians will be rooting for Ghana against Comoros tomorrow night so fingers crossed.

Now, let me fill you in on what I have been up to since my last episode. Last Saturday, the day after Ghana’s dramatic and unexpected 1-1 draw with Gabon, the mood among supporters, journalists and officials was tense. There was disappointment all around but then there was life to be lived. Life must go on while the Black Stars live to also fight another day.

The plan was simple. To catch some fun on Saturday and indulge a bit. I even had some invitations from some Cameroonians I was to honour. Everything was going according to plan until my colleague and roommate Benedict felt sick that afternoon.

His stomach hurt so badly he could barely stand. It was disturbing. We got him some medication from the pharmacy but it didn’t help that much until he was later attended to by a medical doctor attached to the Ghana officials and supporters who came for the tournament. He is my partner in crime so this was a bummer.

Later that evening he felt a little better and we decided to grab some food in town. Our other friend who used to work with CAF and was in Cameroon a few months back has directed us to Le Bunker. He had glowing tribute about their fish so we decided to try it.

Luckily, we found an English-speaking Cameroonian to take us to Le Bunker, the language barrier usually is a comical scene so finding someone who understands you is an understated relief. I need to learn French by the way. I need to.

Strangely this driver initially pretended he couldn’t speak English until midway through the trip. He was chatty and friendly but also has his own issues about the political system (don’t we all have it in our countries?).

He took us to Le Bunker but before we could arrive there, he put some real fear in us. This guy told us it wasn’t safe. I’m like what? He said it was best that we didn’t eat the food there but have it packaged for us as a Take Out. He offered to wait for us, and out of fear we obliged.

At Le Bunker, the waitresses were friendly. They ushered us to where the fishes were been prepared and we had to choose which ones we liked. W chose Tilapia, it’s familiar and popular in Ghana too. We ordered fried plantain as an accompaniment.

The fish took a while in coming and while there the warning of the driver kept ringing in my head. Nothing showed that it was unsafe. The people were likeable.

I and Benedict wanted to stay and eat our fish there but we took the safer option. On our way back, this driver said we spent two hours and in Yaoundé, it costs 3000 CFA per hour for a waiting car so we owed him 6000 CFA.

It didn’t seem much compared to Ghana, but we were now beginning to question if his caution that the place wasn’t safe was a plot to extort us. We agreed to pay him 5000 CFA (I think less than $10 so it really didn’t matter. We came back to the hotel, enjoyed our meal and promised to return there, and enjoy the ambience. The fish was nice by the way.

Second night at Le Bunker

The following day, Benedict and I, together with Willie Graham and Doctor Emmanuel who is Cameroon decided to go back to Le Bunker and enjoy the full experience. And oh boy, it was a good night.

There were no inhibitions. We had a lot of fish. From mackerel to tilapia to other variety of fishes. I tried Kadjie Beer ( local beer) and borborlor. But the best part of the night was the good conversation and the education we received from Doctor Emmanuel on the cultural nuance in Cameroon.

And oh I had a good rapport with one of the waitresses who spoke some broken English. I jokingly told her I will come and take her to Ghana and she jokingly replied that she will be looking forward to it.

I had to try something new in Yaoundé. Myself, @Daniel_Oduro and @willie_grah ended up at a joint called Le Bunker on Sunday night. Check the rest of the story in the video #AsaaseSports #AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/R4RSfhBW5B

— Benedict Owusu (@KwesiBenedict) January 17, 2022

Wild Driving in Yaounde, Cameroon

Ok, this will be brief. Where on God’s green earth did you learn how to drive like this? I have been to many countries, but I haven’t seen anything as daring and scary as the driving in Cameroon, and I am not exaggerating, Lol.

Anyways, as I said earlier I will be going to Garoua tomorrow morning and you can bet I will share my experience there with you’ll. Cheers