There is a little song I used to sing to my daughters when they were children. “Be patient, be patient, don’t be in such a hurry. When you get impatient, you only start to worry. Remember, remember that God is patient too. And think about the times when others had to wait for you”. We knew last evening that we would be staying in the Buea area today but Cyrille failed to give us a time he would arrive at the hotel for today’s activities. This were really just left up in the air a little when he left. But, all of us were a little tired, I guess. Sam & I slept in until 8 a.m. and Johnnie even later. But around 9:15 we met in the hotel restaurant for our daily breakfast of omelets. Sam fasted breakfast today. There is a nice patio balcony on the second floor overlooking the main street. It is nice to sit up there whenever we are waiting for Cyrille to arrive. This morning we spent a couple of hours there, reading, looking at e-mails, watching the people walk up and down the road. Then we went back to our rooms for a little bit, then back to the balcony. Finally about 1:15 Sam went down to the reception desk and asked if they would call Cyrille for us. Thankfully we did have his phone number. Within 10-15 minutes he was at the hotel! I really believe he is overwhelmed with many things and keeping up with us is not up there on his priority list if something else comes up. He focuses on what is before him right then and there are many things that demand his attention. He asked if we had eaten lunch yet and we hadn’t so he said he’d take us to get something to eat but first he had to pick up the car. I’m not sure where it was but we were to get our things together, including the JF backpack and he’d be right back.
By 2 p.m. we were on our way to a different restaurant that the one we’d been to previously. But, most of the menu items were similar. Cyrille ordered a fish stew of some type and the rest of us had a beef dish with fried plantains. When it was served it was the mixed greens we’d tried the first day at the other restaurant with pieces of beef hidden in it. I liked it but needless to say, Sam was less than impressed. After eating we headed out of town toward the direction of Tole. It had rained quite a bit early this a.m. but all morning was just cloudy. But, by the time we came out of the restaurant the majority of clouds had disappeared and it was nice and sunny. Yet, when we reached the little valley where Tole was the fog had settled in.
We passed the road turning off to Tole and continued on the main road for a couple of miles. Turning off onto a dirt road we stopped and waited for Humphrey and Rachel to arrive. Each one soon came, Humphrey on a motorbike taxi and Rachel was dropped off at the road after catching a ride in a car going on to Buea. We went about 50 ft on down the dirt road and parked the car. We started along a dirt path going down a hill. It looked like a prayer walk, with crosses occasionally noted along the path. Not too far down the hill we came to a stone platform covered with some plastic canopies. And just beyond the platform were the waterfalls we had been told about. It was very beautiful. Jungle with flowers and vines and waterfalls and fog. The location was owned by the Catholic church and was developed into an area for quiet contemplation and prayer. There were steps down to the waterfalls and different areas for groups to congregate. There was a small prayer chapel also. Cyrille told us that the story is told that before people died strange sounds could be heard near the waterfalls. The church believed it to be satanic so they built a prayer chapel there and placed multiple areas around to pray. The sounds are no longer heard before a death, according to folk lore. Whatever the reason it is very beautiful. We walked down all the steps to the waterfall. Cyrille was hesitant to go all the way down to the waterfalls, but after the rest 9f us were down there he decided to join us. After coming back up to the platform we gathered around under one of the canopies where we had another training session for setting up the JF equipment with about 5 of the new JF team members and a training session of using the evangecube. Of course, it got dark before we finished and started sprinkling. Walking back up the hill on the rocky path with it raining in the dark with just a couple of small flashlights was a memory being made. Cyrille did find out from the attendants there that he should have talked to the priest first for permission to use the area before bringing a group there. He keeps finding out things he should have done all the time. Like he should have notified the governor that we were coming so they would know there was a “team” here so the governor could notify the police and other authorities to be aware in case there were any problems while we are in the country. The hotel personnel told him this information. Oh well, what’s the saying. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission?
We came right back to the hotel where Cyrille told us to get something to eat at the restaurant, if we wanted and to be ready to check out by 10a.m. Wonder if he’ll be ready by 10 a.m.!! Since it was only 7:45 we did go on to the restaurant and eat a little bite of something. But before entering the restaurant I got stopped at the door by a gentleman who wanted me to step over to the reception desk with him. With a little hesitation I did because he was so insistent. He then said the hotel would be moving us to better rooms. He apologized for them putting us in the rooms we were in. I told him it was not necessary as we would be checking out right after breakfast in the morning. He said he thought we’d extended our stay. I told him we had. We had first checked out on Sunday morning but our plans had changed and we’d checked back in on Sunday evening for two more days. When we had checked back in they put us back into the same rooms. He apologized again and told us that next time we came we’d have much better accommodations. I’d never seen this man before but I am assuming he is either the owner of the hotel or the manager because he was obviously upset and apparently wanted to make sure the young lady behind the desk heard what he had to say (she was the one who had changed us out of the one room and put us both in the rooms we were in the first time and again when we had checked back in on Sunday). Thankfully, we didn’t complain about the rooms or anything else at the hotel as nearly everyone has been so nice and helpful to us.
Time to get this posted and ready for bed. Tomorrow is to be a long day of travel.
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