With Kribi, we were back to the mainland, back to former French colonies and into Cameroon. This was our last stop in Central Africa. We arrived late in the morning from Principe, which left time for two presentations in the morning. Greg Anderson gave us discussion of pygmy languages that was a superb introduction to the history and social relations of pygmies all over Africa – as well as once again taking us into the world of linguistics. Mike Watts then gave an introduction to African agriculture, which promises to be meaningful for the societies we will be visiting during the rest of the voyage. After that, we were off to the port in our Zodiacs.

We enjoyed a lazy, relaxed ride in a pirogue up the Lobé River, with the sun shining, birds flying overhead and thick jungle vegetation on both sides of the river. Our objective was a “pygmy encampment” established by the Cameroon Ministry of Culture. We were able to enjoy the dancing of Bagyelu pygmies and to appreciate the transient nature of Bagyelu hut construction and the limited amount of equipment that nomadic hunters could carry with them. We also visited the Lobé Falls, near where the Lobé River pours into the Atlantic Ocean.

The high point of the day for many of us was a visit to the Standard Bilingual Primary and Nursery School, where in spite of the Easter vacation, we were greeted by a group of nicely dressed students, who performed a fine drum composition. The director of the school, Phelexine Bola Nkwenti, showed us a 6th grade classroom and the place where a classroom building was ready for the addition of a second and, eventually, a third floor. A chart on the blackboard in the classroom indicated that there were 18 girls and 11 boys in the class and that last month, they had perfect attendance. A few of us conversed with some of the bright, bilingual students. Lisa presented the school with several boxes of school supplies.

Finally, after returning to ship and setting sail, we had dinner and were entertained by another one of Jacob Edgar’s musical discoveries, a Cameroonian singer named Kareyce Fotso, who had a smoky voice.