Starting the Nigeria-Namibia trip,our journey aims to start from the beautiful country of Cameroon, which is one of the closest countries linking Western and Central Africa together with a vast border with Nigeria.

Travelling into Cameroon by boat

My journey started from Lagos, Nigeria, taking the bus to Calabar using the GIGM transport company. Onboarding, I was told the bus wouldn’t be getting to Calabar but to Uyo and transfer us to another bus going to Calabar.

Remember, I said they have various borders that lead into Cameroon from Nigeria. You could either go through Akwa-Ibom from the Ibaka Boat Port or through Calabar using the marine jetty port.

I followed the Calabar route because I needed to get a Guinea visa right there in Calabar. Although I had earlier sent  my passport to Calabar through a friend & I had to get it back, I needed to travel to Calabar first and get my passport to travel from there to Limbe, Cameroon.

Transferring from one bus to the other wasn’t a problem. We headed off to Calabar and got there quite late, but altogether it was a smooth journey.

My journey to Limbe, Cameroon

The next day, I took a car to the Marine Jetty in Calabar and met Mr. Adam. He said he had a boat to Limbe and I had to pay 50,000 naira for transportation. The transportation was 30,000 naira and 20,000 naira for settlement on the sea. This in turn was an issue, since i was traveling with my complete document but let’s keep riding. 

Paid in full and ready to head out to Calabar. Unfortunately, Mr. Adam wasn’t truthful. Instead of taking me to Limbe directly, he took me to Oron first with the point that I needed to stamp my passport out of Nigeria to continue my journey to Cameroon so that I could stamp into Cameroon without hassle. 

This was a very good point, which later helped me get some help in Cameroon.

Upon getting to Oron, he had promised that he had a boat to Limbe. Since his boat was no longer going to Limbe, he transferred me to another agent who said I wouldn’t be traveling to Limbe the same day. I would have to sleep in Oron because there was no boat leaving that day to Limbe.

After some back-and-forth and arguments, he decided I should pay an extra 5,000 naira, and he would take me down to my destination. I agreed and decided to head out.

To my surprise, I wasn’t taken to the jetty. I was put in a cab going to Ibaka Port in Akwa-Ibom. This took about 50 minutes from Oron.

By this time, it was already too late to head out to Limbe, but I was adamant about getting to Limbe the same day.

Upon getting to the Ibaka port, we were told that the last boat had left. I had no choice but to find a hotel to sleep in. I found a hotel for 8,000 naira called Classic Points not far from the port. It was decent, and I had a restful night.

The next morning, my boat guy came to pick us up at the hotel and took us to the port. I could hear boats loading for Wovia Limbe, but still, my boat guy decided to be dishonest and said there was no boat.

This was all because they did not want to pay the initial fee the Jetty guys were charging. 

Around past 10, they found us a boat loaded with cargo heading to Limbe.

When I say “us,” there is a backstory (read here). 

We entered the boat, and it was just the two of us, myself and Anass. Later, Anass won’t be following me on this journey.

On the way, the boat guy mentioned we would be heading to Ideano first to get my passport stamped instead of Limbe. He said this is the best route. 

I wasn’t settled in my spirit for this, but at the time, I was already exhausted from all their shenanigans.

The boat ride was crazy yet filled with adrenaline as we raced against the waves of the Gulf of Guinea on a rainy day. 

Afterwards, I would come to know that travelling to Limbe in this rickety boat is a life-costing adventure with a sprinkle of God’s grace with you.

Upon getting to Ideano, I was faced with a harsh reality: a corrupted and bitter truth of a degenerating, corrupt-based country Cameroon had been over the years to people travelling  into  their country.

At the border, I was told I had to pay a total of 40,000 CFA for passage. I asked what for and whether this would get my passport stamped. They said no, but I must pay or not pass.

Mind you, Cameroon is a visa-free country for Nigerians. All I needed was my passport to get stamped and proceed further in my journey. But this wasn’t the case.

 As I sat there arguing my way out, I saw not just me but other Nigerians with permanent residency and Cameroonians as well facing the same mistreatment. At this point, I knew I was helpless & hopeless unless I paid.

After spending much of my time there, I decided to bargain to 25,000 CFA (about 55,000 naira), with 15,000 CFA going to immigration and 10,000 CFA to the police, who had now confiscated my bag until I paid.

Immediately upon dropping from the boat, they will approach you; someone will carry your bag straight to the police, and the other will take your passport straight to the immigration. There is no way out there.

After paying, I began my journey to Limbe to get my passport stamped so I could move around freely. This is where my next life-threatening experience would come from.

Upon getting a bus to Limbe, which is about a one-hour drive from Ideano, I explained to a man who then explained to the driver that I had no stamp yet and needed to get to Limbe. He said because of the gendarmerie on the way, I would have to pay an extra 5,000 CFA to pass without hassle.

The journey began, and the man had linked me with a policeman sitting in the front seat with me. I didn’t know their arrangement since I couldn’t speak nor understand French clearly.

Upon reaching the gendarmerie, my situation worsened; I was asked to get down from the car by the officer who started screaming with fire in his eyes. He said I was traveling illegally, having stamped out of my country on the 20th and now it was the 21st—where had I been?

Another problem was that he was not speaking in English, though I could sense he could. He went on to check my passport and said, “Oh, it is expired.” Egbami, a passport with ten years’ validity that won’t expire until 2034!

He then picked on something else, saying I had traveled to the countries on my passport without stamping in and out. These were visas of countries that I hadn’t even traveled to, which were even dated for future arrival.

At this point, I knew this guy didn’t know what he was doing. A guy stepped in to act like my saviour, talking and mitigating with the officer, who then said I either go back to Ideano to get a stamp or pay 10,000 CFA to proceed. It’s all about money. He could have requested that earlier.

On still getting my passport stamped. This will be shared in another post soon.

Getting into Cameroon shouldn’t be this hard but i believe it’s just one of those days and luck ran out.

Welcome to Country No1 however, it will be fun.