After all the garbage I had been wading through, nothing is as bad as the rotten fish odours permeating through our car for the past 2 days. Marcel did not get around to eating his fish before it spoiled.
We finish up early in Foumbot and head to Foumban. We meet with Dr. X, who, along with being the president of the local Red Cross chapter, happens to be the brother of the sultan. As a prince, the locals know well that he cannot be seated next to him. I, on the other hand, have been given the honour. However, h opts not to let me know that he is prince.
The sultan is away on business in Yaoundé. Pity...it would have been a nice part of our work.
We visit the local artisans. The prince barters away. The artisans cannot argue. I will return home with a stool and headrest, purchased with an un-princely sum. I continue on my personal tour at the World Heritage designated sultan’s palace of the Bafoum kingdom. This is the prince’s childhood home. The prince requests the guardian of the museum to show us around after hours. Fascinating! Mbue Mbue, one of the sultans, was a giant of a man. He was over 2.6 metres tall, with corresponding proportions. I can probably wear his bangles as a belt, and I am not a thin woman.
I see an enemy’s skull fashioned into a drinking vessel. I see all the various headdresses. I see the thrones fashioned for the last 3 sultans. I see all the various objects that are still being used in the biannual Boum processions (the next procession is scheduled for December 2012). I see a headdress made of the mandibles of enemies. I need to keep on the good side of the prince.
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