Life in Cameroon

[skykaiser]

Hi guys,
I am an italian pilot who is about to live and work in Douala.
I'd like to have some information about life cost(I don't have to pay for accomodation) and social situation over there. Any advise will be welcome!
thanks

[alpha-b]

Hey mate
I'm a cameroonian pilot and life's pretty much the same in a normal african country if you've been to any before.political situation is very stable,cost of life is cheap and there's a lot to do around and the night life's too is the best,so i'm sure you'll enjoy.Which company are you going to be flying for?

[Siguarda al fine]

I was there for a short time, I found the people kind, the beer drinkable, the selection wide, the local dishes delightfull, the Manyapha´s average looking, though I did not partake of their offers of night long pleasure. What more could a pilot want??? :ok:

[skykaiser]

Thanks to you guys!I am sure that I'll enjoy staying in Douala!:)

[Gooneybird]

Hmmmm wouldn't call it cheap. I found Douala pretty expensive, however agree with a lot of what has been said.

Very dirty city, open sewers down the road sides, no drain covers, broken roads etc...

Night life was pretty good. Some very nice restaurants, both ex-pat and local. The people were on the whole friendly enough.

[soggyboxers]

Despite being mugged on my first night there, I thought Douala was a great place! There was always lots to do. Life is as expensive or cheap as you want to make it. There were some great, expensive restaurants with some of the best steak I've ever eaten, but also some great bargains, like La Marsellaise down the road from the Akwa Palace where you could have a good 3 course lunch with wine for very little. Even many of the expensive restaurants were very reasonable if you had the fixed-price menu at lunchtime. Supermarkets were pretty reasonable and the Castell beer very drinkable. If you go to a club with a few friends, buy a bottle of spirits. This is expensive, but you get a lot of mixer drinks, fruit juice and ice included. They'll mark your bottle for you, so what ever you don't finish you can have next time you go back and you then get a new lot of mixers.

Weekends away in Limbe, Kribi or Bamenda can be very enjoyable. I think you can have a very good time there if you want too.

[ROTARARY]

Yaaa - Soggy Boxers - unfortunately the "reasonable" places don't really exist anymore - its all expensive I hear. But I gather CanadianHeliCluster:mad: is still managing to pay less PD than ever paid in that country before.

Hey Alpha-b - I think you are confused - yes, cost of life is cheap - but cost of living is expensive - where have you been living the rest of your life? on the moon?:confused:

Kaiser - are you sure you are going to Cameroon?

[seper]

ah castel! great beer,i heard Cameroun has the highest beer consumption in Africa.

and the fish..................awesome

[florin_el]

I was also worried about relocating to Douala.

Here I am now, arrived 3 days ago, and enjoying the city and the people.
The people are very welcoming and helpful.

Like everywhere you have to keep your eyes open and have an ideea about the price to pay in your currency to know if that is expensive or cheap.

Internet is very expensive comparing to Europe, but is available and quick to install (Orange, MTN, Ringo).
Taxi is cheap, it would help to speak French though.
You should avoid saving money to buy electronic gadgets in Cameroon (camera, phone etc. but I guess no surprise here).

I had wonderful grilled fish on the waterside (there is a place with fish restaurants one next to other, alpha-b will tell us the name :)) for only 20 euro for 3 people including the beers and suya for 6 euro for 3 persons on "la rue de la joie".

I think soggyboxers says all by: "Life is as expensive or cheap as you want to make it."

[skykaiser]

thanks guys, you have been very helpful! I'll try to spare some money there;)
But what about hospitals and malaria. I asked to an expert in the matter and he said that it is better for a pilot not to do the prophylaxis for the malaria since I am supposed to stay a lot of time (at least 6 months for the first period) and because of the side effects such as hallucinations, liver and eyes problems and so on. And you have to consider the fact that flying for long distances you can reach areas in which there is a different kind malaria.So what to do?

[Gooneybird]

That's a good question to ask.

For malaria, you are right and should not use prophylactics. I still carry Coartem. The trick is to get tested for malaria at first symptoms and then treat it with the Coartem. Malaria IS a killer but is mostly treatable. It kills those who either can't afford treatment or leave it too late.

For advice I would always choose a Dr who lives in a malarial area over one that doesn't. My knowledge is not current and others may have more up to date advice.

I visited a hospital in Cameroon and wouldn't choose to stay in one unless I was desperate. That said, some time spent on a drip can help with staying hydrated in the case of severe vomiting and diarrea.

[rwm]

I had Malaria in Douala, and the Cameroonians know how to treat it. The hospital I was in was clean and well staffed. I was out in 3 days, and hungry again.

I will never be treated for Malaria in any western country if I ever get it again. I was in Canada and started to feel the symptoms, and I went to the clinic to get treated, and to get the anti malaria drugs. They told me it would be 3 or 4 days before they got the results back, which I then told them I would be dead if I had malaria. They said it would not be that bad. They had no clue. I jumped on the next plane back to africa, and picked up some co-arinate (Coartem works too) at the first pharmacy I came to, and 2 days laterwas feeling much better.

As to what kind of anti Malaria drugs you should take? Malarone is probably the best now. It is expensive, but has the fewest side effects, and they claim is the easiest on your body. Larium or doxycyclene can cause hallucinations. They both have limitations on how long you can take them, as they are hard on your liver.

If you do start to feel like you have a flu, go get checked immediately. The symtoms I have had were aches and pains in the low back, head ache, and no appetite. This lasted for a day, then was followed by fever, and chills, more aches and pains for another day, then by the third day, I was expelling fluids from all orifaces. Then I was checked into a hospital.

If you get to the diarrea and vomiting stage, then the over the counter drugs will not do much for you, and you need to be in the hospital. Up to that stage, you can take on of several drugs to eliminate the malaria. I recomend you always have one of those packages on hand when you are in a malaria country, and keep it with you for atleast 2 weeks after you leave the malaria zone, as the parasite can incubate for 7-14 days before you have any symptoms.You should also get a self test kit, as you can test yourself for malaria with just a little prick to the finger, and the test will give you an indication on if you have malaria. I always have one kit on hand, and also a package of malarone and co-arinate. You can take malarone in higher dose to control the symtoms, as it prevents the parasite from multiplying.


There is also cerebral malaria, and this may kill in 24 hrs. The patient is often found in convultions before they get treatment. This is however a rare form of malaria.

[Siguarda al fine]

been there done that 3 times dont want it again EVER. I had the pleasure of flying a certain Dr Brown who at the time was a consultant to Rothmans. He was one of the top world experts on malaria and said to me one must take the pills no matter what you are told by barrack room doctors and lawyers. The pills have side effects for sure but side effects cannot kill you malaria can and will kill you.

[soggyboxers]

rwm,

Actually cerebral malaria is not a separate form of malaria; it is a complication of falciparum malaria whose signs are normally manifested as impaired neurological functions and possible loss of consciousness. It has a mortality rate of around 20% in adults receiving treatment and almost 100% for those who receive no treatment. It was usually treated with quinine, but nowadays is often treated with Artemether or Artesunate.

Larium (mefloquine hydrochloride) may cause hallucinations, but not doxycycline. Larium is forbidden as a chemoprophylaxis for pilots by most aviation companies because of this and if you're flying in an oil related industry, most major oil companies requiring a chemoprophylaxis programme specify Malarone or Doxycycline in West African countries such as Cameroon and Nigeria. Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) seems to be the the choice for most effective treatment these days. The WHO currently recommends the following ACTs in Africa:
artemether-lumefantrine, artesunate + amodiaquine;
artesunate + sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine.

Partial treatments should not be given even when patients are
considered to be semi-immune or the diagnosis is uncertain. A
full course of effective treatment should always be given once a decision to give antimalarial treatment has been reached.

When travelling out on leave I always carry an ACT pack with me and I have a home-made card in my wallet stating that I live and work in a malarial area in West Africa where Falciparum malaria is prevalent and in case of collapse I should be treated for malaria.

A short fact sheet from the WHO can be found at:

WHO Malaria Fact Sheet (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs094/en/index.html)

or if you want the full 266 page Malaria treatment guide:

WHO Malarial Treatment Guide (http://www.who.int/malaria/docs/TreatmentGuidelines2006.pdf)