Capt. Daley's Sea Stories Dalfrey Tide Kribi & Douala, Cameroon Bonaberi & May Day Parties 01 May 2011 Dalfrey Tide serviced the jackup rig Pride Cabinda, FSPO La Lobe and the jackup production facility Ebomi for our client, Perenco. The field is located only five miles offshore Kribi, Cameroon and our Cameroon cell phones worked perfectly. Perenco bought the field from Total a French company, which did the initial exploration and development. The voyage from Douala to the Ebomi field lasts nine hours. We were escorted by a military boat to and from the field which I sincerely appreciated. Boat docks were welded alongside our vessels to enable crew changes for the rig using Surfers, very small, very fast crew boats. In Douala we were based out of both the SDV dock and the old Total dock (aka UIC dock or Perenco dock), both very shallow water areas. We had a lightning strike while in the field which damaged much of our electronic equipment. These six sea stories show some of the highlights of my six week stay as Master of the Dalfrey Tide. (c) Capt. Gregory C. Daley, 2011 info@captaingreg.net http://www.captaingreg.net These photos have been resized up from their original images. The original images are 5616 pixels by 3744 pixels with higher resolution. If you would like a copy for your personal use, please email me and I will email the original image to you at no charge. If you wish to purchase an image for commercial use, the charge is $ 100 USD per image. Contact me at info@captaingreg.net
Bonaberi is a town located on the other side of the Wouri River from Douala. This is the north shore of Bonaberi upstream of the bridge. No commercial or oilfield vessels are small enough to pass under the bridge. This property belongs to Justine, a lady who sat next to me on the flight from Paris to Douala.
Justine purchased this property from the mayor of Bonaberi, who is her neighbor. She lives in Germany with her sons but enjoys traveling back to Douala, her hometown. She was married to a German attorney. I heard her speak over five languages switching rapidly from one to the other.
Her home, which fronts the river, is one of the more upscale homes I have seen in Cameroon.
Her houseboy was grilling her some fish which she enjoys eating like popcorn.
Carpets and rugs are seldom seen in Africa. My guess is that the tile or marble floors are much easier to keep clean. Living in a country where expensive wood is cheap has its benefits.
The unit in the upper corner is an air conditioner, a luxury which few people have in their homes.
The quality of the wood is incredible and is an economic choice, even for a ceiling.
The home is custom designed and built. It is stocked with a variety of German wines and liquors.
The grilled fish, ready for consumption
Justine (above) invited me to the May Day party of the mayor. May Day parties are a big celebration in Cameroon. All businesses shut down and employees celebrate together as a business. The mayor owns a construction company which sponsored this party. We were the honored guest, but I have no idea why!
Other honored guests were the police commissioner (suit) and his wife (yellow dress).
The mayor of Bonaberi
The commissioner s wife and one of the company managers enjoyed dancing closely. They must have been friends from the before the party.
A good time was had by all. There was plenty of food, wine, drinks and dancing.
There were many closed stalls down the road from the mayor s offices to the main highway.
This is the main highway running through Bonaberi.
There were hundreds of May Day parties throughout the area from small businesses to large.
Justine owns this building which houses eight very nice apartments. She describes the economics as being quite different from the USA. Once a tenant moves is it is impossible to move them out. They may or may not pay on time if at all. The man on the balcony paid her this night for last month s rent and she was quite happy.
This is one of Justine s sisters. Justine has a very large family from a very prolific father.
A better shot of her sister. She studies business at the University.
Justine was a wonderful hostess. I learned much about local life in Douala and the suburbs from her.