CAMEROON: Cameroon Forest Hunt With Mayo Oldiri

[Jerycmeach]

I’m in a hotel in Casa Blanca, Morocco on my way to hunt the forest of Camaroon right on the border with the Congo and the C.A.R. You cannot imagine how foreign those words that I just typed into my cellphone sound to me!
I grew up in the swamps, hammocks, and saltwater of the East Coast of Central Florida taking fish and game from nature to sell and also to put food on the table. That is the way it was if you were poor and lived the way our family did. I got really good at it; I was a hunter and fisherman extraordinaire, Florida’s native son. I had a great teacher! My grandfather started taking me in the in boat when I was just two years old. My mother said I didn’t even have a pair of shoes for the first few years he took me. That’s the way things were back then. We went barefoot all the time! Biting insects and poisonous snakes, extreme heat and humidity, were just a normal part of our life! I never slept in a room with air conditioning until I was the ripe old age of nineteen. I hope some of the fortitude to withstand the afire mentioned has lingered into my senior citizen days; because this trip to the Camaroon Forest may be reminiscent of the conditions I endured in my youth!
My grandad was born in 1900 and was as much a part of the wild as the fish and animals that lived in our part of the world!. He taught me all the hunting and fishing skills he had accumulated in his lifetime and the intricacies of nature and ecosystems we were a part of. My dad had fished with my grandfather but after marrying and starting a family he worked a job he despised bringing home sixty eight dollars a week to keep a family of seven housed, clothed, and fed.
Why am I starting this thread in this manner you might ask? You see I posted a quote from Morgan Freeman at the beginning of this hunt report. Trust me, I am no fan of some of the things Morgan has said but in this specific quote of his is spot on! To those that say they “can’t do something like a big hunt to Africa” or “they wish they could have done that one thing they really wanted to do in their lifetime but they never had the time or the money”; I beg to disagree! You can do what you want too in life! If I can do it anyone can! I bought the clothes for this trip from the good will thrift shop in Bartlesville Oklahoma. Pictures will be enclosed to bring you a smile! I died the “used” clothes with RIT dye on top of the stove to make dark green hunting clothes out of “high water church pants and long sleeve shirts donated most likely by a tearful widow woman”. I’m not kididng! I have a Business Class roundtrip ticket on Air Maroc that I earned by making all my small business purchases with my Alaska Airlines Visa credit card! To depart for this trip I drove my best vehicle! A 2002 Tahoe that left me stranded on the side of the road on the way to the Kansas City Airport! Clogged fuel filter! How did I know that! I’ll tell you how! Because I have been “running CRAP all my life and I can not only tell what is wrong with a vehicle when it quits most of the time; but I can macyver my way out of the situation and get back in operation! Ha! Ha! So I dove under the old broken down Chevy on the side of the highway with a couple of wrenches. Nothing feels much better than having gasoline run into your eyes, down your arm and onto the tender skin of your armpit. It was ninety six degrees and humid. Gasoline is much more exciting to have all over you when it’s hot and the pours of your skin are wide open and your sweating! Lovely!.
The reason I began my hunt report in this way is to encourage all of those that think they can’t do things that they always dreamed of doing are kidding themselves! Where there is a will there is a way! Don’t let time pass you by! It waits for no man!
This is my fourth trip to Africa and they have all happened since COVID shut down my charter fishing business in Ketchikan, Alaska. I have been traveling for two days to get to this point having left my hunting lodge and outfitting business in the Flint Hills of S.E Kansas a couple of days ago. My connection on Air Maroc leaves Casablanca in a few hours and hopefully I will arrive as scheduled into Douala, camaroon around four in the morning. If that happens; I will barely be able to make it through immigration, security, and baggage claim and still have time to get to a charter plane and head one of Mayo Oldiri’s camps. The charter is not for me and is not one of Mayo’s charters. I am hoping to jump on to a charter going to pick up some Russian hunters and bring them back to Douala. So the plane is going out empty to get the hunters but they cannot wait for me even for a minute. If I make it I make it! It sure would be nice because I am told the drive to where I am going which is their most remote and hard to reach camo is two long days of driving over rough roads. I will still need to rely upon a hired car and driver to bring me back to Douala after the hunt.

 

[Scott CWO]

Good luck @Jerycmeach! Let me know how it goes passing through Douala. I will be there in February on my way north and east for LDE.

 

[Jerycmeach]

Here are a few things that may be helpful to others on AH. I left my place in Kansas to drive to the Kansas City airport. The first leg of my journey was simply a Delta flight to New York’s JFK. The flight overseas the next morning mandated I spend the night in the city and be ready to check in at JFK the next morning. Well, you know how things go! I had a clogged fork filter issue that I resolved by just taking it off and dumping out the garbage and reinstalling it on the side of the road. By the time I got a few blocks from the airport the old ranch truck was spitting and sputtering again! Along with the truck mechanical issues I faced some traffic delays. The Missouri River was flooding and some smaller roads were closed, I suppose, causing the highways to be backed up. The lesson is of course do your best in these trips to not get boxed into a corned with the unsuspected event that makes you miss your flight.
Having a pack or carry on with enough hinting clothes and gear to conduct your hunt even if your checked baggage never shows up at your final destination is a must! My buddy hunted the Savannah of Camaroon last year and he and another client of Mayo’s never got their baggage or guns at the airport. They waited two days, “subtracted feom their valuable and precious hunting day” days of course and then they continued on to the hunting camp. My buddy Dr Tom hunted in borrowed clothes and with a borrowed rifle. Thousands of dollars wasted!! Don’t be that guy! I say take enough in a carry on. I have a dry bag I used on my Kodiak brown bear hunt last months that I put a massive amount in. It barely fit in the overhead but I got by! Invaluable! Remember, it’s 1500 euros for a driver to bring your luggage to the camp if you want your luggage that bad. I have uploaded a picture of me at the Kansas City airport with the pack

 

[BourbonTrail]

I want an excuse to go to Morocco again…I sure do like yours. Good luck on your hunt.

 

[Jerycmeach]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so let me just throw up a few pictures and then make a few helpful hints. I have never flown out of JFK and I am definitely intimidated by international travel. For any of you on AH that are like me in that regard do not fret! If I can do it anyone can!

First observation is that if you have to overnight at JFK decide what hotel you are going to and how you are going to get there. I luckily was seated, on the Kansas City to NYC flight, right beside a newly retired new york city detective; twenty two years on the force. His last area of assignment was the borough of Queens including JFK airport area. Oh my gosh! He told me about the crime and the downhill spiral that NY has taken. He has lived in New York his whole life and would leave in a minute if he could he said. His wife will not allow it! An aged mother to care for. Anyway, he told me of the hotels near the airport I could have selected which ones have migrants in the entire building or in most cases several floors. It’s nearly all of them! He told me the hotels are full of homeless, mentally ill, and drug addicts; all being paid for at crazy high rates by the city. His father was offered five hundred a night just for bedrooms in his home! So I digress! He told me of how sad it was for him to time after time go on calls of robbery victims to these hotels and meet the victims. Can you imagine all the unsuspecting families being robbed when they go to well known named hotels such as the Holiday Inn, the Marriott, the JFK inn etc! I do not want to disparage these hotel chains; I am only bringing this specific situation in New York up to let you know it’s not some “no name” hotels where this is going on! Be careful! He told be to stay in the hotel. Take a cab! Don’t go for a walk or go walking looking for a place to eat dinner!

In these pictures we the layout of business class on Air Maroc. The experience is very nice. Lay flat beds and great food. There is a really nice business class lounge right beside Gate 10 in Terminal 1. That is where Air Maroc is flying out of. They are totally redoing terminal 1. I will attach a photo. So one must go to another terminal and be dropped of and take the air train to terminal 1. It is easy and there is no cost. Security without the business class ticket is a nightmare in morning at JFK. One would have to allow 3.5 hours to have a confidence in my opinion. I talked to people that where online for two hours to get thru security.

Once in Casa Blanca it was a little chaotic. You need to change some US dollars for local currency which is easily done and there are several “booths” businesses that are offering that right near baggage claim. Then simply getting a taxi to a hotel for your layover if necessary, I found hardly no one spoke English so I used my telephone to show them the picture of the hotel where I wanted to go. I had no reservations but they ended up having plenty of rooms.

I want an excuse to go to Morocco again…I sure do like yours. Good luck on your hunt.

I’m hear now. Two guys protecting the big shot that’s asking questions. They both have sun machine guns. You go thru security with X-rays bags twice to get in and twice to get out. The just counted out my money and ask me all about my comings and goings! Ah! Like I say… I ain’t in Kansas anymore!

 

[Jerycmeach]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so let me just throw up a few pictures and then make a few helpful hints. I have never flown out of JFK and I am definitely intimidated by international travel. For any of you on AH that are like me in that regard do not fret! If I can do it anyone can!

First observation is that if you have to overnight at JFK decide what hotel you are going to and how you are going to get there. I luckily was seated, on the Kansas City to NYC flight, right beside a newly retired new york city detective; twenty two years on the force. His last area of assignment was the borough of Queens including JFK airport area. Oh my gosh! He told me about the crime and the downhill spiral that NY has taken. He has lived in New York his whole life and would leave in a minute if he could he said. His wife will not allow it! An aged mother to care for. Anyway, he told me of the hotels near the airport I could have selected which ones have migrants in the entire building or in most cases several floors. It’s nearly all of them! He told me the hotels are full of homeless, mentally ill, and drug addicts; all being paid for at crazy high rates by the city. His father was offered five hundred a night just for bedrooms in his home! So I digress! He told me of how sad it was for him to time after time go on calls of robbery victims to these hotels and meet the victims. Can you imagine all the unsuspecting families being robbed when they go to well known named hotels such as the Holiday Inn, the Marriott, the JFK inn etc! I do not want to disparage these hotel chains; I am only bringing this specific situation in New York up to let you know it’s not some “no name” hotels where this is going on! Be careful! He told be to stay in the hotel. Take a cab! Don’t go for a walk or go walking looking for a place to eat dinner!

In these pictures we the layout of business class on Air Maroc. The experience is very nice. Lay flat beds and great food. There is a really nice business class lounge right beside Gate 10 in Terminal 1. That is where Air Maroc is flying out of. They are totally redoing terminal 1. I will attach a photo. So one must go to another terminal and be dropped of and take the air train to terminal 1. It is easy and there is no cost. Security without the business class ticket is a nightmare in morning at JFK. One would have to allow 3.5 hours to have a confidence in my opinion. I talked to people that where online for two hours to get thru security.

Once in Casa Blanca it was a little chaotic. You need to change some US dollars for local currency which is easily done and there are several “booths” businesses that are offering that right near baggage claim. Then simply getting a taxi to a hotel for your layover if necessary, I found hardly no one spoke English so I used my telephone to show them the picture of the hotel where I wanted to go. I had no reservations but they ended up having plenty of rooms.

I’m hear now. Two guys protecting the big shot that’s asking questions. They both have sun machine guns. You go thru security with X-rays bags twice to get in and twice to get out. The just counted out my money and ask me all about my comings and goings! Ah! Like I say… I ain’t in Kansas anymore!

In the pictures above you can see the business class lounge you have access to when flying business class on air Maroc. It is located at terminal 1 in JFK and I am told all the international flights will be coming and going from that terminal when the constitution currently going on is complete. I took this picture of the terminal one construction while looking out the window of rhe business lounge that Air Maroc passengers can access.

 

[Jerycmeach]

Getting to JFK from the Kansas City airport on Delta was sightly delayed but it went off without further trouble. I would have been sick of having scheduled the last flight of the day out of MCI that I would not have arrived to take off the follow morning for my international flight on Air Maroc. As I have mentioned New York City is not the same place it was when I “unfortunately” spent time there in the past! Be careful of your security and safety and think about the immigrants, the homeless, mentally I’ll, and addicts that are being housed within the same hotels you may book in advance of your travel being unaware! I made it to baggage claim and then into the air train and then ti federal circle where you can get a shuttle to a hotel. Be aware many airport shuttle only run certain times of the day and if you go to the air train stop on federal circle you won’t be able to get a taxi from that location. You will have to get back on the train and go to a different stop where the taxis can be obtained. I have learned so much in this journey already. Like all of four trips to different parts of Africa; it seems so scary at first but it’s only the unknown that makes you feel that way. Just like most things if you just jump in the water and start flailing soon enough you will be a confident swimmer! Ha!
I liked my first experience on Air Maroc. I would say that if my experience on the top end first class Qatar flights was a 9 or 10 then air Maroc was a strong 8! It was very good just not the very best if you know what I mean. I have inserted a picture of Manhattan that I took outbound of JFK airport. I personally need nothing that city offers. My wife was born there and always wants to go back. To me it is a sewer hole! I have attached a photo of the inside and outside of the airport in Casa Blanca. It is so imortand in this part of the world to arrange being “fast tracked” through security and immigration. I cannot stress that enough! You just can’t endure the alternative! I had trouble finding anyone who spoke English in casa Blanca but with a little sign language and my cell phone I got by fine. Changing some is dollars into local currency if you are having a long layover is necessary. Have a look at the chaotic scene at the airport at 1 a.m when I arrived! I can only imagine Douala is going to be way, way, worse!

 

[gillettehunter]

Looking forward to your hunt report. I suspect that your going to have a great time. Good luck. Shoot straight. We'll look forward to more details on your hunt.
Bruce

 

[Jerycmeach]

Well fellow AH members I apologize once again for this sloppy and poorly arranged start to my Camaroon hunt report. You have to believe me when I say my intentions were to do a really solid job! But in my defense the WiFi I have access too here in Morocco during my layover has been so weak and pathetic that it is difficult to get anything uploaded. But, I had the time so I had to try! Please take it as it is and try to get some info out of it.
I see my plane waiting for me on the tarmac. The question is what awaits me on this adventure? You never know? Life or death? Gabon vipers, first elephants, bongos, silverback guerrillas…. Maybe guerrillas if the human kind machine guns! . You just never know! I excited to see how this pans out and I will get back to you when I can.
View attachment 616914

 

[Wheels]

Good luck on the bongo hunt Jery. Have the time of your life!

 

[Jerycmeach]

Looking forward to your hunt report. I suspect that your going to have a great time. Good luck. Shoot straight. We'll look forward to more details on your hunt.
Bruce

Thanks my friend! You are a big part of my research that gave me the strength and desire to try this on my own! Thanks buddy fie alm the times we chatted on the phone about your hunting area in the Congo ans my hunting area in Camaroon are going to be very close to one another. It will be fun for us to compare notes in that and more!

 

[Jerycmeach]

Good luck on the bongo hunt Jery. Have the time of your life!

Buddy I’ll be communicating with you every chance I get! If I had not met you on AH I would not have a wild lion and full bag of plains game from Tanzania or an elephant from the wilderness North of the Okavango in Botswana or the same number of leopards as I have fingers on one hand! Unbelievable! I cannot believe how awesome of a friend you have been not to mention a new fishing buddy! Remember that day we snagged big ole paddlefish in the Arkansas river this Spring! That is what a site like AH can do! Put people together as well as provide information for those wanting to know more about hunting opportunities! I do hope it turns out well as far as getting a bongo and other animals I may have an opportunity to take but that is not what I seek! Adventure and an understanding of how hunting and hunters are responsible for protecting the wildlife and the wild places as well as improving the life of the local communities! Mayo will be showing me there anti poaching work as well as there hospital and so forth. I can’t wait to get all of that documented and someday maybe find a platform to share it with others!

 

[Jerycmeach]

The adventure continues! Plane delayed in leaving Casa Blanca. After a flawless four hour or so flight in the darkness we landed at about 5 am in Douala Camaroon. I navigated the yellow fever checkpoint and the two separate passport control checkpoints complete with fingerprints and facial photos in both locations. I had my pre- approved E-Visa that I got online ahead of the trip and that worked out flawlessly.
Alas, the airport baggage claim in Douala Camaroon is a nightmare you have to witness to believe. My luggage along with untold number of the other passengers in my flight from Casa Blanca never showed up. We were pointed where to go to make a report of our missing bags. We went down a dinghy dark and narrow hallway where we were told to wait standing I line. Oppressive heat and humidity along with odors straight from the bowels of the underworld permeated the air! Ha! Misery! Finally a light came in on this tiny room which was our destination. The official list luggage reporting area for the airport. The room was a mess and everything inside was in a state of disarray with clutter and disorganization readily apparent. The attendant emerged dragging a nasty and filthy twin size mattress from out of the office where he had been sleeping on the floor; presumably on duty while fifty or more people stood silently in line pressing in on one another’s sweaty bodies. Waiting to report their misfortune of having no bags show up. I mopped the sweat from my brow with a dinner napkin I had in my shirt pocket left over from my meal on the airplane. I entered the room to make the report of the missing luggage. The room was filled with cigarette smoke! The floor sleeper had obviously been burning some stogies while on the mattress with the lights out. Lovely! Luckily Mayos representatives were waiting for me just like they said they would be. That was a good thing because the missing luggage guy spoke only French. It doesn’t change the fact that now I will have half of my clothing and equipment on the safari. But you know what? This is normal! The same thing happened to my buddy last year when he hunted the Savanna in the North of Camaroon. He never got his gun or his luggage even after waiting two additional days. So in a few minutes I’m off in the bush plane. I’ve been in the same clothes for days and now I’m missing a lot of my necessary items. It’s all part of it though and the hunt will go on!

 

[Houston Bill]

Good luck on the hunt, sorry your bags did not arrive.

 

[Spearhead]

Baggage nightmare. Great write up and photos so far. Have a wonderful trip.

 

[buck wild]

I remember talking to you over the phone as you were trying to sort out your FIRST Safari. How far you have come in such a short time. My wife has always traveled with me, and despite my "complaining" about her , I'm not sure I could handle these long, international travels without a companion.

Best of luck !!

 

[Edge]

Ahhh, the pictures of Douala baggage claim! Was there in February, we arrived so late from Garoua there was no-one around to do the gun check, we just walked out to the hotel shuttle!

Douala is so much better than Garaou airport in North Central Cameroon!!!

Following along and good luck

 

[Hunt anything]

Good luck

 

[Mekaniks]

Good Luck! Following along and looking forward to your report