You can take the Camrail train from Yaoundé but only foreigners and big men can afford first class and second class isn't worth the extra francs. If a man comes on board between stations telling you the potions he sells will cure gout and rheumatism, ignore him, because our cousin Philémon bought a bottle once and it was just cologne and water.
If you take the bus instead you might save money, but there will be checkpoints every hour or so, and if your ID card isn't perfect in order the police might make you buy a case of beer for them, and then you won't have money for a taxi once you get to Douala, and your friends didn't charge their mobiles so they don't know you're stuck. If you walk it takes an hour or more. Plus there are men near the Gare de Bessengue who will say You have nice shoes, and flash teeth sharp as their knives, and then you hope they're just talking today and not in a mood to chase.
If you want to get out you can take the train or the bus, but if you want to Get Out, like the journalist says you should, you go to an electronics shop on Rue Koumassi and ask for Fabrice. He is skinny and has glasses. He looks at you and nods and sits quiet until you want to leave, the hell with this guy, and then he opens his mouth. Says he can get you to Agadez and from there to Libya and from there the boats across the sea, and he needs two and a half million francs.
Full story at Winning Writers