After months of waiting the trip to Cameroon was finally here: Joe picked me up for the airport bright and early Saturday morning and so the fun began: Just as we got to the boarding gate for our flight it was announced that due to severe weather in Istanbul our flight would be delayed by 2 hours but this would not be a problem for the connection: So we all patiently waited and got on the flight: However when we got to Istanbul no surprise we had missed our connection: After quite a lot of different queues for visas etc Turkish airlines arranged for a hotel and we would have to fly Sunday evening: By the time we got to the hotel it was late so off to bed:

Sunday some of us decided to venture into Istanbul whilst the others chilled at the hotel: We visited the blue mosque which was beautiful: In order to go inside you have to cover your head and women must cover their shoulders and legs: We certainly had some interesting outfit combinations: Overall the city was very clean and not as busy as I thought it might be; although it was Sunday: There were lots of stray dogs and cats; which I had to try hard not to stroke: A highlight was a tour guide trying to get us on the tour buses doing a Birmingham accent when he found out were we were from: As frustrating as it was to be delayed in arriving in Cameroon I am glad we got to explore Istanbul an unexpected bonus: Sunday afternoon we were collected from the hotel and travelled to the airport: Finally we got our flight to Cameroon: We arrived about 2am and were collected by Joes family:

We visited Joes mums house and were quickly introduced to the African way of feeding your guests: After a lovely meal if not at a strange time we all travelled to our respective houses we would be staying in: Went to bed about 5am at which point Joe told us we needed to be up for 6!15