It is the end of holidays and no better place can describe this as the atmosphere at the various motor parks across the country.

With the last weekend before the resumption of school next Monday, October 5, holiday makers have been scrambling to get back to base on time in order to better prepare for a new start.

Finding a bus has not been an easy thing since the start of the week as travel agencies are overwhelmed by passengers.

“I have been on the line for the past two hours just to get a boarding ticket and I don’t even know when we are going to leave here today because it seems buses are limited here at the agency,” Marie, a mother who has come to take her three kids back to Douala after spending the holidays in Yaounde said.

She had been at the travel agency since 6.am that fateful day only to realize passengers have been cueing up four hours earlier. At this agency like any other agency heading to Douala, there is total congestion.

“I was at the train station but I could not catch the train to Ngaoundere and so I decided to come to the park to see if I could get a bus,” Noelle Noubosse, a Masters student at the University of Ngaoundere said.

Though the university year starts much later, Noelle is a part time teacher in a Secondary school in Ngaoundere and needs to be in town before the weekend to equally get set for school on Monday.

However, she faced the same congestion at the Mvan motor park in Yaounde but was lucky to finally book a travel ticket for the next day to Ngaoundere.

Yaounde gripped by Back-To-School fever

While Noelle was struggling to leave Yaounde, others were equally coming into town to settle in ahead of Monday. It is the case with Valery Ikomey, who just returned to Yaounde with his two daughters from Buea on Tuesday, September 29. Navigating from Mvan to his Melen neighbourhood was another perilous journey as major roundabouts in town were gripped by serious traffic.

The traffic in town is announcing an even busier week by Monday and taxi drivers and bike riders and transporters in town prepare ferry children to school.

“When the school year approaches, we always face huge traffic congestion but we are always prepared for the challenge. We have been cautioned by our union to be careful and ensure we transport children to school in all safety,” Gilbert Nfor, a taxi driver said.