NUMÉRO 00 – NUMERO PROMOTIONELHTTP://WWW.CAMEROONTRAVELER
Guide CompletComplet Guide
FestivalsHôtels & Restaurants
PlagesBeaches
Parcs NationauxNational Parks
EvènementsSpectacles
Foires & AutresNuméro Promotionel du magazine No. 1 du tourisme au Cameroun
Promotional issue of the number travel magazine in Cameroon
Mindif PeakThe Mandara Mountains, located just west of the northern town of Maroua, is a popular destination for hiking, moun-tain and rock climbing. The lovely vil-lages with round huts and large stone rises add a unique twist to the region. In Mindif, a park south of Maroua, there is a huge rock known as the Peak of Mindif, which is highly popular for rock climbing.
Les Monts Mandara sont situés au milieu d’une région sauvage et pittoresque, où l’escalade et le trekking
sont des activités populaires dans la région. Le Pic de Mindif est une merveille de la nature qui fait saliver tous les amoureux de l’escalade. Ceux qui aiment l’aventure trouveront le bonheur dans cette région où les activités peuvent se programmer autour de cette belle montagne.
Visit the sultan’s Palace and the art MuseuM!
Foumban
Or place your ad here!
The Power of Positive Thinking
EditorGermain Pichop
Associate EditorsDamien Noma
E. Sumelong
S. Tchango
Advertising Sales DirectorPaul Fifen
Account ManagersSolenne Tchango
Business AdministratorTBA
Circulation ManagerTBA
Sapphire Excel PublishingExecutivesPresident
Germain Pichop
ControllerTBA
General Content ManagerGermain Pichop
Vice Presidebt of SalesPaul Fifen
Marketing/ Event CoordinatorTBA
Published by Sapphire Excel for the Cameroon Travel and
Leisure Organization
Page 4 • Cameroon Travel Magazine
Founder & CEOGermain Pichop
Vice President of MarketingPaul Fifen
Chief Financial OfficerSolenne Tchango
T h e C a m e r o o n T r a v e l e r m a g a z i n e
S a p p h i r e e x C e l C o m m u n i C a T i o n
The Cameroon Traveler Magazine (CTM) is published by Sapphire Excel Communications for the Cameroon Travel and Leisure Orgazination. The magazine is committed to be a platform to profile travel destinations and guides. The Cameroon Travel and Leisure Organization, through its magazines, books, and editorial contents, will be a vessel promote tourisme in Cameroon and inform travelers about the destinations, the treasures and beauty of the country, its people, places music, art and culture in a way that will encourage travel, discovery and curiosity in its people and those around the world.
The cameroon travel and leisure organization is convinced that tourism can become the coner stone of the development of the country. For more information about advertizing opportunities, please contact us at:[email protected] or visit: http://www.cameroontraveler.com.© 2012 The Cameroon Traveler Magazine.
Photo credits in this issue
Germain pichop; Cameroon Ministry of Tourism; Ya-Fé.com; Amcaja;
Astaras; Nick Annejohn & Family; Nickaj. All picture are under the Creative
Commons Licence. Some pictures are royalty free photographs obtained
from 123rf.com
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Yaoundé
douala
The goverment and adminis-trative center. Where to visit, places to stay and more
The commercial center. Monu-
ments, places to stay and more.
Kribi, Limbe and the beach resorts.
The Sultant’s Palace. Mu-seum, traditional art and
Festivals
Foumban
Historical western traditions, landscapes and cultures. Museum, festivals and people. Waterfalls amd crater lacs.
North and Far North. National Parcs, local architecture and safaris. Stunning birds,
girafes lions, elephants and rhinos.
Western HigHlands
nortHen saFaris
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• Page 7Cameroon Travel Magazine
In this Issue
A passion for tourism!
Welcome to the promotional issue of the Cameroon Traveler magazine, your source of information and guide to Cameroon’s travel and leisure destinations. CTM is an initiative from the Cameroon Travel and Leisure Organization. The CTLO’s objective is to provide all those who are interested in Cameroon as a tourist and leisure destination a forum where they can share their passions and aspirations. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions to make CTM a better tool to serve you.
Le Cameroon tel que vous ne l’avez Jamais vu!
Bienvenue à l’édition promotionnelle de la Cameroon Traveler Magazine, la revue du tourisme et des loisirs au Cameroun, votre guide touristique et votre source préférée d’information sur le Cameroun. CTM est une initiative de la Cameroon Travel and Leisure Organization. L’objectif du CTLO est d’offrir à toutes les personnes intéressées par le Cameroun comme destination de tourisme et de loisir un forum où ils peuvent partager leurs passions et leurs aspirations. Comme toujours, vos commentaires et suggestions sont les bienvenues, puisque nous voulons faire de CTM un outil à votre service.
— Germain N. PichopPromoter, The Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Welcome!
Page 8 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
CameroonLike you have
Never Seen
• Page 9Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Features SommaireYaoundé
La capitale, son histoire et son ambiance actuelle.
Ya-Fé
Rio à Yaoundé; listing des hôtels et les monuments à visiter
Douala
La capitale économique
Monuments de Douala:
Cameroon indomitable arts expressed
Safari in Cameroon
Ce que le Cameroun offre aux amateurs de la nature.
Mont Cameroun
Le Char des Dieux, ses parc naturels et l’écotourisme
Bimbia
La porte vers le chemin du non retour.
Guide touristique
Votre séjours au Cameroun en 6 jours.
La Lobé
Les plages naturelles de Kribi et les chutes Nachtigal.
Les hauts plateaux de l’ouest.
Un paysage de rêve et une culture à explorer.
Foumban
Le Sultan et l’art Bamoun.
La Case Bamiléké
Le symbole d’une culture séculaire.
Tourist Guide
Your plan for a 10 days jour-ney in Tropical Cameroon
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YAouNdé IS uNIque AMoNG WeST AFrICAN
CAPITALS For ITS GreeN ANd HILLY SeTTING.
Set at an altitude of 750m, the higher altitude gives the city a slightly more pleasant air than sweaty douala. If its rival to the west is livelier, Yaoundé is better placed for travelers. Anyone traveling from north to south will pass through Yaoundé, which is a good place to pick up an onward visas, have a rest and recharge your batteries.
Yaoundé, also spelled Yaunde, city and capital of Cameroon. It is built on a hilly, forested
plateau between the Nyong and Sanaga rivers in the south-central part of the country.
Founded in 1888 during the period of the German protectorate, Yaoundé was occupied by French troops in 1915 and was declared the capital of French Cameroon in 1922. From 1940 to 1946 it was replaced as the capital by douala, but after the independence, it became the country’s administrative capital in 1960.
The city has grown as an administrative, service, and commercial centre and a communications hub for road, rail, and air transportation. Yaoundé
is home to several small manufacturing and processing industries and a trade hub for for one of the richest agricultural areas in the country.
eduCation & researCH
The university of Yaoundé, which is the mother of all public universities in Cameroon, was founded in 1962. The city also has schools of education, agriculture, health, engineering, journalism, administration, and international relations.
The Pasteur Institute of Cameroon, which conducts biomedical research, is among Yaoundé’s many
research institutes, and the national library and archives are located in the city.
Natural features in the vicinity include Nachtigal Falls and a chain of grottoes known as Akok-Bekoe (Grottoes of the Pygmies). The Kribi beach is also in driving distance of the capital.
tHe CitY Centre
The city centre houses government offices, some hotels, and the central market. The Bastos neighbourhood, with most homes owned by Cameroonians, is home to foreign embassies and the expatriate european community (drawn mainly from
YaoundéTh e C i t y o f S eve n H i l l s
Places to visit• the Cathédrale Notre Dame des Victoires • the Basilique Marie-Reine-des-Apôtres• the Cameroon Art Museum (located in a former
Benedictine monastery)• the Cameroon National Museum (located in the
former presidential palace)• the Afhemi Museum• the “Palais des Sports”• he zoo in the Mvog-Betsi neighbourhood. • Yaoundé has a small assortment of nightclubs
and restaurants.
Page 10 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
the diplomatic corps). The presidential palace and compound is in the etoudi neighborhood.
Climate
Yaoundé features a tropical wet and dry climate with constant temperatures throughout the year. However, primarily due to the altitude, temperatures are not quite as hot as one would expect for a city located near the equator.
Yaoundé has a lengthy wet season, covering a ten month span between February and November. However, there is a noticeable decrease in precipitation within the wet season, notably during the months of July and August,
giving the city the appearance of having two separate rainy seasons. It is primarily due to the relative lull in precipitation that occurs during these two months that Yaoundé features a tropical wet and dry climate, as opposed to a tropical monsoon climate.
HoW to get Here
Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport is a major civilian hub, while the nearby Yaoundé Airport is used by the military. railway lines run west to the port city of douala and north to N’Gaoundéré.
Many tranportation companies operate frequent bus runs, which occur along the road
Above: a view of the city’s main artery known as “Boulevard du 20 Mai”. Below,
Yaounde’s main Cathedral Notre Dame des Victoires.
• Page 11Cameroon Traveler Magazine
between Yaoundé and douala.
Travel time by road between douala and Yaoundé is approximately 3 hours. Traffic in the city can be heavy during weekdays, but is very light during the weekends. Yaoundé has made a great progress in infrastructure especially road construction.
Surnommée la “ville aux sept collines”, Yaoun-dé est la capitale politique du Cam-
eroun depuis 1909.
Peuplée de 1 728 900 ha-bitants (en 2002), elle est, après douala, la seconde ville du pays. C’est aussi le chef-lieu de la région du Centre et du département du Mfoundi. Yaoundé abrite la plupart des institutions les plus importantes du Cameroun. un autre surn-om de Yaoundé est ongola,
ce qui veut dire “clôture” en se réferrant au mur de l’ancien poste allemand.
La ville de Yaoundé est implantée sur un réseau de collines dominées par les monts Mbam Minkom (1 295 m) et le Mont Nkolodom (1 221 m) dans le secteur nord-ouest de Yaoundé, ou le mont eloumden (1 159 m) au sud-ouest. Les différents quartiers, disséminés de manière anarchique, lais-sent une place importante à la végétation dans les
bas fonds.
Yaoundé est traversée par de petits cours d’eau. quelques-uns parmi eux sont les rivières Mfoundi, Biyeme et Mefou. Près du centre administratif de Yaoundé se trouve un lac appelé lac Central. un canal moderne est en train d’être amenagé sur la rivière du Mfoundi pour promouvoir le tourisme. 1. Hôtel Hilton
2. National Museum3. downtown yaoundé
3
2
1
Page 12 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
5
41. View of yaounde from Mont Febe
2. The Unity Palace
• Page 13Cameroon Traveler Magazine
DiscoverDÉCOUVRIR YAOUNDE
avec une collègue qui vend des produits de beauté pour louer le stand de 3m sur 3 à 350.000 Fcfa, ce qui n’était pas possible pour le Promote. Je déplore juste le fait que les visiteurs s’orientent plus vers les stands gastronomiques » raconte Isaac, vendeur de jouets.
organisé par la fondation internatio-nale INTer ProGreSS et mandaté par la communauté urbaine de Yaoundé, ya-fé apparait finalement comme une opportunité d’affaires. des dizaines d’entreprises se bous-culent à mesure que les années passent. des sociétés choisissent cet espace soit pour réaliser des bonnes affaires, soit pour effectuer une opération de visibilité à l’endroit des potentiels clients. Les stands sont loués à raison de 350.000 Fcfa pour les dimensions de 3m sur 3 et 485.000 Fcfa pour les dimensions de 5 m sur 5.
Sur le site on peut observer des commodités que sont les toilettes, et l’eau. des services qui seraient à l’origine de l’augmentation du prix d’entrée à en croire M. donatien evouna. Car nombre de visiteurs formulent tout de même des griefs à l’organisation. Notamment le prix d’entrée qui connait une augmenta-tion à mesure que les éditions se suivent. Gratuit en 2006, il est passé à 100 Fcfa en 2007 et 200 Fcfa depuis 2008.
Pendant une vingtaine de jours, sur le Boulevard du 20 mai et au carre-four de la Poste centrale, les soirées sont très animées. L’évènement
donne ainsi aux habitants et visiteurs de la capitale cam-erounaise, l’occasion de sortir et de célé-brer les fêtes de fin d’année en famille avec leurs enfants, ou entre amis.
Les matinées sont généralement
Y A - F E
Page 14 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Voilà 6 ans déjà que le « Yaoundé en fête » pro-cure plaisir et bonheur à des visiteurs de plus en
plus nombreux. Même si le côté festif prend un pas sur la pluralité d’activités dans et autour de cette ambiance de fêtes de fin d’année beaucoup s’accordent à dire que c’est une grosse opportunité d’affaires.
« Je suis venu à Ya-Fé car je savais que j’allais trouver mon compte par rapport aux autres foires, d’autant
plus que les gens viennent ici pour s’amuser. depuis quelques jours que j’y suis, tout se passe bien, je ne me plains pas. J’ai déjà reçu de nom-breux visiteurs » déclarait Patrik, gérant de salle jeux. C’était la veille de la clôture de l’édition 2011 du Ya-Fé.
d’aucuns s’intéressent à Ya-Fé à cause des prix de location des stands. « Je suis à Ya-Fé parce que je n’ai pas pu exposer au Promote, l’accès au stand étant très difficile. J’ai eu la possibilité de m’associer
Q u a n d B u s i n e s s e t L o i s i r s s e C r o i s e n t
Par: Damien Noma
YAouNde: HoLIdAYS ATTrACTIoNS
calmes, et permettent de mieux apprécier les offres et opportunités. C’est généralement dans la soirée que la zone se transforme en fête géante, occasionnant des em-bouteillages. Les visiteurs de plus en plus nombreux n’ont accès sur le site qu’à partir de 12 heures.
Ya-Fé, compte désormais parmi les rendez vous les plus courus du Cameroun. d’ailleurs ladite foire a donné naissance à un autre type d’activités économiques. Commer-çants, photographes et visiteurs ont une foire parallèle qui attire tout autant un public très nombreux. « J’ai déjà vendu près de 50 poissons braisés et je crois que demain je vi-endrai avec un peu plus, parce que les gens en demandent toujours», a confié une commerçante visible-ment satisfaite.
De nombreux artistes enflamment le site du boulevard du 20 mai à partir de 19h. Ces dernières années on a vu se succéder le congolais Papa Wemba, l’ivoirien Meiway, les cam-erounais Sergio Polo, Valséro, Lady Ponce, X-Maleya et bien d’autres. Au terme de sa 6ème édition, Yaoundé en fête ne cesse de faire courir les yaoundéens. Il faut que ça tienne.
DiscoverDÉCOUVRIR YAOUNDE
• Page 15Cameroon Traveler Magazine
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X Maleya
Page 16 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
R i o aCHrISTMAS BrINGS BrAzIL To YAouNde
Y a o u n d eLe Carnaval de Ya-Fé
Y a o u n d e
L’édition 2011-2012 de Ya-Fé, de loin la plus réussite, à vue la participation des amazones venue tout droit de rio de Janeiro [Brésil]. La fête était grande et les
Yaoundéens y ont bénéficié d’un plateau alléchant. de X-Malea à Lady Ponce en passant par Coco Argentée, le spectacle était de taille dans une ambiance conviviale. Yaoundé se forge ainsi un profil de ville à visiter pendant les fêtes de fin d’année.
Yaounde during Christmas Holidays
Ya-FéHolidays FestivalBoulevard du 20 MayPromoteTrade FairPalais des CongresFestival des Arts NegresHotel Rating: ***
The 2011-2012 edition of Ya-Fé, by far the most successful, saw the participation of the Amazons straight from rio de Janeiro [Brazil]. The party was great and Yaoundeans celebrated their way into 2012. From X-Malea to Lady Ponce via Coco Argentée, the show was great and the atmosphere festive. Yaoundé is slowly forging herself a profile as a destination to visit during the Christmas holiday season.
• Page 17Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Le Carnaval de Ya-Fé
Page 18 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
HILTON 5 STar(S)Beds: 257, Suites: 16B.P. 11852 Yaounde TEL 22 23 36 46 / +1 888 414 2018 FAX 22 23 32 46/22 22 32 10Location: Boulevard du 20 Mai
ameNITIeSBar/LoungeBusiness CenterFitness CenterFree ParkingRestaurantRoom ServiceShuttle Bus serviceSuitesSwimming PoolWheelchair access
mONT FeBe 4 STar(S)Beds: 191, Suites: 18B.P. 711 Yaounde TEL 22 21 40 02/22 21 40 99/ 22 21 60 69 FAX 22 21 60 70 Location: Mont Febe
ameNITIeSBusiness CenterFree ParkingPets AllowedRestaurantRoom ServiceSwimming PoolNumber of rooms: 218
DJeUGa PaLace 4 STar(S)Beds: 158, Suites: 5B.P. 2659 YaoundeTEL 22 20 03 46/ 22 22 64 69 FAX 22 22 64 26Avenue NarvickLocation: Warda
ameNITIeSFitness CenterPets AllowedRoom ServiceSwimming PoolNumber of rooms: 153
JULLY GUeST QUaTer 4 STar(S)Beds: 0, Suites: 0B. P. 6064 Yaounde TEL.: 22 22 14 48 FAX:22 22 27 17 Email: [email protected] Location: Hippodrome
HOTeL FraNcO 3 STar(S)Beds: 60, Suites: 0
B.P. 3336 Yaounde TEL 22 20 13 08 FAX 22 20 13 11Location: NlongkakAmenitiesFitness CenterFree BreakfastFree High-Speed InternetFree ParkingRestaurantRoom ServiceSwimming PoolWheelchair access
HOTeL HINTeL 3 STar(S)Beds: 80, Suites: 14B.P. 4615 YaoundeTel: 22 20 03 97/22 20 04 6622 20 04 67/22 20 04 68 Fax 22 20 04 68Amenities
HOTeL DeS DePUTeS 3 STar(S)Beds: 0, Suites: 0B.P. 14821 YaoundeTEL.22 30 34 70/ 77 63 18 47
HOTeL XaVIera 3 STar(S)Beds: 0, Suites: 0BP.14821 YaoundeTEL.22 30 34 70/77 63 18 47 Location: TROPICANAAmenities
HOTeL merINa 3 STar(S)Beds: 0, Suites: 0B.P. 14307 Yaounde TEL.22 22 21 50 /22 22 21 31 FAX:22 22 21 61 Location: Ave A. AHIDJO
ameNITIeSBusiness CenterFree BreakfastFree High-Speed InternetFree ParkingRestaurantRoom ServiceSwimming PoolWheelchair access
HOTeL aZUr 2 STar(S)Beds: 0, Suites: 0B.P. 2169 YaoundeTEL 22 21 16 39/ 22 21 16 40 / 22 21 16 41 FAX 22 21 16 39 Email: [email protected]: BASTOS
maNSeL HOTeL 2 STar(S)Beds: 72, Suites: 8B.P. 2060 Yaounde TEL 22202462 /22 20 63 73 /22 21 00 07 FAX 22 20 63 73Location: Rte OmnisportAmenitiesA proximite du stade Ahidjo, Yaounde, Cameroon
PreSTIGe HOTeL 2 STar(S)Beds: 30, Suites: 0B.P. 2697 Yaounde TEL 22 22 60 55 /22 22 60 39 FAX 22 22 60 40Location: Messe Des Officiers
meUmI PaLace 2 STar(S)Beds: 68, Suites: 4B.P. 1225 YaoundeTEL 22 21 16 07 /22 20 92 11 FAX 22 21 16 22 Email: Meumi_palacehotmail.comLocation: BASTOS
HOTeL JOUVeNce 2000 2 STar(S)Beds: 42, Suites: 3B.P. 5485 YaoundeTEL 22 23 02 59 / 22 23 30 06 /77637198 FAX: 22 23 02 59 Email: [email protected]
HOTeL PreSTIGe PaLace 2 STar(S)Beds: 42, Suites: 0B.P. 2697 YaoundeTEL: 22 21 39 70 22 21 39 71 FAX: 22 22 21 61 Location: Etoudi
reSIDeNce HOTeLIere PaPYrUS 2 STar(S)Beds: 16, Suites: 0B.P. 12228-YAOUNDE TEL: 22 22 17 73 Fax: 22 22 48 23 Location: ESSOS (CAMP SONEL)
SOmmaTeL ceNTre 2 STar(S)Beds: 58, Suites: 5BP:4252 YAOUNDE TEL: 22 20 09 53/ 22 21 96 1522 21 96 18 22 21 98 34 FAX: 22 21 98 38 Location: Briquetterie
HOTeL eLma 2 STar(S)Beds: 17, Suites: 2B.P. 49 OMBESSA TEL/FAX: 22 28 53 46 Location: Ombessa
INDePeNDaNce HOTeL 2 STar(S)Beds: 40, Suites: 0B.P. 474 YaoundeTel: 22 21 40 02 Fax: 22 21 15 00 Location: HIPPODROME
HOTeL rOYaL 2 STar(S)Beds: 41, Suites: 0B. P. 446 YaoundeTel: 22 23 15 53/ 22 23 42 80 Fax: 22 22 44 28 Location: Centre Commercial
HOTeL Le maKOmBe 2 STar(S)Beds: 30, Suites: 3B.P. 5413 YoundeTEL/FAX: 22211825 Location: EtoudiAmenities
HOTeL KITIO’S LODGe 2 STar(S)Beds: 42, Suites: 0B.P. 4684 YaoundeTel 22 22 66 06/ 99 80 46 3622 22 59 01 Location: Nkolmesseng
TOUNGOU HOTeL 2 STar(S)Beds: 27, Suites: 0B.P. 3626 YaoundeTel 22 21 45 57 / 77 69 32 12 Location: Djoungolo
KamTHe HOTeL 2 STar(S)Beds: 33, Suites: 2B.P. 8389 TEL: 22 31 55 69/ 99 92 19 98 Location: Mendong
SaNTa LUcIa HOTeL 2 STar(S)Beds: 33, Suites: 2B.P. 5440 YaoundeTel 77 48 99 26 Location: Kondegui
HOTeL Le FIBI 1 STar(S)Beds: 34, Suites: 0B.P. 5413 YaoundeTEL. 22 30 25 38/ 22 21 75 80 Location: Emombo
HOTeL GraND mOULIN 1 STar(S)Beds: 28, Suites: 3B.P. 4336 YaoundeTel 22 20 68 19/22 20 68 2022 20 68 21 Location: Elig-Essono
HOTeL LaGINaQUe 1 STar(S)Beds: 10, Suites: 0B.P. 1611 YaoundeTEL 22 21 05 54 FAX 22 21 12 33 Location Bastos
HOTeL TaNGO 1 STar(S)Beds: 41, Suites: 0B.P.1338 Yaounde TEL 22 23 27 90/ 22 23 27 94 22 22 63 71 FAX 22 23 15 22 Location: Elig-Essono
meUmI HOTeL 1 STar(S)Beds: 100, Suites: 0B.P 1227 Yaound- TEL. 22 20 02 21 /22 20 28 3722 20 92 11 FAX. 22 20 67 46 Location: Nkoleton
HOTeL PreSTIGe PLUS 1 STar(S)Beds: 40, Suites: 0B.P. 2697 YaoundeTEL: 22 31 82 52 22 31 89 60 FAX: 22 22 21 61 Location: Biyem-Assi
HOTeL FeLYDac 1 STar(S)Beds: 36, Suites: 0B.P. 3211 Yaounde TEL. 22 21 07 28 Fax: 22 21 07 29 Location: Fandena Rte Omnisport
HOTeL Le DIPLOmaT 1 STar(S)Beds: 24, Suites: 0B.P. 4293 YaoundeTel: 22 21 95 71/ 22 2 195 78 Fax: 22 21 95 79 Location: Bastos
Hôtels de Yaoundé
YAouNde: TourS GuIdeS
eDOLY HOTeL 1 STar(S)Beds: 18, Suites: 2B.P. 11582 YaoundeTel: 22 20 89 03 Fax: 22 21 60 72 Location: Tongolo
HOTeL Le mFaNDeNa 1 STar(S)Beds: 24, Suites: 0B.P. 3571 YaoundeTel: 22 21 16 04 Location: Omnisport
reSIDeNce La Grace 1 STar(S)Beds: 27, Suites: 0B.P. 12340 Yaounde TEL: 22 23 98 60/ 22 22 67 60 Location: Essos (Camp Sonel)
HOTeL La reSIDeNce 1 STar(S)Beds: 18, Suites: 0B.P. 12340 YaoundeTEL: 22 23 98 15 Location: Melen
HOTeL cHamP eLYeeS 1 STar(S)Beds: 22, Suites: 1B. P. 3359 YaoundeTel/Fax: 22 30 27 53 Location: KONDENGUI
HOTeL caBLYS 1 STar(S)Beds: 28, Suites: 0B.P. 6478 YaoundeTEL 22 23 19 21 Fax: 22 23 19 21 Location: Mvog-Ada
HOTeL DOUSSIer 1 STar(S)Beds: 20, Suites: 0B.P.1207 Yaounde TEL 22 20 36 14/ 99 72 44 30 Location: Madagascar
HOTeL Le DUVeT 1 STar(S)Beds: 25, Suites: 0B.P. 7339 Yaounde T-l: 22 20 12 93 Location: Tsinga
KaeLLY HOTeL 1 STar(S)Beds: 22, Suites: 0B.P. 4336 YaoundeTel: 22 20 05 94/ 22 21 90 96 Location: Mfandena
HOTeL eL PaNaDeN 1 STar(S)Beds: 22, Suites: 0B.P. 14269 Yaounde Tel: 22 22 27 65 Fax: 22 22 27 86 Location: Hippodrome
HOTeL JOUVeNce 1 STar(S)Beds: 26, Suites: 14B.P. 5485 Yaounde Tel: 22 31 72 70 Fax: 22 23 02 59 Location: Mendong
HOTeL LeS PYramIDeS 1 STar(S)Beds: 27, Suites: 0BP:367-YaoundeTEL 22 22 34 9 Fax 22 23 96 09 Location: Nklmesseng Amenities
HOTeL Le LYS 1 STar(S)Beds: 16, Suites: 0B.P. 2697 YaoundeTel: 22 21 62 71 22 21 43 01/ 77 70 97 50 Location: Eleveur
HOTeL La cOLOmBe 1 STar(S)Beds: 18, Suites: 0B.P. 4531 Yaounde Tel: 77 65 84 85 Location: Messa
TrOPIcaL HOTeL 1 STar(S)Beds: 18, Suites: 0B.P. 2406 YaoundeTel: 22 23 76 49/22 21 00 62 Location: Ekoudou
HOTeL meLI meLO 1 STar(S)Beds: 10, Suites: 0B.P. 4032 Yaounde Tel: 22 21 98 51 Location: Mfandena
mOTeL aScOT 1 STar(S)Beds: 15, Suites: 0B.P. 11084 YaoundeTel: 22 30 22 82/ 77 57 00 88 Location: Messame Ndongo
aFarI HOTeL 1 STar(S)Beds: 40, Suites: 4BP:3330 YaoundeTEL 22 00 79 90 Fax 22 31 43 42 Location: Nsam Efoulan
HOTeL eScaLe 1 STar(S)Beds: 10, Suites: 0B.P. 8071 YaoundeLocation: Obobogo
HOTeL FeUGUIFF 1 STar(S)Beds: 46, Suites: 3B.P. 3326 Yaounde TEL 22 23 11 68 Fax 22 22 11 07 Location: Melen
maGUY HOTeL 1 STar(S)Beds: 22, Suites: 0B.P. 1853 Yaounde TEL 22 22 86 88 Location: Essos Amenities
HOTeL PrINTaNIa 1 STar(S)Beds: 40, Suites: 3B.P. 11277 YaoundeTEL 22 31 15 03 Location: Obili
reSIDeNce LeS HaUTS FLeUrIS D’ODZa 1 STar(S)Beds: 10, Suites: 0BP: 1026 YaoundeTEL 22 30 20 92 Location: Odza
TOU’NGOU HOTeL STar(S)Beds: 80, Suites: B.P. 3626 YaoundeCarefour Etoa-MekiAmenitiesFree High-Speed InternetRestaurantNumber of rooms: 80
aUreLIa PLace STar(S)Beds: 28, Suites: B.P. 35105 YaoundeCameroun
ameNITIeSBusiness CenterFree High-Speed InternetFree ParkingPets AllowedRestaurantRoom ServiceWheelchair accessNumber of rooms: 28
• Page 19Cameroon Traveler Magazine
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Yaoundé’s Hotels
Page 20 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
T ake some time
and visit some
places while you
are in Cameroon.
The Country has plenty to offer, such as the
reunification monument in Yaounde, the gold
sand beaches in Kribi, the Sultan's Palace in
Foumban or the Charming Douala, national
treasures such as the Korup and Waza national
parcs. Just continue reading...
Visit Cameroon
Quelques Sites
ET MoNuMENTS A VISITER
• Page 21Cameroon Traveler Magazine
1. Le musée national, situé au centre-ville ; 2. Le monument de la réunification, près de l'assemblée nationale. 3. Le lac central situé au centre administratif ; 4. Le mont Fébé ; 5. Le marché d'œuvres artisanales situé à la monté ane-rouge, centre-ville ; 6. Le bâtiment historique de la chefferie ewondo au quartier efoulan ; 7. Le parc zoo-botanique de Mvog-Beti ; 8. La cathédrale Notre-dame des Victoires située au centre-ville ; 9. Le sanctuaire marial situé au quartier Mvolyé est devenu une basilique mineure en 2008 ; 10. Le centre culturel
camerounais situé au quartier Nlongkak ; 11. Le marché Mokolo, pour s'imprégner de l'ambiance d'un marché tropical ; 13. Le monument Charles Atangana situé au centre-ville ; 14. La grotte mariale de Mvolyé ; 15. L’hôtel de ville et les monuments environnants ; 16. Le musée d'art camerounais au monastère des bénédictins du mont Fébé ; 17. Les stèles du dr eugène Jamot ; 18. La chapelle ePC de djoungolo ; 19. Le palais de Charles Atangana ; 20. Le Bois Sainte-Anastasie situé au centre-ville
DECOUVRIR YAOUNDE Discover
Page 22 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
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• Page 23Cameroon Traveler Magazine
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doualaThe Commercial Centre
Page 24 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
douala, located on the Wouri river, 24km (15 miles) from the sea, is the largest city of Camer-oon. Akwa district is lively
enough and has quite some good African restaurants.
douala is not the capital of Camer-oon, but the most significant city by its population, and by its economic role. The city was named after the duala, the local ethnic group that originally settled in the area.
As the Cameroon chief commercial centre, douala has an international airport and a harbor with extensive docks, and is a terminus for two rail-way lines extending into the interior.
Industries include the manufacture of aluminium products, beer, soft drinks, textiles, and the processing of timber and cacao beans.
douala's port handles some 95 per-cent of the country's maritime traffic, and is second only to Kinshasa as Central Africa's largest city. douala is divided into quarters or quartiers: Akwa, is the center of the city and the place where you will be spend-ing most of your time, the Municipal Artisanal Stand, and Bonanjo the administrative district.
The douala Museum (Musée de douala) is in the Hotel de Ville on the second floor. It gives you a pretty good introduction in Bamoun and
Bamiléké art, very useful if you want to buy something later on.
Close to the Museum is the “Place du Gouvernement” (Government Square) with its "Chinese Pagoda" - built by rudlof douala Manga Bell, a local ruler who was executed by the Germans in 1914.
day trips from douala can be made to the mountain resort of Mt Fako (Also known as Mt Cameroon) and to the beach resort of Limbe both only an hour away. Better, wild beaches with gold sand are in Kribi, three to four hours by bush taxi.
• Page 25Cameroon Traveler Magazine
douala, Cameroon's largest city, is an economic metropolis and is one of few African cities that
can boast a guided tour specifically for artistic monuments. In fact, a complete full-colour brochure and map indicat-ing these sites is available courtesy of doual'art, a private art association founded by Marilyn douala Bell and di-dier Schuab in 1991. It is doual'art that launched Ars&urbis a project which focusses on initiating and organising art projects in public spaces.
The doual'art tour will take you to about 10 contemporary sculptures from the towering Sud obelisk by Faouzi Laatiris to the cool stained-glass shade of Njé Moyé by Koko Komégné, a functional sculpture of a tree that also serves as a park bench.
But for the works realised by the Ars&urbis project, the one which may be said to have the strongest pres-ence in the city is Nouvelle Liberte by Joseph Sumégné a monumental sculp-ture of a figure that stands on one leg with its right hand facing down, its left hand holding a globe on its head and its left leg bent upwards in an almost dance-like posture. erected at the deido roundabout in 1996, a rough esti-mate would suggest that the sculpture stands about five times higher than our beloved freedom statue in Lusaka.
But unlike our statue, Nouvelle Liberte is not made of aesthetically pleasing, smoothed out bronze, Sumégné con-structed it from discarded car parts and other scrap metal. It may be seen to represent both beauty and ugliness but can be best described in the words of Cameroonian critic Jacques epangue who says "Nouvelle Liberte is a model for how contemporary art inscribes itself into urban space, integrating into its social milieu.
The most important thing is that it is a wonderful work, but that it is ugly at the same time, and it is just this ugli-ness which makes it something won-derful. It reflects the reality of Douala precisely, and I believe that it takes a
Cameroon's I N D o M I TA B L E ContemporaryBy Andrew Mulenga
The Post Nespaper, Zambia
Art
Page 26 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
douALA’SMoNuMeNTS
very important place in local people's everyday life even if they are not aware of it".
unfortunately, not everyone is as highbrowed as the critic epangue or as metaphorically cultivated as the artist Sumégné. Some locals do not even know the statues name and nobody refers to it as a para-phrase of New York's Statue of Liberty as it may have been intended by the artist. on the streets the locals call it Nju-nju du rond Point meaning evil Spirit of The roundabout.
The sculpture was at first alleged to have evil magic powers and the organisers and artist were threatened causing the work not to be thoroughly completed. But it still stands tall as things have cooled down. Admit-tedly, books can be written about this statue, but there is surely a lot more to contemporary Cameroonian art than "Nju-nju du rond Point".
The doual'art association's building itself is partially a white-walled exhibi-tion space reminiscent of the Parisian galleries of France, one of Cameroon's former colonial masters besides Portu-gal, Germany and Great Britain.
The gallery space is currently showing an exhibition entitled Figures de réve one of three exhibitions also show-ing simultaneously in the cities of Yaoundé and Bandjoun courtesy of the Centre national des arts plastiques of France. The author was unable to visit Passions, the Bandjoun exhibition and therefore cannot assess it, but doua-la's Figures de réve featuring large mixed media paintings by Barthelemy Toguo seemed a more entertaining show compared to decalages the more conceptual display showing in the capital Yaounde.
To sum things up, it can be observed that the lack of an art school, insuf-ficient exhibition halls, lack of work space and particularly the lack of pub-lic support (despite having a ministry of culture) are common factor across
the African continent, but in Camer-oon these woes have provided the platform for "indomitable contem-porary art" that is emerging beyond all odds. It did not take government or a municipality to beautify a city like douala with public art pieces, creative practitioners took it upon themselves and have made a differ-ence.
• Page 27Cameroon Traveler Magazine
DECOUVRIR DOUALA Discover
Douala is home to many monuments and museums, such as the the New Liberty Monument (Deido) and the Gen-eral Leclerc monument in Bonandjo. The Government Square also boasts the Un-known Soldier Memorial. Recently, other memorials such as the 50th Independance Anniversary memorial have been added to the growing list of existing landmarks.
Even though the city has seen its road network being rehabilitated in recent years, driving in Douala can be chaotic. Cars and moto-taxis commonly known as Benskins share the roads, with the latter seeming to rule the traffic while ignoring all traffic rules. Newcomers are advised to be careful, or to hire a local driver to be on the safe side.
Here is one of the busiest arteries of Douala, near the Lagos Market, the immense flea market where important business deals are made. This part of the city is one of the busiest. Images of kids playing football is common in the Economic Capital of Cameroon. The “Boulevard de la Liberté” on the lower left is one of the main thoroughfares leading to Bonanjo, the City ad-ministrative and business centre (where many of the city’s monuments can be admired) and the airport. Douala can become unrecognizable at times when moto-taxis invade the streets. Moto-taxis are a major inconvenience to drivers and authorities, but a life saver for the local population, which has hard time moving around town.
• Page 29discover cameroon magazine
DECOUVRIR DOUALA Discover
Safari in Cameroon Safaris to Cameroon are not
only an impressive way to spend time together as fam-
ily but help ignite everyone's spirit, strengthen the body and inspire you to live a more meaningful life. Cam-eroon is a beautiful country to visit and you will want to do many of the tours and sightseeing trips.
WAzA NATIoNAL PArK
The tour starts from douala or Yaounde. A flight from either Douala or Yaounde will take you to Marouna Salak Airport located towards the northern province of Cameroon. At the airport you will meet a local guide provided by the travel agency. The guide will drive you to rhum-siki via Mokolo. You will be provided overnight accommodation in a lodge hotel. The next morning you will be driven to Waza National park. Along the way you can treat your eyes to the beauty of the scenic Koza Hills. You will be exploring the Waza Park from morning to afternoon. The park is home to a huge population of lions, elephants, lions, antelopes, water bucks, giraffes. After touring the park you will be driven to Maroua. The attractions in Maroua are the craft center and the Maroua Market.
BAKA PYGMIeS
From the airport in Yaounde you will be driven by local guide to Yokadou-ma. The trip will take 10 to 12 hours. The next morning you will be driven to Abonmbang and then to Loboke. At Kombo you are required to camp in a natural resort located in Mam-bele village. It will serve as the ideal base to explore the scenic attractions of Lobeke. In Lobeke you will get to see Lipoundji Fallas and the Lobeke National park. The park is home to gorillas, forest hogs, elephants, Black Columbus monkeys and African grey parrot. From the camp other activi-ties are arranged. You will get to see the Pygmies building huts. do not miss out here the Jengi ritual dance here.
WILdLIFe
Cameroon has unique ecosystems harboring unique wildlife creatures. every wildlife tour here brings with it yet different surprising and de-lighting attachments. extend your wildlife safari in Cameroon by visiting amazing Bénoué national park. You would wish to drive to Campo Game reserve for an overnight rest. All big creatures roam in the reserve's deep
and dense for-ests. Here you encounter an elating experi-ence to sight the giant forest elephants and striking birds at the reserve's Bird sanctuary. You can in-crease the pos-sibility to spot the sloth bear, leopard and wild boar in Bouba Ndjidah National park. Wildlife safaris are also amaz-ing in Waza National Park.
CAMPING
Camping in Cameroon offers you utmost flexibility. It's beyond any doubt that Cameroon makes one of the most wonderful and adventurous camping vacation for anyone who enjoys outdoor adventures.
For quick mobility in these Cameroon jungles, you need your own adven-ture camping vehicle; you will have
by Peter Claussen Articlebase.com
Inspire your Life
Page 30 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Safari in Cameroon
time at your control. This makes it all so easy and relaxing knowing that you can spend as much time or less depending on where you want to visit.
BeST TIMe To VISIT
The best time for Cameroon safari tours is between November to February, when it is cool and dry.
Huts equipped with modern amenities are available in the national parks for visitors to rent while on their journey.
The Waza and Benoue national parcs are home of a very diverse wildlife, including some of the most exot-ic found on the African continent. Photo, and hunting safaris are possible in designated parcs. Check with the Ministry of Tourism or the Cameroon embassy in your countries for permit information.
• Page 31Cameroon Traveler Magazine
CAMEROON SAFAR I Discover
Page 32 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Le mont CamerounVolcan toujours actif, le Mont Cameroun est une curiosité a la fois pour les autochtones et les étrangers. La photo ci-dessous montre les laves du volcan qui ont coulé sur le flanc de la montagne lors de sa dernière éruption.
La montagne dispose aussi d’un parc naturel
et fait l’object d’un évènement annuel appelé la course de l’espoire. Non loin de la montagne, se trouve d’autres attractions naturelles telles que le Parc National de Korup, le Jardin botanique de Limbe et la Plage Sémé au Sable noir volcanique.
Mount Cameroon, also known as
Mount Fako, is one of Africa’s
largest volcanoes, rising to
4,040 metres (13,255 ft) above the
coast of west Cameroon. It rises from
the coast through tropical rainforest
to a bare summit which is cold, windy,
and occasionally brushed with snow.
The massive steep-sided volcano of
dominantly basaltic-to-trachybasaltic
composition forms a volcanic horst con-
structed above a basement of Precam-
brian metamorphic rocks covered with
Cretaceous to quaternary sediments.
More than 100 small cinder cones, often
fissure-controlled parallel to the long axis
of the massive 1,400 cubic kilometres (336
cu mi) volcano, occur on the flanks and sur-
rounding lowlands. A large satellitic peak,
etinde (also known as Little Mount Camer-
oon), is located on the southern flank near
MountCameroon
WHAT To do IN
BueA-KuMBA
Cameroon Traveler Magazine • Page 33
chardes Dieux
S O U T H W EST - FA KODiscover
Le
the coast.
Mount Cameroon has the most frequent
eruptions of any West African volcano.
The first written account of volcanic activ-
ity could be the one from the Carthagin-
ian Hanno the Navigator, who might have
observed the mountain in the 5th century
BC. Moderate explosive and effusive
eruptions have occurred throughout his-
tory from both summit and flank vents. A
1922 eruption on the southwestern flank
produced a lava flow that reached the At-
lantic coast, and a lava flow from a 1999
south-flank eruption stopped only 200 m
(660 ft) from the sea, cutting the coastal
highway. The last known eruption ac-
cured in February, 2012. The peak can be
reached by hikers, while the annual Mount
Cameroon race of Hope, wich sees the
participation on many racers from europe
and North America trek into Buea, scales
the peak in around 4½ hours.
english explorer Mary Kingsley, one of the
first Europeans to scale the mountain, re-
counts her expedition in her 1897 memoir
Travels in West Africa.
–Wikipedia
MountCameroon
1700s, passed through to reach planta-
tions aboard.
Bimbia grew and, soon, another Isubu,
Bile, was crowned king of the Isubus by
name King Williams. eventually, outcry
against slavery brought missionaries from
england who reached Bimbia in the 1800s.
The most famous among them was Joseph
Merrick who came in 1844 and softened
the grounds. Then, in 1858, Alfred Saker
came at the heels of Joseph Merrick, got
land from King Williams, and in this same
year founded Victoria, known today as
Limbe.
To end the business of trading in humans
as slaves, the British missionaries got the
Bimbia King to sign certain accords. The
accords gave room for the missionaries
to open schools and build churches. This
is how the present day Bilingual Grammar
School Molyko-Buea started off in Bimbia.
But when Alfred Saker moved from Bimbia
to settle in present day Limbe I, the devel-
opment of Bimbia started dwindling. Soon,
people started migrating from Bimbia up
to Limbe. This is how a Bimbia that had
been the epicenter of action and develop-
ment for centuries soon lapsed into an era
of almost nothingness.
Foreigners stream in
As the locals migrated and settled in town,
foreigners: mostly fishermen from Nigeria,
Benin and Ghana streamed in to fill the
void. That’s why, today, the fishing busi-
ness, especially the smoked crayfish busi-
ness in Mabeta, Bimbia, is entirely in the
hands of these foreigners instead of Bim-
bians. Apparently, it is also why one of the
chiefs of Mabeta is a Nigerian. This holds
B I M B I A
Page 34 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Bimbia, today, is the administra-
tive capital of the newly created
Limbe III Sub division. It is lo-
cated along the coastal south-
eastern flanks of Limbe, formerly known
as Victoria.
This peripheral area of Limbe is made
up of other smaller settlements or vil-
lages like dikolo, Bonagombe, Bonabile,
Mabeta, Kange Fishing Port and Mboko I
& II. But for the past years, the whole of
this area was simply referred to as Bim-
bia. This is perhaps because of the over-
whelming historical role Bimbia has had
to play since the age of Trans-Atlantic
slave trade.
Bimbia, from about the year 1500, had
as settlers the isuwus or isubus who are
said to have migrated here from some
point along the banks of the Wouri river
in the Littoral region. When one of the de-
scendants of this Isuwu, named Mbimbi,
became King, the people here began re-
ferring to all their territories here as “Bim-
bia.”
Portugal, one of the european countries
that were engaged in the business of buy-
ing slaves, ivory and other items from Af-
rica, reportedly reached the Cameroonian
coast by 1472. From the Wouri estuary
where they landed and established con-
tacts with the local coastal chiefs, they
soon stretched their business contacts
to Bimbia. By dint of its coastal location,
Bimbia suddenly grew to become a signif-
icant trade port for slaves bound for plan-
tations in the Americas and neighbouring
islands of Sao Tome, Principe, Fernando
Po, today equatorial Guinea. Bimbia is
also the route through which very many
Cameroonians, in the 1500s, 1600s and
H i s t o r i c a l N e r v e W i r e O f C a m e r o o n
by: Sumelong Ernest
Re-enactment of slave trade in Bimbia during visit of Camericans. Photo: E. Sumelong
WHAT To do IN
BueA-KuMBA
true for many fishing communities such as
the Kange Fishing Port and Mboko.
bimbia takes oFF again
In the early 2007, Limbe III Sub division
was created with Bimbia as the capital.
Samuel esebu Mokate was elected it pio-
neer Mayor. This age-old historical place
has been brought back into the limelight
of political, economic and social activism.
For the past three years, working in tan-
dem with the pioneer do, Benjamin epey,
Mayor Mokate has tried to usher in devel-
opment to the area.
The most outstanding development that
has sprung down here is the establish-
ment by the Cameroon Government of the
Training Centre for the rapid Intervention
Battalion, BIr, the elite unit of the Camer-
oon Army. The establishment of the train-
ing centre led to the road from Limbe to
Man o War Bay (Bimbia) where this facil-
ity is located, to be tarred. A new camp
has been built and other facilities opened.
Besides, the BIr has been assisting the
Council in rehabilitating their earth roads
among other things.
It is also in Limbe III, Bimbia that the cam-
pus and main secretariat of newly pro-
moted division one club, the Njalla quan
Sports Academy, NqSA, is located.
Bimbia, agriculturally, also hosts some of
CdC’s oil palm plantations and Mabeta is
the crayfish or ‘njanga’ production capital
HISTORICAL LOCATION Discover
Cameroon Traveler Magazine • Page 35
of Cameroon.
The Mayor, Mokate has extended electric-
ity to many villages: dikolo, Mabeta, Bim-
bia, Bona Ngombe and Bona Bile. Howev-
er, much of Bimbia still resides in darkness
having neither pipe borne water nor elec-
tricity.
The very first Parliamentarian for Limbe,
Hon. Gwen Burnley owes her roots to
Bimbia. She was the Parliamentarian for
Limbe in 1982 when the famous name of
the town, then called Victoria, metamor-
phosed to today Limbe.
The General Manager of the Cameroon de-
velopment Corporation, Henry Njalla quan,
the former Government delegate to the
Limbe Council, Samuel Lifanda ebiama,
one of the two Parliamentarians for Fako
east (Limbe, Tiko, Muyuka) Hon rachel Ly-
onga, the Mayor and member of the Cen-
tral Committee of the CPdM party, Samuel
Mokate, are all Bimbians. HrH Chief Sam-
uel ekum, who has been the President of
the Limbe Chiefs Conference, is a Bimbian,
though from dikolo Village.
of late, thanks to its historical past as a
slave port, many Cameroonian Americans,
who happened to have, by genetic analy-
sis, retraced their ancestral origins to Cam-
eroon, were at the slave village in Bimbia,
where slaves were tied and shipped off to
the Americas. on two occasions, they were
here: in 2010 and 2011; the “Camericans,”
as they are now known.
Will the government and the local commu-
nity work together to raise Bimbia’s pro-
file to the level of other tourist attractions
such Mount Fako, the Korup national parc,
Waza. It would be a shame not to take ad-
vantage of the historical nature of Bimbia,
and build proper infrastructure in order
to take advantage of this opportunity. All
tourist sites and attractions should be de-
velopped and maintained, in order for the
country to benefit from them.
Re-enactment of slave trade in Bimbia during visit of Cam-ericans. Photo: E. Sumelong
Les vacances à la plage et
à la faune vous donnent
la possibilité de vivre au
naturel, ainsi que la possibilité
de vivre les réalités culturelles
du Cameroun. détendez-vous sur
les plages de Kribi, l'une des plus
belles plages du Cameroun, située
à moins de 100 kilomètres de
l'aéroport de douala, la vibrante
capitale économique du pays.
Limbé est un véritable paradis
balnéaire. A quelques pas des
laves du volcan du Mont Camer-
oun, vous pouvez allier les joies
de la mer à l’écotourisme. Limbe
se trouve juste à une cinquan-
taine de kilomètres de la capitale
économique.
les vacances les plages du Cameroun
Il est important pour chaque
famille de prendre des vacances
au moins une fois par an pour
découvrir les merveilles de la
natures et savourer les beaux
moments de la vie. Pendant
6jours/5nuits, on peut vivre des
moments de rêve passionnés et
inoubliables!
Jour 01: douala - buea - limbé
La journée pourrait
commencer par un bon
petit déjeuner dans
votre hôtel de choix,
puis le départ pour
Buea. une fois à Buea,
payez une visite au
vieux palais du gou-
verneur qui date de la
colonisation Allemande et qui se
dresse majestueusement au pied
du mont Cameroun.
ensuite, arrêtez vous à l'usine
de thé de Tolé (Tole Tea estate),
la plantation qui produit l’un des
thés les plus délicieux du monde.
La suite du séjour qui emmène
le visiteur vers Limbé impose
de s’arrêter quelques minutes à
Bakingili pour inspecter le dernier
dépôt de lave de l’éruption volca-
nique du mont Cameroun solidi-
fiée lors de son écoulement, avant
de descendre dans l’un des hôtels
de la place.
Jour 02: limbé
Limbe offre aussi la possibilité de
participer aux activités sportives.
Pour ceux qui aiment les jeux, la
détente et la natation, profitez de
la plage de sable couleur chocolat
de Sémé.
Après le petit déjeuner, entamez
la journée par une visite de la ville
de Limbe. Familiarisez vous avec
les structures coloniales, le centre
de sauvetage des animaux, et le
jardin botanique reconnu pour son
impressionante variété d'espèces
d'arbres et de fleurs. Ensuite, un
déjeuner à la plage est recom-
mendé. Vous pourrez ainsi assister
à la braise du poisson frais qui
servira de déjeuner. retournez
apres à l'hôtel et détentez vous en
respirant l’air marin de Limbe.
La visite du quai à esclaves au
cap de Bimbia devrait faire parti
de votre plan de sejour. Bimbia, la
porte du non-retour, où un nom-
bre important d’esclaves aurait
VoTre sejour eN 6 Jours
sur les Cotes
tropicales D u c a m e r o u n
Page 36 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
bimbia et le Parc national de korup
Jour 03:
CôTeS:PLAGeS eTCHuTeS
été embarqué vers les Amériques, est
un endroit historique peu connu des
Camerounais. Visitez egalement le Parc
National de Korup où vous tomberez
sous le charme des espèces botaniques
rares qui datent de la nuit des temps.
Le retour sur Limbé vous donnera l’
unique opportunité d’ avoir une vue
claire et nette du Char des dieux (Mont
Cameroun), et plus particulièrement
celle du pic d’etinde, plus connu sous
l’apellation de Petit Mont Cameroun.
Jour 04: limbé - lobé - kribi
Le quatrième jour, prenez le départ pour
Kribi via douala. A l’arrivée à Kribi, une
visite des chutes à Cascades de la Lobé
s’impose. Les chutes de Nachtigal sont
le seul endroit au monde où une rivière
se jette directement par une cascade
d'eau dans l'océan Atlantique.
en vous detendant sur la plage, vous
pourrez admirer les beaux paysages
de l’ocean. ensuite, visitez un restau-
rant local où vous pourrez déguster
des produits frais de la mer. Passez
aussi par le Musée du Grand Batanga
pour decouvrir ses divers objets d’art.
Finissez la journée en experimentant
une excitante ballade en pirogue vers
l’amont de la lobé.
Le cinquième jour, deportez-vous au
petit matin au Parc National de Campo-
Ma'an, reconnu pour sa faune très
diversifiée. Merveille touristique, ce
parc constitue le dernier refuge des
éléphants et des gorilles de la forêt
africaine. Avec l’aide d’un guide, vous
pourrez vous promener aux quatre coins
inexplorés du parc.
Jour 06: ebodjé - kribi
Le sixème jour, arrivez tout reposé à
Ebodjé et profitez d’une enrichissant
visite guidée du village des pêcheurs.
Pendant cette viste, vous pourrez
assiter à la soirée culturelle qui vous
introduira aux particularités locales et
celles de la tribue pygmées, plus par-
ticulièrement celles des Bakas.
Après le petit-déjeuner, prenez le départ
pour la «roche du Loup» et explorez
l'une des plus belles plages du monde,
avec un sable fin et doré qui vous don-
nera des sentiments doux et agréables.
une visite du musée des tortues est vi-
vement conseillée. Participez aux activi-
tés de loisir en degustant votre déjeun-
er et preparez-vous pour un retour vers
Kribi dès le début de l'après-midi.
Jour 06: kribi - edéa - douala
une fois de retour à Kribi, participez
aux dernières activités de loisir. Pre-
parez vous pour le départ pour douala.
Arretez-vous a mi-chemin à edea pour
une courte visite de l’Alucam (usine
d’alumine d’Alcan) et du Barrage Hy-
droélectrique. Fin du tour.
Jour 05: lobé - Campo ma'an - ebodjé
• Page 37Cameroon Traveler Magazine
GUIDES TOURISTIQUES Discover
La Lobé est un fleuve côtier
qui prend sa source dans le
massif du Ntem au centre
du parc national de Campo Ma’an. Les
chutes de la Lobé se situent à 310 km
de Yaoundé en prenant l’axe routier
Yaoundé edéa Kribi Campo.
La Lobé se caractérise par un en-
semble de petits bras qui progressent
en une série de petites cascades sur
une distance de 1 km avant de se jeter
directement dans l’océan en plusieurs
chutes dont la plus haute mesure près
de 15 m. Ces chutes sont localisées à
8 km au sud de Kribi en direction de
Campo. C’est un phénomène unique
au monde que de voir une ligne des
cascades qui s’étend sur près de 100
m de large et dégringole dans l’océan
Atlantique.
La Lobé traverse plusieurs communau-
tés qui vivent en étroite relation avec
l’eau, que ce soit le fleuve ou la mer.
de ce fait, il y a en amont, les Bulus et
les Pygmées, en aval les Mabis qu’on
trouve jusqu’au niveau du pont sur la
Lobé, et enfin les Batangas qui sont à
l’embouchure et sur la côte.
Les chutes de la Lobé représentent
pour ces peuples un symbole fort de
Page 38 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
La LobéKrIBI:BeACHeS ANd FALLS
croyance, et sont généralement
associées aux divers rites naturels
et culturels que comptent ces
peuples côtiers. A titre d’exemple,
les pygmées, peuple originel de
guérisseurs, plongent les malades
dans l’eau des chutes lors des
cérémonies de purification. De
même, les chute de la Lobé sont
une étape importante dans le
rituel d’intronisation du Chef des
Batangas. Il y séjourne pendant
une durée determinée et reçoit
ainsi les bénédictions des esprits
et des ancêtres.
Il est à noter également le phé-
nomène du « Jingou » ou «
Mami Water » ou encore « mari/
femme- esprit de l’eau ». C’est
une représentation mystique de
la toute puissance des esprits
de l’eau qui depuis de nombreux
siècles, fait partie intégrante de la
vie de chaque natif de toute cette
zone côtière.
Sur le plan de la faune sous-
marine, on trouve dans les eaux
de la lobé et uniquement dans ses
affluents, une race d’écrevisses
spécifiques, aussi bien par leur
aspect que par le site des chutes
de la lobé à bien des égards une
valeur universelle exceptionnelle.
• Page 39Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Kribi is also a beach resort where one can enjoy riding traditional or speed boats or just laying on the beautiful gold sand while enjoying local fresh roasted fish.
GUIDES TOURISTIQUES Discover
Page 40 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Les Hauts Plateaux de l’ouest
Cameroon has about 20 million inhabitants, one third of the population lives in the Grass-land area.
It is divided into chiefdoms. They include the Bamun sultanate, occupying the est and northeast, the Bamileke inhabiting the southern part, also present in other parts of Cameroon and the kingdom of Kom which extends northwest of the region. Smaller chiefdoms also occupy the territory.
The arts and cultures of the Bamileke chief-doms, the Kom fondoms and the Bamun Sultanate are very rich. The most important is the kingdom of Bandjoun and those of Bamun sultanate, whose capital is Foumban. The chiefdoms, fondoms and the Bamun sultanate are marked by their palatial archi-tecture which develops complex programs sculptures.
But the Grassland is best known for its pro-duction of beaded objects: statuettes, cala-bash, seats covered with embroidered pearls and use technology that give these objects a style unique to this African region.
All this rich culture is on display at the Museum of the Civilizations, located in the city of dschang. In addition to the Museum of Civilization, the cultures of the highlands may be admired in traditional chiefdoms of West and Northwest, which maintain their own individual museums.
Le Cameroun regroupe environ 20 millions d’habitants dont un
tiers de la population vit dans la région du Grassland.
Celle-ci est divisée en chef-feries. on citera le royaume Bamum (ou Bamoum ou Bamoun) occupant l’est et le Nord-est, les Bamilékés peu-plant la partie méridionale, également présents dans d’autres régions du Camer-oun et le royaume de Kom qui s’étend au Nord-ouest de la région. de plus petites chef-
feries occcupent également ce territoire.
Les arts des chefferies Bamiléké dont la plus im-portante est le royaume de Bandjoun et ceux du royau-me Bamum, dont la capitale est Foumban, se démarquent par leur architecture palatiale où se développent des pro-grammes complexes de sculp-tures.
Mais les arts du Grassland sont surtout célèbres pour leur production d’objets perlés :
statues, calebasses, sièges recouverts de perles brodées polychromes; usage et tech-nique qui confèrent à ces ob-jets un style propre à cette ré-gion d’Afrique.
Toute cette riche culture est exposée au Musée des Civili-sations, qui se trouve dans la ville de dschang. en plus du Musée des Civilisations, la cul-tures des hauts plateaux peut-être admirée dans les cheffer-ies traditionelles de l’ouest et du Nord-ouest qui ont cha-cune leur musée.
• Page 41Cameroon Traveler Magazine
OUEST—NORTH-OUEST Discover
Foumban or Fumban is a city in Cam-eroon, lying north east
of Bafoussam. It has a population of 83,522 (at the 2005 Census). It is a major town for the Bamoun people and is home to a museum of traditional arts and culture. There is also a market and a craft centre, while Foumban royal Palace contains a museum with informa-tion on Ibrahim Njoya who invented a new re-ligion and the Shumom alphabet.
Though touristy, Foum-ban is one of Camer-oon’s major attractions and an important centre
of traditional African art. Its jewel is the Palais royal, seat of power for the Bamoun people. The ruler of the Bamoun is known as the sultan, and the Bamoun can trace the lineage of their sultan back to 1394.
The palace, completed in 1917, resembles a medieval chateau. It houses the Sultan’s Museum, which contains a multitude of royal gowns, arms, musical instruments, statues, jewellery, masks and colourful bead-covered thrones carved in the shapes of the men who sat on them.
A few hundred metres south of the palace is the Musée des Arts et des Traditions Bamoun.
This extensive collection has exhibits on Bamoun history and art, includ-ing cooking implements, musical instruments, pipes, statues, masks, gongs and an ornately carved xylo-phone. The road that connects the two muse-ums is the rue des Ar-tisans, home to sculptors, basket mak-ers, weavers and embroi-ders, and one of the best places in Central Africa to buy wood carvings.
Foumban
Page 42 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Situé au coeur du royaune Bamoun sur les verges du lac Petpenou, Le Domaine de petpenou, un paradis dans la nature sauvage est un complexe hotelier moderne au milieu du royaume Bamoun. Le domaine est conseillé à ceux qui voudraient s’évader du vacarme et du chaos de la vie urbaine et savourer un repos mérité. Les visiteurs trouveront dans ce com-plexe, un confort de standing international.
Le Domaine de PetpenouThe Sultanate Located in the heart of Bamoun Country, the Petpenou Estate (or Le Domaine de Petpenou) is an modern but exotic and wild resort build in the middle of the Bamun Land. The estate is a perfect escape for those looking to take on a vacation far from the noise and the sometimes chaotic sceneries of the urban life.
bamoun sultant’s PalaCe
• Page 43Cameroon Traveler Magazine
DiscoverOUEST—NORTH-OUEST
Le Royaume Bamoun est l ’un des points focaux de l ’art et de la culture dans la region de l ’ouest au Cameroun. De l’artisanat à l ’histoire proprement dite du peuple Bamoun en passant par la fantasia des chevaliers, tout y est a découvrir.
Bamenda, also known as Abakwa
and Mankon Town, is a city in
northwestern Cameroon and
capital of the North West Province. The
city had a population of 269,530 at the
2005 Census, and is located 366 km (227
mi) north-west of the Cameroonian capi-
tal, Yaoundé. Bamenda is known for its
cool climate and scenic hilly location.
From its inception, the city is an amalga-
mation of three villages - Mankon, Men-
dakwe and Nkwen. The first was named
for the Mankon people. An alliance of five
ethnic groups founded a chieftaincy (a
fon) known as the Mankon Fon.
Bamenda's principal ethnic group is the
Tikar. In the past, the Tikar faced inva-
sions from the people in the surrounding
hills, and between 1700 and 1800, they
joined a confederation established by the
Mbum for defense purposes.
Bamenda was subjected to German colo-
nisation in the late 19th century, and evi-
dence of Germany's former occupation of
Bamenda can still be seen today in struc-
tures such as the Fort at the Bamenda
station. After the defeat of the Germans
in World War I (1914–1918) the League of
Nations shared German colonial territo-
ries among victorious nations.
Western Cameroon was administered
jointly with Nigeria under the protectorate
of the British until 1961, when following
a plebiscite it attained independence
by joining then the already independent
république du Cameroun.
Today, many of the city's inhabitants
are english-speaking, and Cameroonian
Pidgin english is the main language
spoken in the shops and on the streets of
Bamenda.
As a regional center, the city has numer-
ous markets, banks, and offices. The
main industries are the processing of
agricultural produce such as coffee. The
local museum and shops display a wide
variety of local baskets, beads, woodcarv-
ings and bronze statues.
In Bamenda there are cultural sites such
as the Mankon Fon's Palace with its
museum, and the Bali Fon's palace with
its ancient architectural structures. The
mountainous terrain around the city af-
fords scenic views such as that from the
mountain Sabga over the Ndop plain.
The city of Bamenda has road links to
Yaoundé and douala, as well as a rarely
used airport. North of the city is the
Bamenda
WHere To STAY IN BAMeNdA
Pelican Hotel,
Ntarikon Bamenda
PO Box 785
Hotel Rating **
mansfield Plaza Hotel
Hotel Rating **
Hotel ayaba
Hotel Rating: ***
mondial Hotel
BP 09 Bamenda
Hotel Rating: ***
azam Hotel
BP 386 Bamenda
Hotel Rating: ***
• Page 45Cameroon Traveler Magazine
OUEST—NORTH-OUEST Discover
Bamenda ring road, a 367 km (228 mi) circular route through
some of Cameroon's most spectacular mountains. Along this road
is Mount oku (3,000 m/9,800 ft), the Kimbi river Game reserve,
the Menchum river waterfalls, a huge chief's palace at Bafut, and
a pyramidal thatched shrine at Akum (also known as Bagangu).
menchum Falls
lake oku
bandJoun king’s CoumPound
Page 46 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Where to Stay in the WestTeclaire Palace
Hotel
BP 238 dschang
Cameroun
Manoir Hotel
Centre Touristic,
Bana BP 48
Alitel
Centre Climatique,
dschang BP 40
Hotel Marie Louise
BP 26, dschang
La région de l'Ouest Cameroun est le berceau du peuple Bamiléké, l'une des plus riches et denses civilisations d'Afrique Noire.
Véritables centres de pouvoir traditionnel et séculaire, les cheffer-ies traditionnelles constituent le noyau dur autour duquel émanent et convergent toutes les expressions culturelles des royaumes Bamilékés.
Les chefferies, lieux dépositaires du patrimoine matériel et im-matériel, sont porteuses des valeurs identitaires de leurs peuples. Une grande majorité du patrimoine culturel Bamiléké est sous leur responsabilité.
La Place du Marché de Dschang est symbolisé par trois cases traditionnelles aux toits coniques semblable à des champignons et reflétant la tradition du peuple Bamiléké.
L’art bamiliéké est l’un des plus riches d’Afrique subsaharienne. Toute cette richesse peut être observée au Musée des Civilisa-tions, qui se trouve au centre de la ville de Dschang.
Routedeschefferies.com et www.mintour.gov.cm
C A S E S Et Les Chefferies de l’OuestB A M I L E k E
• Page 47Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Your PLAN For A 10 daYs JourneY in to
tropical C a m e r o o n
koruP national ParC
limbe botaniCal garden
© Astaras
limbe beaCH
TroPICALAdVeNTureS ANd eSCAPAdeS
Days 1-3 Cameroon Littoral
Travel along rugged roads winding through Cameroon's
rainforests, arid plains and soaring mountains.
Days 4-5 Limbe
Lounge on Limbe's black volcanic sands below mighty
Mt Cameroon. Visit the Botanic Garden pictures below.
Take a hiking trip to the slopes of Mount Cameoon. A
visit to the Korup national parc will expose you to wild
species unavailable anywhere else in the world.
Days 6-7. Kribi Beach
Kribi Beach is a dramatic contrast to Limbe's chilled-out
vibe and is a glitzy, palm-fringed playground for the rich.
enjoy the gold sand, plenty of sun and the pleasures of
typical wild tropical beaches. In adition, rafting through
the lobe will bring you thrills and experiences you can-
not find anywhere else.
Days 8-9 Douala
After the western beaches and jungles, continue your
western adventure by experiencing douala's graceful
and ancient colonial ambience. douala is moisty, but full
of charm. Enjoy roasted fish by the sea front.
Days 9-10 Yaoundé
end your journey by visiting Yaoundé, the political capi-
tal. enjoy your choice of local food and pick up a visa in
the process. Check out the numerous museums during
the day and the discos at night. Yaoundé is cooler, and
more orderly than douala, and has recently seen a lot of
improvement in its infrastructures.
kribi beaCH
Yaoundedouala
• Page 49Cameroon Traveler Magazine
L I T TO RA L- C E N T R E Discover
lobe Falls
Page 50 Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Le LamidaLe Lamida de l’Adamaoua représente le symbole de l’archictecture septentrionale du Cameroon. Cette région est très visitée pour sa richesse naturelle (parc nationaux de Waza, de la Benoué, de Bouba Njida etc) ses rochers et autres beautés de la nature.
Page 51Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Le SeptentrionLa partie septentrionale du Cameroon, composée de l’Adamoua, du Nord et de l’Extreme Nord est caracterisées par un climat sec et aride, une architecture particulière et de nombreux parcs nationaux ou la faune et la flore sont des plus diversifiées en Afrique. Le pic de Mindif est non seulement une beauté pour les amoureux de la nature mais aussi un paradis pour les amoureux de l’alpinisme. Il en va de meme pour les nombreux parcs na-turels que compte cette partie du pays.
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Page 54 • Cameroon Traveler Magazine
La Grande Case BamilékéLe symbolte officiel de la tradition et de la culture Bamiléké, la
Grande Case est la residence officelle du Chef Bamiléké.
• Page 55Cameroon Traveler Magazine
Le Lion Indomptable d’Afrique
Le lion représente la mascote et le symbole officiel du Cameroun.
The African Lion is the official symbol of the republic of Cameroon. Officially known as The Indomitable Lions, Cameroonians continue to
distinguish themselves around the world just as they do in sports.
The lion is a species of the genus Panthera and its closest relatives are the other species of this genus: the tiger, the jaguar, and the leopard. Panthera leo itself evolved in Africa between 1 million and 800,000 years ago, before spreading throughout the Holarctic region. It appeared in Europe for the first time 700,000 years ago with the subspecies Panthera leo fossilis at Isernia in Italy. From this lion derived the later cave lion (Panthera leo spelaea), which appeared about 300,000 years ago. Lions died out in northern Eurasia at the end of the last glaciation, about 10,000 years ago.
–Wikipedia
The Cameroon Traveler Magazine is published by Sapphire excel for the Cameroon Travel and Leisure organization
(CTLo). For all information concerning the content and advertisement opportuinities in this magazine, please contact
the Cameroon Traveler directly at [email protected]