Cameroon
-
Jan/Feb 2008
Route
We spent 29 days in Cameroon, travelling from the very south to the very
north with a detour to the coast. We entered from Gabon at the Bitam/Ambam
border and drove straight to Yaounde. From here we took the N3 west to
Limbe and Buea and, after climbing Mt Cameroon, we headed south to beautiful
Kribi. After a couple of days rest we went back to Douala and took the
N5 north to Bamenda before exploring the Grassfields. From the Grassfields
we took the N6 and N1 roads north via Foumban, Ngoundere, Garoua and Maroua.
Finally, we spent a few days in Rhumsiki before crossing the very quiet
Boukoula border into Nigeria. We chose the go north partly to see the
beautiful Mandara mountains, partly because we wanted to go into Niger
after Nigeria, and partly to avoid the troubled Delta region in southern
Nigeria.
Visas
We got our visa on entry at the Bitam/Ambam border, although
I understand that this is not possible at all borders. It was easy enough
despite being a bit time-consuming. Our 30-day tourist visa cost us 52,000
CFA each (about £60).
In
Yaounde we 'legalised' a photocopy of our visa and photo pages of our
passports so that we didn't have to show our actual passports at the police
checks or carry them on us in the cities. This entails taking the passports
and copies to the police station, paying them 1000 CFA per person and
them adding about six stamps and three signatures! The police station
is at N03.52.119; E11.31.029, near the prefecture, and the office you
need is inside and upstairs. There are loads of photocopy stalls along
the wall outside.
Border
formalities and checkpoints
The Bitam/Ambam border was very quiet, although it has a strange
motorway-style road system which looks like it could take a lot of traffic!
There was a small police hut on the border. As we didn't have our visas
a lady from here came with us to an immigration hut down the road to issue
them for us. Customs were next to the immigration hut. Immediately after
the border there was a police check-point and then a toll (500 CFA). The
checkpoint police were quite insistent on a cadeau but gave up eventually.
We
went through loads of checkpoints on the road from Ambam to Yaounde -
local police, national police, customs, immigration etc. We were waved
through a couple but stopped by 23!! We didn't have insurance at the time
but no-one asked to see it, only passports and driving licences. Apart
from the first checkpoint near the border, none asked for a cadeau. There
were less checkpoints in the centre of the country and those that were
there generally waved us through.
Checkpoints
in the north wanted to see driving licences and passports (our legalised
copies were acccepted) and we also showed our insurance as we had bought
three months third-party with a carte rose in Yaounde for 28,000 CFA (about
£30). Many of the checkpoints in the north also asked for cadeaux
although we never gave one. If you drive at night note that the checkpoints
still operate and they wave their torches at you to get you to stop.
There
are a few borders across the Mandara mountains into Nigeria. The main
one is at Banki in the very north but at the time the fighting in Chad
meant that this was swamped with refugees and UN workers and so we went
across Boukoula further south. It was extremely rural - quiet, friendly
and slow.
General
driving conditions
The roads in the populated southern/central area are generally
OK but you have to take bad roads to get into Nigeria whichever route
you take: the Ekok-Mamfe road is notoriously difficult in the rain and
can take days to travel whilst the Foumban-Ngoundere road would also be
terrible when wet but was just very, very dusty when we travelled. Yaounde
is a big city which takes a while to negotiate but the traffic is not
terrible (apart from the taxi drivers!). There are many tolls throughout
the country which take 500 CFA each time you pass.
Specific
driving conditions
All times are 'time moving' from our GPS and so are driving time only.
- Oyem
(Gabon) to Yaounde. 7 hours. This road is perfect tar until
30km south of Yaounde when pot-holes appear. The road signs and markings
are a joy after Gabon!
- Yaounde
to Limbe. 5.5 hours. The roads are great apart from through
Douala itself where there are pot-holes and quite bad traffic jams.
For Limbe, you need to take the unsigned sliproad 15km west of Douala
(the junction at: N04.07.203; E09.35.150)
- Douala
to Kribi. 2.5 hours, excluding negotiating Douala.
The road from Edea to Kribi is brand new perfect tar which even has
hard shoulders and crash barriers!
- Douala
to Bamenda, via the scenic Bangangte road. 6.5 hours. Very
good (twisty and hilly) tar road. There is a good Fons Palace to visit
in Bandjoun.
- Grassfields
roads - see section below.
- Jakiri
to Foumban. 3.5 hours. It's a scenic route but the dirt road
is terrible in places. Foumban, and the place museum in particular,
are well worth the effort however.
- Foumban
to Ngoundere. 15.5 hours (the Foumban to Banyo section took
5.5 hours). We did this road over two days and bush-camped undisturbed
in the woods between Banyo and Tibati (N06.38.510; E12.04.115). This
road was the dustiest we have been on in Africa! You can see the massive
holes the trucks make when it is wet - there are some diversions around
these but it would be a very challenging road in the rains....Even in
the dry we averaged 25km/hr up until Magba and 55km/hr after. The Bankim-Banyo
section had intermittent tar over the mountains and then the road deteriorated
again after Banyo. There is a short bit of tar around Tibati but not
as much as the 2002 Michelin map shows and after Tibati we had to ask
for directions constantly as both our Michelin and Map Studio maps were
wrong (we went east to Mambal and then turned north; OK dirt roads all
the way).
- Ngoundere
to Maroua. 10 hours. OK bumpy tar with a few pot-holes as far
as Garoua. Garoua is dusty and uninviting but has a fairly good market.
There were roadworks north of Garoua and the road deteriorated into
axle-breaking pot-holes.
- Maroua
to Rhumsiki. 3 hours. There is a very good tar road to Mokolo
after which there is a small but OK dirt road over the mountains. Rhumsiki
is in a beautiful setting and is only teeming with tourists in December.
Accommodation
We found Cameroon quite expensive to camp and often we would just be in
hotel car-parks. Bush-camping is possible in lots of places and sometimes
the rooms are only slightly more than the camping price and worth considering.
- Yaounde.
Most overlanders stay at the Presbyterian Mission. It's very central
and they have a big lawn although there's not really any security and
no access to a toilet at night. We paid 4000 CFA for two people and
the car. N04°52.783;
E011°31.346 - when you get close turn off the main road and go to
the water tower.
- Buea.
The Presbyterian Guest House was friendly and cheap (1500 per person).
Find it by going to the top of the hill, past the police roundabout
and look out for the Presbyterian Synod Office sign. N04.09.610; E09.14.005.
- Limbe.
Lots of overlanders stay at the Park Hotel Miramar (2000 CFA each).
It's in town, by the sea and has a (green-looking) pool but you are
just in the car-park. We preferred Mile 11/New Seme Beach Hotel, on
the road out west towards Idenao. It's a large, ugly building but you
can camp at the front of the complex on a grassy area and there's a
great beach. There are also a lot of sports activities on offer - tennis,
kayaking horse-riding etc - which could mean that it is very busy at
the weekend. More low-key camping is supposed to be on offer at Mile
6 but this was shut when we came through. We also looked at rooms in
the Victoria Guest House which were very nice for the money (from about
6000).
- Kribi.
We camped at Tara Plage which is off the dirt road which runs south
out of town towards the Chutes de Lobe. It's in a lovely spot and has
a very relaxed feel although food and beer is expensive. They charged
us 4000 per tent for camping and there's an OK outside loo and shower.
If you fancy a treat there are a lot of lovely auberges in Kribi.
- Bamenda.
There is camping at the Presbyterian Mission but it was pretty terrible.
The ablutions were filthy and there was an annoying security guard who
kept coming round to beg from us. The rooms looked OK. Alternatively,
we stopped at Awing Crater Lake for lunch but in hindsight should have
camped. It's about 20km south of Bamenda on the Douala road and is beautifully
set amongst the hills. Turn-off the main road at N05.50.934; E10.09.658
and it's thirty minutes down the dirt track. There is a security guard
who will come and collect fees.
- Foumban.
There's not a lot of choice in Foumban. The Beau Regarde hotel by the
market is OK and good value but we weren't sure about the security of
the parking. We stayed at La Prunier Rouge instead which was friendly
but tatty. As you come in on the road from Bafoussam look out for the
La Fourchette restaurant sign on your right and then stop and ask -
it's down a small road and hard to find.
- Ngoundere.
We stayed in the Hotel du Gare (predictably down near the train station!).
It was very clean and had secure parking and hot showers for 7,500 per
double room. N07.20.165; E13.35.219.
- Lagon
Blue (near Garoua). This hotel is on a very pretty site on the lake
and they let you camp on the beach for 5000 CFA per vehicle. The outside
loo and shower were filthy but they let us use theirs inside when we
complained. It could be very busy at the weekends. The hotel is about
15km off the main road along dirt tracks - follow the signs to 'Lagdo'
just south of Ngong.
- Maroua.
We camped at Relais Ferngo which was fine - plenty of room and use of
the toilet and shower attached to the quiet bar. 3000 CFA for 2 people.
- Rhumsiki.
We camped at the beautiful Campement Rhumsiki. The camping is just on
scrub-land near the gate and you use the pool shower but the views,
the pool and Markus (the owner/manager) make up for it! 4000 CFA for
2 people.
Climbing
Mount Cameroon
This was really great but quite hard. It's walking rather than climbing
but it is quite steep and you can get quite breathless from the altitude.
The most popular route takes three days and goes through forest, savannah,
lava-flows and ash fields - the huts are very basic and there are not
many water supplies so take plenty. The best people to go with are the
Mount Cameroon Intercommunal Ecotourism Board as they have great guides
and include a community tax in their fee. They have a tarif of fixed prices
which includes a guide and porter and you take your own food to cook on
fires; we paid 73,000 CFA for two people for three days. If you don't
fancy the mountain they offer a lot of different walks and treks, including
some on the flat! Their office is at the top of the hill in town - take
a left out of the Presbyterian Synod Office and walk for about 15 mins.
Note that there is another tour company who may come to the guest-house
to offer you trekking and their office is on the same road.
Touring
the Grassfields on the Ring Road
We, like most people, started this in Bamenda. We first went west and
up the road to Bafut - this is good tar all the way. The Fons Palace in
Bafut was quite interesting from the outside but they were asking too
much money for us to visit inside with a guide. We then came back down
to Bamenda and took the road east through Ndop and Jakiri then north up
to Kumbo. There are small patches of tar through Jakiri and Kumbo but
otherwise it's poor condition dirt roads. It's slow-going - Bamenda to
Jakiri took us nearly three hours - but the scenery is great and the people
surprisingly friendly considering it's quite touristy. We wanted to bush-camp
but it was quite populated so we ended up going about 10km north of Kumbo
and asking locally if it was OK. We camped by a telephone tower and had
a trickle of locals coming by to introduce themselves. It was a really
great experience and we wished we had time to carry on north around the
road into the more rural areas.
Food,
water and beer
There is loads of fruit and veg for sale in Cameroon and it is very good.
What is available and the price depends on where you are as the climate
and terrain change quickly. We got great pineapples on the Douala-Bafang
road, good tomatoes and potatoes in Buea and tasty mangoes in the south.
Oku honey, from the Grassfields region, is the best I've tasted and you
can buy ovaltine-jarfuls from the side of the road for 1000 CFA. Peanuts
are everywhere and are grown in the Mandara mountains or imported from
Nigeria.
The
street-food is very good and mostly consists of kebabs, meat roasts and
fish on BBQs. The best way to eat is to sit outside a local bar, order
a cold beer and ask the local stall to bring you whatever they have.
By
far the best sit-down meal we had (maybe in Africa) was in Kribi marina
where you choose the fish from a bucket and take a seat to watch the fishermen
whilst your fish is grilled. Our red snapper was fantastically fresh and
came with a platter of plantain chips, a couple of good home-made sauces
and cold beer! La Fourchette in Foumban and Duke & Harveys in Buea
were also very good for filling, local food like ndole (meat in a suace
made of greens).
Cameroonians
like a drink and there are lots of different african lagers available
- flag, castel, beaumont. These cost 500 CFA for a large bottle in local
places and much more in hotels. We also saw some draught beer but at very
high prices. We had no trouble getting good water at any of the places
we camped although the mission in Yaounde theoretically charges for it.
Money
and fuel
There are ATMs which take foreign cards, including debit cards,
but we experienced some problems. My card was swallowed by a BICEC machine
in Buea and the bank insisted on sending it to their head-office in Douala.
This meant we had to hang around for nearly a week so that we could go
and pick it up!.The most reliable ATM we used was SGBC. You can change
Euros in banks and foreign exchange bureaus but it's best to do it in
the cities - when I tried in Buea I was told by several places they 'didn't
want Euros' that day!
There
are fuel stations in all the towns. Diesel cost us 535-545 per litre (63p).
|
