Cameroun : activités et visites

Yaoundé, the capital, is built on green hills in the southern forest belt, with a national museum, a large basilica and lively craft markets. Douala, on the Wouri estuary, is the biggest city and main port, a warm, busy commercial centre known for its music, makossa, and for its bars and street food.

To the west, Mount Cameroon, an active volcano of over four thousand metres, rises above the coast near Buea and Limbe, where black sand beaches and a botanical garden face the Gulf of Guinea. Kribi's palm-fringed beaches lie to the south, with the Lobé Falls dropping to the sea. In the western highlands Foumban's palace keeps royal arts alive, and in the far north Waza National Park has elephants and giraffes in dry savanna.

Ndolé, a stew of bitterleaf, peanuts and fish or beef, is the dish many call national, served with plantains or cassava. Grilled fish and chicken with peppery sauce fill roadside stalls, and the national football team is known as the Indomitable Lions. The dry season from November to March is easiest in the south, and the slopes of Mount Cameroon are among the wettest places in Africa.