Country Cameroon – The Miniature Africa

Located in Western part of Africa and surrounded by Chad towards the north and north east, Congo, Gabon, and the Equatorial Guinea towards the south, Gulf of Guinea towards the southwest, Nigeria towards the west and northwest, and Central African Republic in the East, it looks like an elongated triangle on the maps. With tropical rainforests to deserted golden beaches, deserts, lakes, and savannah, volcanic mountains, and with vast treasure of impressive wildlife, the country Cameroon is considered by many as a “miniature Africa”.

Accommodation
Accommodation of international standards is available in Bamenda, Garoua, Younde, Maroua and Douala. Budget hotels however, are available in all cities. Hotels charge rent per room and not person. Basic hotels include aquberge or guesthouse and campements or country lodges. One downside of these cheap hotels is that they could be noisy and uncomfortable.

Geographical Features
Cameroon contains four geographical regions. The southern reason has coastal plains with dense forests; central plateaus have forests that give way to Savanna, northern region that is a vast Savanna, and Western region full of mountains. Some of the peaks are more than 8,000 feet in height. Out of the two main rivers; Benus is navigable for most part of the year while Sanaga is not navigable.

History
Country Cameroon came up with unification of the erstwhile French Cameroon and a part of the British Cameroon in 1961.Bakas or Pygmies were the original inhabitants and were later joined by Muslim tribe of Fulani. European colonies developed only during the late 1870s.From 1884 till the end of First World War Cameroon was under German occupation and was divided between France and England in 1919. Finally, the country gained independence in 1960 as Republic of Cameroon. Despite visible trend towards democracy, power is still concentrated in the hands of ethnic oligarchy. 

Getting Around
Cameroon has good internal road communications with nearly 34,300 Km of highways with around one third of them paved. In comparison the rail communication and water ways are fewer covering 1104 Km and 2090 Km respectively. Domestic air transport has developed considerably in recent years and there are 49 airports in the country. A guide to hassle free travel containing list of safe touring destinations is available with the tourism department counters available in most airports and on major bus terminuses.

Major Cities
Some of the major cities in Cameroon are Bamenda, Douala, Baffessum, Garoua, Kousseri, and Yaounde. Capital city of Yaounde is the second largest in the country while Doula is the commercial capital and location of the international airport as well as largest port in the country. Two of the important trading cities are Bafosussam and Garoua. Other cities are Lomie, Nagoundere, Boala, Loum, Nkongsmba, Mouloudou, Sa’a, Tiko, Maroua, Mamfe, Sangmelima, Mora, Mbandjock, Mokolo, Mbouda, and Meiganga.

In Waza and Benou National Park, one will come across lodges though not the bed and breakfast accommodation. In outskirts of the cities there are a few youth hostels too. Camping is permitted for Boubanjidah National Park and on the Mayo Lidi River bank. Elsewhere it could be dangerous due to invasion by wild animals and robbers.

Currency
Currency in use in country Cameroon is the CFA franc. According to current exchange rate 1 Euro comes to 655.957 CFA XOF used in Cameroon. One can get the latest news on exchange rates that fluctuate regularly, from the Internet, news or trade magazines.

Group accommodation in Cameroon | Cheap hostels & budget hotels