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Travesía Cameroon

Beyond the trailhead

Cameroon sites & history

Cameroon is nicknamed “Africa in miniature” because almost every landscape on the continent shows up somewhere within its borders — volcanic peaks, Sahelian savanna, rainforest, and a coastline of black sand. These are 27 of its landmark sites, each with real coordinates on the map below — tap into any of them for its full history and the cultural traditions tied to it.

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Mount Cameroon (Fako)
South-West4,040 m elevation

Mount Cameroon (Fako)

West Africa's highest peak, an active volcano the Bakweri call Mongo ma Ndemi.

History & culture →

Rhumsiki & Kapsiki Peak
Far North1,224 m elevation

Rhumsiki & Kapsiki Peak

A 1,224 m volcanic plug rising over the Mandara Mountains, home of the Kapsiki people.

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Lake Nyos
North-West1,091 m elevation

Lake Nyos

A crater lake that released a lethal CO₂ cloud in 1986, killing over 1,700 people.

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Waza National Park
Far North320 m elevation

Waza National Park

Sahelian savanna reserve and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1979.

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Lobé Falls, Kribi
South20 m elevation

Lobé Falls, Kribi

Rare waterfalls that drop directly into the Atlantic Ocean, just south of Kribi.

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Limbe
South-West15 m elevation

Limbe

Black volcanic-sand coastal town, founded in 1858 as the missionary settlement Victoria.

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Foumban Royal Palace
West1,180 m elevation

Foumban Royal Palace

Seat of the Bamum Sultanate since 1394, and museum to a king who invented his own script.

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Bafut Palace
North-West1,150 m elevation

Bafut Palace

Traditional seat of the Fon of Bafut, one of the Grassfields kingdoms of the North-West.

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Reunification Monument, Yaoundé
Centre750 m elevation

Reunification Monument, Yaoundé

A spiralling 1970s monument marking the 1961 union of French and British Cameroon.

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Dja Faunal Reserve
East / South600 m elevation

Dja Faunal Reserve

One of Africa's largest, least-disturbed rainforests — a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

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Bamenda & the Ring Road
North-West1,200 m elevation

Bamenda & the Ring Road

A ~367 km highland loop through Grassfields chiefdoms, tea estates and crater lakes.

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Bandjoun Chefferie
West1,450 m elevation

Bandjoun Chefferie

One of the largest Bamiléké royal chiefdoms, with a carved palace and museum open to visitors.

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Dschang & the Bamboutos highlands
West1,400 m elevation

Dschang & the Bamboutos highlands

A cool hill-station town at 1,400 m, built by German and French colonists to escape the heat.

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Ekom-Nkam Falls
Littoral (West border)600 m elevation

Ekom-Nkam Falls

An 80 m curtain waterfall on the Nkam River, made famous by a scene in the 1984 film Greystoke.

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Kribi
South10 m elevation

Kribi

Cameroon's main beach resort town, with pale sand, a German-built lighthouse and a deep-water port.

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Korup National Park
South-West100 m elevation

Korup National Park

Africa's oldest rainforest, protected since 1986 and laced with a canopy walkway and swing bridges.

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Musgum Mud Huts, Pouss
Far North320 m elevation

Musgum Mud Huts, Pouss

Shell-shaped mud dwellings near the Chad border, built without a single piece of timber.

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Seme Beach
South-West10 m elevation

Seme Beach

A quieter black-sand beach south of Limbe, built up around a beachfront resort.

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Mondoni Beach
South-West10 m elevation

Mondoni Beach

A working fishing beach on the Limbe–Idenau coast, lava rock and black sand under Mount Cameroon.

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Bota Island
South-West5 m elevation

Bota Island

A cluster of small islands off Limbe's Bota district, reached by dugout canoe.

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Mont Mbankolo
Centre1,000 m elevation

Mont Mbankolo

One of the seven hills of Yaoundé, and the capital's favourite dawn hike.

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Mvog-Betsi Zoo & the Mefou primate sanctuary
Centre750 m elevation

Mvog-Betsi Zoo & the Mefou primate sanctuary

Yaoundé's municipal zoo, and the origin story of one of Africa's largest primate rescues.

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Lobéké National Park
East400 m elevation

Lobéké National Park

Congo Basin rainforest shared with two neighbouring CEMAC countries as one UNESCO site.

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Bénoué National Park
North220 m elevation

Bénoué National Park

Savanna and gallery forest along the Bénoué River — lions, hippos and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

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Vina Falls (Chutes de la Vina)
Adamawa1,100 m elevation

Vina Falls (Chutes de la Vina)

A waterfall dropping off the edge of the Adamawa Plateau near Ngaoundéré.

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Ngaoundéré & the Adamawa Plateau escarpment
Adamawa1,100 m elevation

Ngaoundéré & the Adamawa Plateau escarpment

The Adamawa capital, perched where its volcanic plateau breaks into a dramatic escarpment.

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Bimbia Slave Trade Site
South-West15 m elevation

Bimbia Slave Trade Site

A former slave port south-east of Limbe where tens of thousands were shipped out in chains.

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