Ekom-Nkam Falls
An 80 m curtain waterfall on the Nkam River, made famous by a scene in the 1984 film Greystoke.
History
The Nkam River drops roughly 80 m over a sheer rock face near Melong, close to the West Region town of Bafang, forming one of Cameroon's most dramatic waterfalls. Ekom-Nkam gained international attention when it was used as a filming location for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), and it has drawn photographers and hikers ever since for the view from the clifftop platforms opposite the falls. It sits within a working landscape of smallholder cocoa and food-crop farms, and local guides from Melong lead the short but steep descent to the base of the falls.
Beyond the facts
Culture & traditions
A living tradition or belief tied to the place, distinct from its recorded history.
As with many waterfalls across the Grassfields and Littoral highlands, local Bangwa and Nweh oral tradition holds that a water spirit inhabits the pool beneath the falls, and elders have historically discouraged swimming there out of respect rather than simple caution about the current. Cocoa has been the backbone of the surrounding villages' cash economy since French colonial administrators introduced it in the early twentieth century, and harvest season still shapes the rhythm of local life around the falls.