Mount Oku and the Kilum-Ijim Forest

Mount Oku is the high point of the Bamenda Highlands at 3,011 m — second only to Mount Cameroon — and the Kilum-Ijim forest on its flanks is the largest remaining patch of Afromontane forest in West Africa. It is the only place on earth to see Bannerman's Turaco and the Banded Wattle-eye, and the community forest management scheme that protects it is one of Cameroon's genuine conservation successes.

The climb starts from Elak-Oku and goes up through farm, then through the forest belt with its moss-hung trees and endemic birds, then out onto open grassland for the final ridge to the summit. Figure seven to nine hours round trip. It is less steep than Kupe and less punishing than Mount Cameroon, but the altitude is real and the weather in the highlands changes without warning.

Lake Oku sits in a crater on the mountain's south side, surrounded by forest and home to the Lake Oku clawed frog, found nowhere else. It is sacred to the Oku people: no swimming, no fishing, and there are days when access is restricted for traditional reasons. Your guide will know. The Fon's palace in Elak is worth a visit before or after the climb.