12 natural wonders of Cameroon to see at least once in your life
Twin lakes, one green, one blue. An 80-metre waterfall where a Tarzan film was shot. A volcano the Bakweri call the mountain of the gods. Count the ones you have already seen: we want your score in the comments.
By L'équipe NiceThings20 October 20267 min read
Before you read, a little game: count the ones you have already seen with your own eyes. At the end, write your score in the comments. Zero is allowed: it is even the best reason to read to the end.
Cameroon is called Africa in miniature. These twelve places show why: lakes born in volcanoes, waterfalls hidden in the forest, an island, a spike of rock in the middle of the plain. Each one has its page on NiceThings, with what is known, where it comes from, and how to get there.
The twin lakes of Manengouba
On Mount Manengouba, a volcano straddling the Littoral and the South-West, two crater lakes face each other, separated by a thin ridge. They are called the male lake and the female lake: one has green water, the other blue.
North-west of Nkongsamba. Go with someone who knows the track, and bring something warm.
Mount Cameroon
The highest point of the country, and a volcano that is still active: between 4,040 and 4,095 metres depending on the measurement. In Bakweri it is called Mongo-mo-Ndemi, the “mountain of the gods”; its summit, Fako, is the “mountain of thunder”.
It towers over Buea. The climb is a real mountain trek: prepare for it, and go with a guide.
Lake Barombi Mbo
A lake inside an old crater, right next to Kumba. Its water is home to about a dozen species of cichlid fish found nowhere else in the world: that is why it has been a Ramsar site, a wetland of international importance, since 2006.
A few kilometres from Kumba. Do not swim without asking the people who live there.
The Ekom-Nkam falls
On the Nkam river, in the Moungo, the water drops 80 metres in the middle of the forest. If the scenery looks familiar, that is normal: “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan” was filmed here in 1984.
In the village of Ekom-Nkam, near Melong. The rocks are slippery: wear good shoes.
The Mamy Wata falls
In Fongo-Tongo, about 24 km from Dschang, the water falls 82 metres into a sacred forest “of a thousand lianas”, where monkeys live and hunting is forbidden.
More than three kilometres on foot to get down to the foot of the falls. It is a sacred place: ask before taking photos, and do not touch the offerings.
Mount Mbapit and its lake
An old volcano of nearly 2,000 metres, in Bamoun country. At the top, you look straight down into the crater: almost vertical walls drop 200 metres to an almost round lake that no river enters and no river leaves.
You walk up from the village of Koupa: allow 45 minutes to an hour. A stairway leads to the top.
Lake Awing
A crater lake perched at about 2,086 metres, on the slopes of Mount Lefo, in the Bafut-Ngemba forest reserve. It is fed only by rain and by the water running down the hills around it.
Near the village of Awing, in Santa council, about fifteen kilometres from Bamenda.
Lake Ossa
About 45 km² of water in the lower Sanaga valley: two large basins, Ossa and Mevia, and 22 islands. It is a wildlife reserve, known as a home of the African manatee.
West of Edéa. Ask locally about the track and the canoes.
Manoka island
Cameroon’s largest island is, on its own, the sixth district of Douala. Its original inhabitants are the Malimba; the 2005 census counted 5,464 people there, spread over dozens of settlements.
About 35 minutes by boat from the small fishing port of Youpwé. Ask for a life jacket before boarding, and do not cross in bad weather.
The Vina falls
Beside the Meiganga road, you watch them from an easy viewpoint. They flow all year round, but they are most spectacular from September to November, in the rainy season. If you are reading this in October or November, now is the time.
Lake Tison
A crater lake about 300 metres across and 48 metres deep on average, at the gates of Ngaoundéré. It is one of the region’s favourite outings: a calm place to sit for a while.
The Mindif tooth
A steep spike of rock rising out of the plain, its outline visible from far away. Climbing it is for experienced, equipped climbers; everyone else admires it from below, and that is already a lot.
25 km south-east of Maroua, in Mindif council.
And two more we have already told you about
The Lobé falls, near Kribi, where a river falls straight into the ocean, and the green lake of Akak, in Yaoundé, a former quarry that became a lake.
All 12, on NiceThings
Lacs jumeaux du Manengouba
Nature & parks
Mont Cameroun
Nature & parks
Lac Barombi Mbo
Nature & parks
Chutes d’Ekom-Nkam
Nature & parks
Chute de Mamy Wata
Nature & parks
Mont Mbapit et son lac de cratère
Nature & parks
Lac Awing
Nature & parks
Lac Ossa
Nature & parks
Île de Manoka
Nature & parks
Chutes de la Vina
Nature & parks
Lac Tison
Nature & parks
Dent de Mindif
Nature & parks
Your score?
- How many have you seen? Write your score out of 12 in the comments.
- Which one would you show first to someone who does not know Cameroon?
- Did we forget one? Tell us which: we will add it.
And send this list to the friend you are finally going to make this trip with. You know who we mean.
Sources: Wikipedia, for each place (the details are on its NiceThings page). Photos via Wikimedia Commons: KLO.J (opening photo, CC BY 2.0), Adesolive (CC0) and A.R. Etoyiva (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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12 places mentioned in this article
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