Culture of Cameroon: peoples, dishes and places with a story

The stories

Where does it come from?

The origin of a dish, the history of a people, the memory of a place: articles to read slowly.

Les chutes d’Ekom-Nkam tombant de 80 mètres dans la forêt

12 facts about Cameroon that raise eyebrows

A country named after a prawn, the biggest frog in the world, a king who invents a script, Tarzan, Michael Jackson and a goal at 42: twelve checked facts to shine at your next meal.

4 min read

Une rue de Yaoundé la nuit, vue d’en haut, avec ses taxis et ses lumières

Culture

The snack-bar, the neighbourhood’s living room: a Cameroonian culture

Elsewhere, a snack-bar serves sandwiches. Here it is a terrace, a loudspeaker, a screen for the match and friends around a table. What the word means in Cameroon, the music you hear there, and where to find them. For adults, in moderation.

3 min read

Le palais des rois Bell, dit la Pagode, à Bonanjo

Culture

La Pagode: the house of the Bell kings, in the heart of Douala

In Bonanjo, a house with stacked roofs has watched Douala go by since 1905. Behind its light nickname lies the story of a dynasty and of Rudolf Douala Manga Bell, the king who said no.

2 min read· Douala

Des rochers dans l’eau, sur le rivage de Bimbia

Culture

Bimbia: on the shore where so many lives were overturned

Ten minutes from Limbe, a former slave-trading port listed as national heritage. You do not come here for fun: you come to see, and to remember. How to get there, and in what spirit.

2 min read· Limbé

Les chutes de la Lobé se jetant dans l’océan, près de Kribi

Culture

The Lobé falls: where a river drops into the ocean

Seven kilometres from Kribi, the Lobé river does what almost no river does: it falls into the Atlantic as a waterfall. How to get there, what to look at, and why you remember it for a long time.

2 min read· Kribi

Un tricycle chargé de casiers de bière devant un dépôt, à Douala

Culture

Beer in Cameroon: a story best served cold

A brewery born in Douala in 1948, a “33” that arrived in 1962, crates crossing the country by tricycle: beer also tells the story of Cameroon. For adults, and in moderation.

2 min read

La façade du palais des sultans bamoun à Foumban, en brique, avec ses arcades

Culture

Foumban: walking through the city where a king invented a script

A red-brick palace that is still lived in, a museum shaped like a two-headed serpent, workshops where bronze is still cast: Foumban is a city to visit on foot, slowly. How to get there, what to see, and what you bring back.

4 min read· Foumban

Un plat d’eru dans une assiette en bois, avec une boule de water fufu, posé sur une feuille

Culture

Eru: the leaf the Bayangi gave to Cameroon

A forest vine, a knife, hours of patience: behind one of the country’s best-loved dishes stands a people, the Bayangi of Manyu. And a question: if the leaf were not cut, would it still be eru?

4 min read

On the map