 THE ADAMOUA: A TOURISTIC PARADISE
The Adamamou Province is a tourist paradise. It has about forty lodging establishments and more than thirty site that have been officially listed and classified. These include several lakes of exceptional beauty, ancient caves, picturesque fall, word famous ranches and hunting camps, etc.
Its capital, Ngaoundéré, is a stopover town between North and South Cameroon. It takes its name from on of the navel-shaped mountains surrounding it. It has a high altitude tropical climate and is therefore pleasantly cool.
There are several places of interest in the town itself:
The small market in the Baladji quarter, is a bustling as most African markets;
The central mosque is a beautiful modern structure where Moslems gather for Friday prayers. On other days, the voice of the muezzin booms from several minarets in the town inviting believers to the five daily prayers of Islam.
The lamido’s Palace with the mural decorations of its halls and the cone-shaped thatch roof of the entrance are reminiscent of the distant past. It is like a museum.
The Hotel management and Tourism School of Cameroon is ideally located in the restored Adamaoua Hotel.
On the outskirts of Ngaoundere, there is a beautiful forest with several tree species, mainly conifers, which bring to mind the vegetation of some European or American mountains.
Some 8 kilometres form the town of Ngaoundere is Lake Tizon, a circular crater lake. It lies couched below a rugged site, which abounds with enormous rocks resting in equilibrium. Other lakes in the region well worth visiting include:
Lake Mbalang, this is a crater of irregular shape situated 22 kms from Ngaoundere, it is one kilometre long with an islet in the middle. It is ideal for water-skiing, sailing, fishing, photography and filming.
Lake Mayam: this is a natural lake of about 800 ha. It is surrounded by a natural forest and is the home of hippos and crocodiles.
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Apart from these lakes the Adamamoua has several spectacular fall. It thus lives up to its reputation as the watershed of Cameroon. Among the most spectacular are:
The tello falls: these are made up of several small waterfalls dropping 40 metres from a rocky springboard forming the roof of a cave, which is blocked by the curtain of water from Ngaoundere along the road to Belel.
The Vina Falls: they are situated 15 kms from Ngaoundere along the road to Meiganga. They are a large band of water dropping 30 metres from a rocky table with vast meadows in the backdrop.
The Beni Falls, which are a magnificent tabular waterfall with hydroelectric potential, are located at Bam Boum, 20 kms from Ngaoundere.
The Lancernon Falls are quite big, dropping some 100 metres and situated 80 kms from Djohong.
The Adamaoua abounds with lakes and falls but it is also famous its cave. They include:
The Nyem Nyem caves: they are located on trop of Mount Djim, 65 kms from Tigenere near Galim. They were there refuge of the Nyem Nyem people at the time they were resisting the Germans. In January each year grandiose traditional festivities are held at the site. The highlight of this event is the hoping of the ancestral tombs.
The Damougare cave: it is situated within a huge rock. It is the refuge of the Kountine people.
The Ossere Tchoumbal cave: it is located on a picturesque mountain laid out by the Germans. The climate is mild all year round. This cave has lodging facilities.
The Adamaoua has several other attractions, such as:
The Ngaoundaba ranch, which at a forty-minute drive from Ngaoundere, is 1360 metres above sea level. It is located in a wooded park near a beautiful lake. Board and lodging are available at the site in an idyllic 30 rooms hotel. Facilities also exist for tennis, ping-pong, horse-back riding and rowing;
Mbakaou dam: located 33 kms from Tibati, it is a huge water reservoir;
Mape dam: it is situated 15 km from Bankim, and was built to regulate the flow of the Sanaga
Woulde hot spring: it is 35 km from Tignere. It spurts out of a change of gradient between the plateau and the plain, at a temperature of 70° C; this temperature drops in the rainy season
The high cliff: it is 45 km from Ngaoundere on the road to Garoua. In the past it was the motorist’s nightmare. Today, a beautiful tarred road runs across the cliff, enabling the traveller to pursue his discovery of the great North without any difficulty. |
