The Cameroonian cuisine is traditional but you can also find ingredients and dishes that the Americans and Portuguese brought in. You will notice that the French settlers in the 1800′s made a huge impact at the Cameroonian cuisine as omelets and French bread is very common.

CC cred zzilch

Staplefood

Regular staple foods in Cameroon is cassava (a root which can be poisonous if not prepared properly), plantain (looks like huge bananas) which you normally fry, peanuts (particurly in the north),  corn and yams.

The Cameroonians like spicy sauces containing pepper and curries. They also eat alot of fufu and basically eat what the season has to offer.

If you don’t like spicy food before you arrive to Cameroon, you will love it (or be forced to learn to love it) at the time you leave Cameroon. They love spices and love to spice up all kinds of food.

However cassava and fufu is not spicy at all. You can also order fish, corn, lots of fresh fruit if you really can not eat spicy food.

Cameroonian Restaurant

Here is a small selection of what might be on the menu in a normal, mid-price Cameroonian restaurant:

Ndole

The main ingredient in Ndole is bitterleaf (which almost is like spinach). You then mix it with shrimps, peanuts,tomates, melon seeds, onions, garlic and pepper. The color of this dish is green and might not look very welcoming, but it is really good, but as most Cameroonian food: Spicy!

This is how it looks

Grilled fish

All restaurants in the west (near the sea) will serve you an big nice grilled fish. If you love fish, you will love Cameroon. The fish can be served with cassava, rice, plantain or just plain fish.

Kribi is located in south-west Cameroon. This small charming beach resort is famous for it´s beautiful beaches and relaxing atmosphere. Government officials and the city people of Douala and Yaounde go to Kribi for relaxing holidays as soon as they get a chance. In Kribi you´ll find accommodation in all price categories and you´ll find food from food stalls to expensive hotel restaurants.

CC-BY-SA YMEA

Sights near Kribi

Whili in Kribi you should not miss it´s beautiful surroundings. Be sure to visit the Lobé Waterfalls which is a waterfall that drops straight in the atlantic ocean. It´s not very difficult to get someone to follow you and show you the waterfalls. In fact,every taxidriver or kid that owns a motorbike will sound the horn and say “waterfalls?” It should me no more than 2000 CFA to get there.

The waterfalls are on Unesco´s World Heritage List.

Near the waterfalls you can also find a Pygmee Village. You can get to one of the village by boat on a one day trip which will set you off from around 60000 CFA.

Castel Beer

Castel and 33

As in many countries in West Africa you will find great tasting beer in Cameroon. To drink beer is very popular and a part of the modern culture. You´ll hardly see anyone drink wine or cocktails. Simply speaking: You should drink beer in Cameroon!

Two of the biggest brands are 33 (trois-trois) or Castel. Both of the brands are lager. Les Sociétés Anonymes des Brasseries du Cameroun is the brewing company who owns these two brands. Heineken are actually owning 8-9% shares in the brasserie.

Infrastructre for beer

When alot of the infrastructure in the country are not developed the beer-bottle infrastructure is working great. They spend alot of money on maintenance for their trucks and advertising and delivery of beer to pubs and restaurants is well arranged. Because of that you can always ask for a 33 or Castel in all parts of the country.

The beer is served in big bottles (63 cl) and costs around 600 CFA. The recycling works great so as soon you finish your beer you can rest assure that the staff at the pub will take care of your bottle, getting cash for sending it back to the brasserie.

Registered under GPL License

Mount Cameroon is actually an active volcano which had its latest eruption in 1999 and 2000. Mount Cameroon is located in the southwest region of Cameroon close to the small touristy town Limbe. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain.

It is one of the highest volcanoes in Africa reaching over 4000 meters.

Climb it

Mount Cameroon is fairly easy to climb and the path up to the top goes thru many shifting terrains. From desertlike conditions to tropical rainforest. The descent usually starts from Buea. Be careful to not book a guide that is not officially registered as theft has been reported. Some will even claim they are official.

You can rent a tent, buy food and supplies in Buea. You can climb Mount Cameroon in one day however, 2-3 days is recommended if you want to enjoy it. There are 3 huts along the way to the top where you can stay in.

If your lucky you will be able to spot monkeys on your way up!

Black sand on the beach of Limbe

A fantastic little town in Cameroon with a nearly forgotten beach is Limbe. Limbe is located in the Southwest region which is anglophone so most of the people speak english. It lays beetween Mount Cameroon and the ocean. Here you can eat fantastic seafood which you can buy from one of many good food stalls next to the fishing harbor or get it in the restaurants. A couple of kilometers north of Limbe you’ll find Batoké Fishing Village, and this is where one of the nicest beaches in Cameroon starts. The sand is black because of a big volcano eruption in 1999. On some strips of the beach you can spend a day without meeting others. But beware. People have reported on getting mugged by local gangs so keeping close to the hotels might be a good idea.

Botanic garden

You can also visit the botanic garden and the Monkey Sanctuary where monkeys who would had becomed bushmeat has been placed.
Visa större karta

Douala port

Douala and Cameroon is often called Africas armpit. Because of it´s location but also because of the intense heat and high humidity. There is not much sightseeing to do in Douala but don´t worry, you´ll have plenty of activities to choose from.

Drinking and bars in Douala

This can be a problem. If you want to go to a place where all the locals go, you might end up hunted. They can ask you for beer, they will ask you for cigarettes and if you´re a male the women will try to get you. But remember. You are in there country and not the opposite. What most foreigners do is to visit bars where other foreigners and expats hang out. The problem with these places is that a small Castle or 33 will cost you $8 while in other bars a big beer costs around $2-$3.

My dad always says: “Back home, we pay tax, here we pay bribes. Both are expenses for me that goes to the government, so why bother”.

He is partially right. Because the policeofficer recieving your bribe is not going to keep all for himself. A share goes to his/hers boss, and the boss pays to his boss and so on until it reaches a minister in the government.

Don´t support bribes and corruption! It’s hard to not pay bribes in Cameroon but if you can avoid it you’re doing everyone a favor.

As Cameroon being one of the worlds most corrupted countries an easy place for treasurehunters to collect bounty is to stop vehicles at road blocks. Usually you can pay about 2000 CFA ($2) to immediatly pass. If you for some reason now, that something with your papers isn´t right or you have some problem with your car that they could pick on there is a trick that the locals use.

Dealing with officials in Cameroon

Keep your enemies close to you

When the Cameroonians that serve in the army how to go, say from Limbe to Douala they don´t get paid by the army for the trip. So what they do is to hitchhike. If you see a person in army or police suit hitchhiking and you pick him/her up and put her in your frontseat the magic will start. At the roadblocks they can start to wave you in but as soon as they see that a stateofficial is seated in the front seat they will wave you by.

Voilá! That´s how you get past roadblocks in Cameroon and West Africa in general.