Southwest: Volcano, Coast and Culture in Cameroon

Discover Southwest in Cameroon through its landscapes and places, each with a different focus. Mount Cameroon National Park is home to the 4,070-metre-high peak, the highest in West and Central Africa. Along the coast from Man O’ War Bay to Debunscha, volcanic rock and predominantly gleaming black sand shape the landscape. Bimbia preserves tangible traces of the slave trade, while Limbé adds further nature and culture themes with a botanical garden and the Centre Zoologique. This gives you options for a trip focused on mountain scenery, wildlife, the coast or history.

Volcano, trekking and wildlife

At 4,070 metres, Mount Cameroon National Park is home to the highest peak in West and Central Africa. The park has well-developed trekking routes and eco-lodges. Wildlife also defines its profile: the national park is considered a biodiversity hotspot, with elephants, chimpanzees, drills and a diverse birdlife. This offers nature enthusiasts a range of ways to explore, from trekking and the peak’s remarkable elevation to the diversity of its species.

The information about the peak and routes describes the protected area’s landscape and active pursuits, while its biodiversity offers another perspective on the same park. As you decide what you want from your trip, you can weigh whether trekking and mountain scenery or wildlife and birdlife should take centre stage.

Coast and plant life in Limbé

The coast from Man O’ War Bay to Debunscha is characterised by volcanic rock and consists mostly of beaches with gleaming black sand. This creates a different landscape from the peak and trekking routes of Mount Cameroon National Park: here, the focus is on the coast and its dark sandy beaches. These are two distinct nature themes to consider separately when choosing what you would like to experience on your trip.

Limbé Botanical Garden is a place to visit where visitors can discover numerous plant species. Check the garden’s current visitor regulations before your visit. Swimming is also among the experiences described in Limbe: the Limbe City Council describes the cooling sea breeze and warm, calm sea as good conditions for swimming all day. The garden’s plant diversity and the city’s account of swimming conditions offer different points of reference for your interests.

Bimbia and the history of the slave trade

Tangible traces of the slave trade have been preserved in Bimbia. These include a building where enslaved people were held, as well as chains, an oil mill and cannons. Stairs and a small bridge installed by the city council make it easier to get around the site. The remains have not been restored or reconstructed. Bimbia is considered an emerging and thriving ecotourism area; its tangible evidence also gives the place a clear historical dimension.

The combination of specific remains and the site’s condition makes Bimbia a distinct cultural focus in Southwest. Here, attention turns to evidence of the slave trade rather than to the national park’s landscape or wildlife themes. For travellers who want to include historical sites when choosing a destination, Bimbia offers a different perspective on the region.

The Centre Zoologique de Limbé

The Centre Zoologique de Limbé was founded in 1993 jointly by the Government of Cameroon and the Pandrillus Foundation. Its purpose included collecting domesticated wild animals and animals confiscated from poachers, and returning them to their natural habitat. Its founding story adds an institutional perspective on the treatment of wildlife to the region’s nature themes. Together with the national park, botanical garden and Bimbia, it forms a broad range of landscape, wildlife and cultural themes to help guide your decision to visit Southwest.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Fako, Bolifamba, Littoral, North, Adamawa, Centre, West, Northwest.

Back to the main travel overview: Cameroon.