Bamenda

Bamenda is a city in Cameroon's Northwest Highlands.

Understand
Bamenda, also known as Abakwa or Mankon Town, has ties to the Tikar people and then was colonized by the Germans in 1884 before being passed onto the French and English. Also in this city you'll find the Bamenda University of Science and Technology and some hilly backdrops.

Get in
There is an airport in Bamenda servicing charter flights but no daily scheduled flights. There are highways to Douala and Yaoundé, where major airports are located. The roads are good, but with some big pot holes. By road, it takes around 6 hours from Douala by car and 8 by bus.

Do
A popular itinerary is to do the "Bamenda Ring Road" that involves traveling north to see the Bafut Palace in Bafut followed by the Menchum Waterfalls near Wum, then taking in the volcanically active Lake Nyos where many died in a gaseous release in 1987 and on to the Kings Palace in Misaje. From here, one continues on to see the crater lake, Lake Oku, and biodiverse second-highest Cameroonian peak, Mount Kilum Ijim, and then completes the route by seeing the palace museum in Babungo, pottery in Bamessing, and Sabga Hills en route back to Bamenda. This is likely a multi-day excursion since it is ~465 kilometers, with potentially unimproved road conditions at times, but it allows one to experience Cameroonian landscapes and kingdoms in detail.

Sleep
There are a few hotels in Bamenda. The largest being the faded Ayaba Hotel. There are various other commercial places that may be better options.



Connect
English and French language broadcasts can be heard from BBC World Service on 95.7MHz and RFI on 105.8MHz.