Guide to Cameroon
Must See Cameroon
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Once a sleepy colonial capital, Yaoundé is now a bustling urban centre of meandering streets and undulating hills, offering excellent museums and a cool climate. In the lively African quarters of Messa, Mokolo and Briqueterie you'll find the best grilled chicken this side of the Côte d'Ivoire.
A few kilometres north of the city centre is the Benedictine Monastery's Musée d'Art Cameroonais. Despite its small size, it has one of the best collections of Cameroonian art in the world, including masks, bowls and Bamoun bronze pipes. The monastery's chapel is also beautifully decorated.
A few kilometres west of downtown is the Quartier Melen, home to the Musée d'Art Nègre. The museum's collection includes Bamoun pipes from north-west Cameroon, Baoulé textiles from Côte d'Ivoire and Congolese-Zaïrian masks, as well as pieces from Algeria and Ethiopia. Melen is also home to the Paroisse de N'Djong Melen, a church whose open-air Sunday mass you shouldn't miss. For over two hours, a priest recites the mass in Ewondo to the accompaniment of African drumming, dancing and singing.