Garoua Tourist Places to Visit in Garoua, Cameroon, Africa

Garoua Tourist Places to Visit in Garoua, Cameroon, Africa

Garoua is the capital city of the North Region of Cameroon, geographically positioned between 09°18′ N latitude and 13°24′ E longitude, around 1150 kilometers northeast of Douala and 930 kilometers northeast of Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Garoua is the 3^rd largest city of Cameroon in terms of population, following Douala and Yaounde. Garoua is especially noted as the hometown of the Cameroon’s 1^st president, Ahmadou Ahidjo.

Its position in the midst of national parks and nature reserve has made Garoua as one of the top tourist destinations of Cameroon. Garoua is also renowned as an agricultural and textile processing center. Garoua is located on the Rover Benue at an altitude of 249 meters.

How to reach Garoua?

Garoua hosts an international airport with scheduled flights from and to Paris, Douala, Yaoundé, Maroua and N’Djamena, served by Camairco. The airport is located around 8 kilometers away from the city center, which can be crossed by bus or private transfers.

By bus, Garoua is connected to both Yaounde and Douala but it is not recommended because of long distance and taking more time, so suggested to use air travel and to get around the city, buses are generally accessible and for more comfort, visitors can rent cars from the local travel agency.

Culture, and Shopping in Garoua:

Most people live in Garoua belong to the Fulb ethnic group and the city also houses a minority of the Muslim population.

As like the other Cameroonian cities, Garoua also houses a traditional market with a variety of locally made items including handicraft products.

What to do in Garoua?

Exploring national parks
Day tours of surrounding villages
Walking

Tourist Attractions in Garoua:

Mosque in Garoua:

Garoua Mosque is one of the largest mosques in Cameroon, frequented by Muslim devotees living in the city and its nearby areas. Don’t forget to bring a camera to take some pictures of this huge mosque.

Lake Lagdo:

Being the largest lake in Cameroon, Lake Lagdo is one of the landmarks of Cameroon, situated few kilometers away from Garoua. Apart from lake beauty, visitors can also use the shore of the lake as a relaxation point for whole day vacation. Also, there are many fishing villages in the area.

Benoue National Park:

Benoue National Park is not too far from Garoua, featuring grassland and heavy forests as well as home to animals like buffalo, hyenas, warthogs, monkeys and elephants.

Faro Reserve:

Located in the vicinity of Nigerian border, the Faro Reserve is a woodland park, lying to the west of Benoue National Park and can be explored better using 4×4 with a guided tour.

Bouba Ndjida National Park:

The Bouba Ndjida National Park houses around twenty three antelope species including eland, giraffe, rhinos, painted hunting dogs and Lycaon pictus and is placed to the east of the Benoue Park.

List of other places of interest in Garoua includes:

The Mankon Fon’s Palace
Mount Oku
The Bali Fon’s palace
Menchum Falls
The Bamenda Ring Road
Akum’s Temple
Mankon Museum
Kimbi River Game Reserve
Bafut Palace
Korup National Park
Markets in Bafoussam
Waza National Park
Marche des Fleurs
La Nouvelle Liberte
The Basilique Marie-Reine-des-Apôtres

Best time to visit Garoua:

The best time to visit Garoua is not different from the other cities in Cameroon, the ending and beginning months of the year.

Accommodation options in Garoua:

Modern hotels are less in number in Garoua but visitors can use cheaper camping and vacation rentals for accommodation purpose during peak season. A list of the famous tourist favor hotels in and around Garoua includes: