Lobéké National Park is probably best place from Cameroon’s rainforest national parks. Disadvantage is bad accessibility – it is far from larger towns. I found two alternatives: Réserve du Dja which in the same region as Lobéké but closer to the capitol Yaoundé. The second option is Korup National Park which is at northwest of the country near Nigeria border.
Réserve du Dja is recognized by Unesco and protects about 526.000 hectares of rainforest. Its animal inhabitants including buffaloes, elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, and more, though dense vegetation means that most of these are difficult to see. But it is much closer to Yanoundé than Lobeké. Main entrance is at Somalomo village which is accessible by direct bus from Yaoundé (about three times a week). At Somalomo village there should be available accommodation and also guides and porters for park exploration. Second entrance is at Lomié village which is more east than Somalomo. Guides are also here. There should be also Baka Pygmy villages.
Réserve du Dja is managed by Ecofac organization (www.ecofac.org). Its office is at Bastos section of Yaoundé behing the Nigerian ambassador’s residence. Contact is: B.P. 13844 - Yaoundé, tel : (237) 214273, fax : (237) 209472.
Korup National Park is at different region. It is near Nigerian border at the northwest of the country. It is one of the oldest and richest rainforest at West Africa – its age is about 50 millions years. There are more 300 species of birds, 50 species of large animals, more than 400 species of trees and over 90 medicinal plants. The vegetation is very dense so and it is difficult to spot animals, but visiting should be superb way to experience a rainforest ecosystem. It is easily accessible from Douala and Yaoundé. First you head to Kumba town and later to Mundemba village where information center is. You can hire guides and porters here and start to hike around the park. More than 100 kilometers of path was developed.
