The coast of Cameroon’s South Region stretches along the Gulf of Guinea across the entire southwestern flank. This distinct geographic feature gives South a maritime setting; at the same time, the region’s nature highlights range from mangrove vegetation and aquatic wildlife to walks to the Lobé Waterfalls and the Dja Reserve. This gives you several distinct areas to explore: the coast, a waterfall and a reserve known especially for its biodiversity.

Coast and Lobé Waterfalls

Visitors to the coast can experience mangrove vegetation and aquatic wildlife. The South Region is also suited to beach tourism. The coast therefore brings together nature and beach tourism as distinct but related perspectives. When including the coast in your travel plans, you can consider whether mangroves and aquatic wildlife or beach tourism should be the focus of your interests.

The South Region’s tourist offerings include walks to the Lobé Waterfalls. This offers a different focus from the coast: at Lobé, the emphasis is on walking to a named natural attraction, while the coast focuses on mangrove vegetation, aquatic wildlife and beach tourism. This makes it easy to distinguish between coastal scenery and a walk to a waterfall.

The Dja Reserve and its extent

The Dja Reserve is known especially for its biodiversity and great variety of primates. Its geographic extent is also important context: the Dja Faunal Reserve extends west into the Dja-et-Lobo Department of the South Region and east into the Haut-Nyong Department of the East Region. The Dja nature area therefore spans two regions; its connection to South lies on the western side of the reserve.

In the wider destination of Cameroon

Other nature highlights can be found across the wider destination of Cameroon. The Korup Biosphere Reserve in Cameroon’s Southwest Region is characterized by evergreen lowland forest. Its landscape ranges from foothill and swamp forests to submontane slopes on granite peaks. It is home to the endangered Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) and the critically endangered Preuss’s red colobus (Piliocolobus preussi); conservation status classifications can change over time.

The Waza Biosphere Reserve, in Cameroon’s Far North Region, offers a different landscape: it includes Yaéré floodplains with perennial grasses. The contrast with Korup lies in the landforms: Korup’s forests and elevation zones versus Waza’s Yaéré floodplains.

Cultural traditions also broaden the picture of Cameroon. The Ngondo traditions of the Sawa community are based on the veneration of water oracles and take place every year from September through the first Sunday in December. If this is relevant to your travel plans, check the specific dates for the year in question.

Another nature highlight in the wider destination of Cameroon is Sangha Trinational: Cameroon’s Lobéké National Park is one of the area’s three contiguous national parks. Lobéké sounds similar to Lobé, the name of the waterfalls that feature in the South Region’s tourist offerings as a destination for walks. To keep them distinct, note that Lobéké refers to the national park in the context of Sangha Trinational, while Lobé refers to the waterfalls in the South Region.

Discover more destinations: Ocean, Assosseng, Ebolowa, Adamawa, North, Littoral, West and Northwest.

Go to the main travel overview: Cameroon.