Links
- List of birds for the trip (you can filter per day or per location)
- List of lifers (one tab for each of us)
Our 2-week trip to Cameroon was arranged by Benjamin Jayin Jomi, Benji for short, (Website: www.bipahetcig.webs.com, E-mail: benjijayin@yahoo.com), a local guide we met through the Birding Pal website. I've made use of local guides in South Africa and elsewhere in the world before but never before had the services of such a wonderfully professional, well-prepared, friendly and accommodating guide. Throughout our 2-week trip he was extremely helpful, catered to our whims and fancies, had back-up plans in place for any eventuality (some of which came our way), is excellent company and a fantastic ambassador for Cameroon. It was difficult saying goodbye to him at the end of our trip and if ever you want to visit Cameroon, we highly recommend his services. Not only can he arrange birding, cultural and adventure tours throughout Cameroon, but also the climbing of Mt Cameroon and birding tours to neighbouring countries, including Sao Tome and Principe. Benji, I hope our paths will cross again soon.
Cameroon is hot and humid as a true tropical country should be, but as a couple used to the cooler highveld air above 1500m in South Africa, these conditions were very testing to us. There are large areas of primary rainforest and its here that the birdlife really excel. However, apart from a few protected areas, the rainforest seems to be restricted to the lesser accessible hilly and steep areas – vast swathes of palm oil, banana, plantain and rubber tree plantations encroach on the natural vegetation and who knows how long the rainforest, and the birds along with it, will be able to survive. The people of Cameroon are very friendly and we were heartily welcomed wherever we went. Life here seems as hard as it is elsewhere in Africa with access to electricity, water and sanitation very primitive in places but the Cameroonians seem proud and optimistic nevertheless. Lack of infrastructure of a Western standard once you’re outside major towns means that roads are not always passable and may force you to change plans, as we had to do. However, the roads in the cities are surprisingly good and not nearly as busy and congested as I’ve experienced elsewhere in Africa. We spent 14 days in Cameroon, identified 210 species of birds, of which 127 were lifers for me and 144 for Nicola. Due to time constraints we didn’t visit the Bamenda highlands, one of the key endemic hotspots in Cameroon – this will have to wait for another visit. We also dipped on the Mt Kupe bush-shrike as washed-out roads prevented us to get to Kodmin, as well as the Red-necked picathartes in Korup National Park – stakeouts close to their nests are reasonably reliable when it rains but since we had almost no rain during our entire trip, our efforts didn’t pay off this time. Another highlight for us was summiting Mt Cameroon on my birthday. At 4090m it was Nicola’s first 4000m summit and one I’ve been dreaming off for a long time. Here’s a brief day-by-day account of our trip:
Saturday, 10 March
After an hour stop at Libreville’s airport, we hopped over to Douala and just before 9pm, walked off the plane into a wall of humidity as thick as syrup. Immigration was fairly quick but then we waited nervously for quite a while before our bags showed up. We got waved through customs and shortly after exiting the terminal building, spotted Benji holding up the “Birdingpal Cameroon” board. Wading through the populace we reached our taxi and had a short drive to our hotel – Foyer du Marin – helping on the way to push our stalled taxi into life again. Benji helped us to check in and then we sat down to a light dinner while Benji explained the next morning’s itinerary. With our room cooled down significantly by the aircon, we were able to flop into bed and fall asleep almost instantly.
Sunday, 11 Mar 2012
Up just after 5am, I took some of our luggage downstairs while Nicola decided to rather fall down the stairs with her share of it. Benji picked us up at 6am but before we left we added our first few Cameroonian birds: Woodland kingfisher, Senegal coucal, African thrush, Brown-throated wattle-eye and a few other common ones. On our way to Edea we stopped at a small marshy dam for Hartlaub’s duck. After hearing a Chattering cisticola while watching from the road, we walked down towards the pond's shore and our noise scared up two of these very pretty ducks. Adding African pygmy goose, African jacana, a flock of Grey parrots, Grey-headed nigrita and some Mona monkeys we drove to Edea where we had a late breakfast of cheese omelettes, lovely bread rolls and a juicy pineapple quarter each. Driving up the Sanaga river we stopped at a huge sandbank where we saw African skimmers in the distance, two Grey pratincoles and just before we carried on, Yellow wagtail. We entered a plantation of rubber trees and drove past Lake Ossa. Little bee-eaters were all over and later we did see a few White-throated bee-eaters as well but unfortunately, the Black bee-eaters we were targeting here, didn’t show. On our way back to Edea we did however add a White-throated blue swallow and Spotted greenbul. Now a long drive ensued: first back to Douala where we hit some traffic, picked up lunch and food for the next couple of days and then onto Loum. From here we started climbing up the foothills of Mt Kupe and on the forested slopes we saw many Orange-cheeked waxbills, a Whinchat and Grey-headed kingfisher. A flash of red flying across the road was obviously a turaco but unfortunately it disappeared before we could ID it. Arriving in Nyasoso at 6pm, we stopped to look at the Mackinnon’s shrike Nicola spotted and then stopped at a neat little guesthouse with Mt Kupe looming in the dusk behind it. We both had refreshing cold showers and then sat down to proper Cameroonian cuisine for dinner. Off to bed by 9pm.
Monday, 12 March
We were up before 6am, breakfasted, and then headed off to Mt Kupe with our guide Albert, a local who had trained himself in the birds of the area as a profession. Benji was to catch up with us later but we had barely made it to the school by the time he joined us; our frequent stops for birds meant we had made little progress. However the stops were well worth it and we marked off lifers like White-chinned prinia, Forest swallow, African blue flycatcher (what a truly beautiful little bird this is!) and Black-crowned waxbill. The lifers continued as we wondered through the fantastic forests of Mt Kupe: Green and Yellow-billed turacos, Yellow-spotted, Naked-faced and Yellow-billed barbets, Speckled, Yellow-throated, Red-rumped and Western tinkerbirds, Yellow-bellied wattle-eye and Yellow-footed flycatcher to name but a few. The forests were full of midges, flies and mosquitoes, all of which demanded blood sacrifices. We looked like we had come down with the measles within a few hours! We stopped for lunch at the overnight campsite for those who intended climbing the peak, and then soon afterwards started heading back down. New sightings and lifers continued all the way into town, but of particular interest were a stunning Black-faced rufous warbler who responded well to our calls and came to sit less than 3m from us, and then later, a Many-coloured bush-shrike, also responding to calls and giving brilliant views of its colourful plumage. By this time we were tired though, half mad from the constant itch of insect bites and were eager to get home and take our shoes off. Back down, we watched a chicken sacrifice her life to become our dinner, and soon after eating her, climbed into bed.
Tuesday, 13 March
With the road to Kodmin being basically washed out, Benji decided to head back down Mt Kupe towards Kumba before going to Mundemba. We had breakfast just after 6am and by 06:30 were on our way. After driving through Nyasoso town, we got out and walked, quickly picking up many of the now standard forest birds. Our first lifers for the day were fleeting glimpses of Western bluebill and Chestnut-flanked sparrowhawk. After walking a good 2-3km, we’ve also added our first ever sighting of African emerald cuckoo (having only ever heard it), Tambourine dove, Splendid glossy starling and a real special sighting: Black bee-eater. We also added Mountain saw-wing and Black-and-white mannikin before we got to the next town but by now the little midges that plagued us so yesterday were at it again and we were quite happy to get into the car and drive on. As we descended gradually we could feel the air getting thicker outside the car and the air-conditioner was very pleasant. Despite being lulled into sleep by the rocking of the car over the undulating road, we added more birds before we reached Kumba: Double-toothed barbet, Red-necked buzzard, Whinchat and African harrier-hawk to name a few. In Kumba, Benji helped to sign us into a hotel that almost didn’t have place for us due to a huge cycling race going through the city. The last room left turned out to be a sizable suite although it took some time to get the air-conditioners working. After fish and chips for lunch, we had a bit of a rest before heading to Barombi Mbo crater lake for some afternoon birding. Unfortunately it seemed that most birds were trying to hide from the oppressive heat and after walking a quarter of the way around the lake, we had only added one lifer: Bates’s sunbird. We were back at the hotel just before 7pm, discovered that our air-conditioners weren’t working so we knew we were in for a hot night. Moving some hot air around with the fans helped marginally, but after dinner we had to lie still under the fans for quite a while before being able to sleep.
Wednesday, 14 March
With a long drive ahead of us and no serious planned birding, we had a late breakfast and after Benji picked us up at 07:30, drove through to Ekondo Titi. On the way our vehicle’s exhaust started to sound distinctly edgy and in Ekondo Titi we pulled into the local mechanic's yard to get it fixed. After some checking under the car, it became apparent that it was going to be a fairly substantial job on the manifold and since there weren’t any car lifts or pits, a bunch of us promptly lifted the one side of the car and propped it up with an old car axle. This method squashed the tyre off the right front wheel rim and it was now obvious we’d have to get the tyre pumped as well before we’d be able to go anywhere. Four hours later, after lots of welding, fiddling, fitting and sawing, the manifold was “fixed” and the tyre pumped back up. In the mean time we had some lunch in a local eatery and just after 2pm, we were back on the road towards Mundemba. Luckily the road was in slightly better condition than a week earlier when Benji passed through here and we arrived in Mundemba just before 5pm. Throughout the day we spotted a few of the usual birds as we drove but did manage to get one lifer at the bridge just before we reached Mundemba: Preuss’s cliff swallow. After settling into a hot room (air-conditioner wasn’t working) we went for a short walk and saw some Yellow wagtails and Black-and-white mannikins but nothing new. At 7pm we had a really nice chicken, sauce and plantain dinner before heading to bed.
Thursday, 15 March
After a slightly later than planned breakfast, we picked up a guide for Korup National Park. The 10km to Mana footbridge was in pretty bad state and it took us almost an hour to get there. Two porters were enlisted to carry our camping gear, food and water while we (including Benji and Prince, our guide) looked for new birds. Korup National Park is on the border with Nigeria and consists mainly of primary rain forest. It’s barely 100m above sea level and we were pouring sweat before we crossed the 120m Mana footbridge. Our first find was a White-crested hornbill flying over the forest canopy and in the next hour we also added Chestnut wattle-eye, Blue malkoha, Blue-billed malimbe, White-spotted flufftail and Icterine greenbul. The walk in the forest was flat and easy but the ridiculously high humidity made things very uncomfortable. We sat at a small stream for some lunch and afterwards walked another 2 hours or so before reaching Rengo camp in a small clearing. In this time we added Yellow-casqued, White-thighed and Black-casqued hornbills, Forest robin, Lesser bristlebill, Red-vented and Crested malimbes, Yellow-browed camaroptera, White-throated, Eastern bearded, Red-tailed and Sjostedt’s greenbuls, Blue cuckooshrike, Pale-breasted illadopsis, White-tailed ant-thrush, Fire-crested and Brown-chested alethes, and a nice special: Fraser’s forest flycatcher. Rengo camp was littered with tents from a Rockjumper tour group but there was enough space for our and Benji’s tents. The heat was stifling though and we tried to do as little as possible for the next hour. At 4pm we walked to the Picathartes knoll about 1.5km away. Walking the last 100m almost on tiptoe, we discovered the Rockjumper people already in place, hoping for the Picathartes to show up. We quietly sat down to wait but when dusk fell, it was obviously not coming back while we were there, so we all left to walk back to camp in the dark. I was feeling quite sore after the day’s walk-stop-walk routine and took a rest while Nicola helped Benji with dinner. We immediately climbed into the tent thereafter and tried to limit the amount of sweat pooling on our bodies.
Friday, 16 March
The morning was about a half degree cooler than the previous afternoon so the sweat started running over our already sticky bodies the moment we got out of the tent. We had a quick breakfast and then decided to do some short walks around the camp. Just as the Rockjumper group left the campsite, a Lyre-tailed honeyguide flew over while calling and when a Red-billed dwarf hornbill came to sit in a tree right above us, we already had two lifers for the day. About 200m from the campsite we heard and then tried to call Blue cuckooshrike and Bare-faced trogon – unfortunately neither seemed very interested in the recorded calls. After some considerable effort by Prince and Benji, scrambling and running in the forest undergrowth, locating the call, we were really happy to see a little Sjostedt’s owlet. We made our way towards Bat cave, an interesting couple of large boulders forming huge overhangs, tree and scrub roots forming curtains around the edges and hundreds of bats eerily flitting around us. Prince showed us a Picathartes nest, built from mud and moss, precariously clinging to an acute angle of one of the boulders. Deciding to return to this nest in the evening, rather than the Picathartes knoll, we walked on, picking up further lifers: Speckled tinkerbird, Blue-breasted kingfisher, Fraser’s sunbird, Yellow-crested woodpecker, Blackcap illadopsis, Golden greenbul and Shining blue kingfisher. After lunch at the campsite, we tried to cool off a bit in the small stream but it lasted for as long as you were in the water. Then it was back to sweat and bug repellent. Just after 15:30 we slowly made our way towards Bat cave. While Benji waited at a junction, we quietly made our way to the site, found comfortable spots and proceeded to wait. We probably waited for about an hour and a half; although Prince was sure he heard the Picathartes calling, we didn’t see anything and just before it became completely dark, we made our way back to the camp again. Another very uncomfortable night was spent in the tent and although the birding was good in the forest, we were looking forward to getting back to a cold shower and clean clothes.
Saturday, 17 March
While Benji boiled water for breakfast, we quickly packed up our camping gear and by 07:30 we started the walk out. With a long drive waiting for us, we couldn’t spend too much time birding and the only lifer we added was a Hairy-breasted barbet. Just before 10am we were back at Mana footbridge but unfortunately we beat the porters to the bridge and had to wait another 30 minutes or so before they showed up. We drove back over the terrible road to Mundemba and then had a really nice cold shower before starting the drive to Buea around noon. We stopped in Ekondo Titi for lunch and eventually reached Buea just after 6pm. Benji had reserved a really nice hotel for us and while Nicola started sorting out some of our gear, Benji and I went to find food and water for our climb up Mt Cameroon. Back at the hotel we discovered that our dirty clothes had developed an odour able to repel flies and we decided to try and hang them out to air a bit during the night. After a delightful dinner of pepper steak, chips and coke, we packed our bags, ready for the Mt Cameroon climb, then went to bed.
Sunday, 18 March
Benji arrived while we had an early breakfast and immediately after, we drove a short distance to the start of the climb. We were quite happy to pass our two backpacks off to two porters and carry only water, rain gear and birding equipment. Starting at about 1000m above sea level, it was already cooler than the lowlands and a much more comfortable temperature to walk in. Our aim was to bird-watch on the lower forested slopes and then move a bit faster once we reach the grasslands above 2000m. Our first lifer in the forest was a very pretty Mountain robin-chat, soon followed by Western mountain greenbul and the very endemic and striking Yellow-breasted boubou. As we slowly ascended along with quite a few other people, we added African hill babbler, Shelley’s oliveback, Dusky crested flycatcher, Black-billed weaver and Elliot’s woodpecker before arriving at the first hut at about 1850m. We had some lunch and water and then around 12:45, started climbing higher. Just before exiting the forest, we were very happy when Benji located the Mt Cameroon speirops for us. The grassy slopes above the treeline quickly became quite steep and our interest in the birdlife waned as our heart and breathing rates increased. We did see two Grey kestrels chasing one another but with a long climb ahead, we soon concentrated mainly on putting one foot in front of the other. We climbed past an intermediate hut at about 2250m and then aimed for a lone tree high above us. We reached the tree (around 2600m) sometime after 3pm and Benji supplied us with a very welcome sweet roll, boiled egg and apple. Then it was back to the slog and finally we reached Hut 2 at 2850m just after 5pm. The refreshing wind we had on the lower slopes had by now strengthened and become decidedly colder, probably reaching 50-60km/h. We were told that this wind blows permanently and considering the volcano’s location right on the Atlantic coast, it’s quite understandable. A group of three Germans were also doing the climb and while Nicola and I helped to fix one of their stoves, Benji cooked us dinner. After dinner we spread our sleeping gear on a waist-high sleeping platform and tried to get some sleep amid the blustery wind and rattling rafters.
Monday, 19 March
Summit day! Birthday! We rose before dawn, packed and ate breakfast in the dark, then left into the strong and cold wind around 06:30. In the first hour we climbed over 300m and by the time we sat down for our 3rd rest, we were over 3500m. Neither of us slept well the previous night but Nicola felt the exhaustion a bit more than I did. But we slowly climbed on and by 10:30 we reached Hut 3 at 3770m. By now it was decidedly cold, despite the hazy sun outside. Nicola was very tired, but after a cup of hot tea offered by our German co-climbers whose stove we fixed the night before, and a quick bite to eat, she felt ready to carry on. Benji was a little short of breath and decided to rather skirt around the summit with the porters to the lunch spot on the other side while we carried on. With Nicola in front, we slowly but steadily tackled the last 300m ascent. By now there was little vegetation to hold the volcanic dust together and we were very sorry we left our sunglasses at the bottom, since the persistent wind kept a large portion of the sand air-borne. As we approached the final summit dome the wind increased to close to 100km/h and walking became treacherous. Then at last, at 12:15 we stepped onto the summit of Mt Cameroon, at 4090m, the highest point in West Africa. What a birthday present for me! And Nicola’s first 4000m peak to boot! Unfortunately it was not a pleasant place to linger and after a few pictures we made our way down. One of the porters had accompanied us to ensure we take the right path but it wasn’t hard to follow the tracks down the volcanic slopes. The howling wind was another matter: it blew Nicola over twice as she tried to descend and we both had to stop literally every 20-30 seconds to try and rub out the dust blown into our eyes. But at least the descent is much quicker and we reached the edge of the crater just after 1pm. Here Benji and the other porters were waiting for us and we had a quick bite to eat before moving on. During the next two hours we climbed up, over and through the mercilessly convoluted crater bed, strewn with old lava boulders, rocks and pebbles in fantastic formations, all covered by eerily grey lichens and moss. It was desolate and pretty but very tough going, especially since the wind had still not let up, and was occasionally accompanied by light rainfall. Finally we reached some easier grass fields reminiscent of the Drakensberg plateau and we were able to speed up a bit. Just before 5pm we reached the site of the 2009 eruptions, a small but deep crater surrounded by barren black dunes of volcanic sand, dust, pumus and ash. Walking over this was easy on the feet and knees, but we kicked up even more dust to scratch our eyes. Finally, just before 6pm, we reached the treeline and soon stood at the Mann spring campsite. We had covered 18km, ascended 1250m and descended 1800m. We were tired to the bone. The porters helped to quickly set up our tent and we then helped Benji to cook dinner with rice, sardines, palm oil and canned chicken loaf. We wolfed down our dinner and then collapsed in the tent.
Tuesday, 20 March
We got up as the darkness faded and immediately after breakfast, scrambled through some thickly vegetated forest slopes to grass fields where we walked for the next two hours. We were now birding again and we picked up two lifers, Grey apalis and Cameroon pipit before we reached and descended into the forest. Unfortunately we didn’t have the nice open path we had on the first day and it was tough-going over hidden rocks and tree roots descending quite steeply at times and climbing short sections over ridges. We did see the Mt Cameroon speirops again but didn’t add anything new until we reached the farmlands above Bokwango where we picked up a Red-faced crimsonwing and Oriole finch. The 13km of tough forest walking on top of the previous day’s exertion, resulted in extremely sore and tired feet and muscles. We eventually wobbled into Bokwango after 1pm sometime and gulped down a warm coke before Ernest arrived to collect us for the short drive to Limbe. In Limbe Benji checked us into the Miramar Park hotel, right on the ocean front, looking onto a handful of islands in the Bay of Ambas and an offshore oil rig. We collapsed in our bungalow in an air-conditioned stupor for the rest of the afternoon and only emerged briefly for dinner.
Wednesday, 21 March
After breakfast we discussed our options for the last few days with Benji. We decided to have a rest day and get some other things done as neither of us fancied the idea of walking much. First we visited Benji’s handcrafts shop in the Limbe Botanical Gardens where we bought a few masks for our collection, a small shadow statue and brass figurines. Benji then took us to find a laundromat where we dropped off a bag full of very smelly clothing. A quick visit to shop for some drinks was followed by lunch, where we picked up a lifer of the Western reef egret feeding on the rocky shoreline below our restaurant, and then back to the hotel for a restful afternoon. At 4pm we had a quick dip in the hotel’s swimming pool before dinner and then off to bed.
Thursday, 22 March
Benji picked us up from the hotel just after breakfast and we walked over to the Limbe Botanical Gardens behind our hotel. After adding a few common birds around the lower end of the garden, we approached some flowery trees with a number of sunbirds including Olive-bellied, Green-headed and Reichenbach’s. After carefully watching all of them, Benji finally picked out a Green-throated sunbird and we got fair views of it before we moved on. It was very hot and humid and as we were just behind the ocean cliffs we couldn’t even enjoy the sea breeze. Benji walked us over to a cage where Grey parrots confiscated from illegal traders were being rehabilitated for release back into the wild. On the way, two Cassin’s flycatchers sat beautifully perched, one on a low branch, the other on a twig sticking out from the middle of the Limbe river. Resting at the top of a short uphill section, Benji spotted something that looked like a Shrike flycatcher but when it didn’t respond to the call playback, he tried the call of the Red-eyed (Black-shouldered) puffback – and it promptly appeared! We had fantastic views of the male and a few minutes later the female also showed up. We returned to the entrance of the gardens and then went for lunch at the municipal restaurant, overlooking the almost black sand of Down Beach. On a pier running into the ocean we saw our first Grey heron and Common greenshank for the trip before returning to the hotel for an afternoon rest. At 4pm we first drove to the pier again where a pair of Royal terns got added, then drove up a hill towards the northwest and picked up a Maxwell’s black and Slender-billed weavers. Back through Limbe and out the other side, we stopped at the dirt road towards Bimbia and took a short walk up the road. A Lizard buzzard, lots of Village weavers, African harrier-hawk, Red-breasted swallow and Little bee-eater were added, but no new lifers. With the sun setting fast we made a last quick stop at the pier on the way back to the hotel to add a whole bunch of Whimbrels and to Benji’s great surprise, four African sacred ibis. This was only the third time he’s ever seen it! Dinner was chicken and chips at the hotel, before we enjoyed the cool comfort of our room for the rest of the night.
Friday, 23 March
Our breakfast was late this morning because the hotel staff couldn't find any bread. Eventually they discovered some and soon after we got picked up by Ernest and Benji. We drove out to the Mile 6 beach and got out at the entrance road, walking the few hundred metres to the beach while birding the scrub and farmland along the way. We heard and saw quite a few of the common birds but also got another glimpse of a Western bluebill and nice sightings of African blue and Rufous-vented flycatchers. We reached the black beach and walking towards an abandoned building, added a Pied kingfisher (sitting on the beach), Reichenbach's and Green-headed sunbirds and in the reeds surrounding a little pond, heard a Little rush warbler. The pond was disappointingly quiet but there were a couple of Reed cormorants, African jacana and a Blue-headed coucal calling in the distance. On our way out from the beach we picked up a Long-billed pipit and then turned west so Benji could show us where the 1999 lava flow halted, just a few metres short of the ocean. We scrambled over some rickety steps up the side but unfortunately the rich volcanic dust has given life to so many plants already that you can barely notice the actual flow from the top. We drove further west to a port town from where small boats leave for Nigeria and some old German palm oil factory ruins stood. It was an interesting drive out and very pleasant in the air-conditioned car. Back towards Limbe we turned onto a side road and got out when the car couldn't go any further on the road-turned-donga. Walking almost a kilometre up the gentle slopes below Mt Etinde (subsidiary peak of Mt Cameroon) we picked up a few nice birds like Grey-crowned nigrita, Black-crowned and Orange-cheeked waxbills, Slender-billed weaver, African pygmy kingfisher and Simple greenbul. Threatening clouds turned us around but it started pelting down just before we were back at the car. Benji dropped us off at the Hotspot restaurant for lunch and we spent the afternoon cooling down at the hotel before dinner and bed.
Saturday, 24 March
One of the few mornings we didn't wake early to an alarm - we slept late and had breakfast only just before 9am. We spent the rest of the morning carefully packing up and making sure we got everything into the luggage. At noon Benji and Ernest fetched us for the 2-hour drive to Douala. Already feeling sad to be on our way back, Benji dropped us off at Foyer du Marin for lunch while he and Ernest went to check into their night's accommodation - they were collecting a new set of clients from the airport that night and would be starting a new tour the next morning. Benji came back around 4pm and we chatted for the next hour before leaving for the airport. Nicola and I both felt quite emotional saying goodbye to Benji, who has become a real friend over the past two weeks, showing us Cameroon's fantastic birdlife, sharing our sweaty experiences in Korup and our sore feet on Mt Cameroon. We checked in and managed to get into the MTN business lounge to spend the next 2 hours under a merciful air-conditioner before boarding our plane back home.
