From Septentrion to Safari in Bouba Ndjida National Park

The far North is one of the most beautiful tourist regions in Cameroon, its relief is dominated by steppe and grassy savannah, interspersed with massifs with beautiful shapes such as the picturesque and enchanting landscapes of the Kapsikis, very popular with tourists. Rhumsiki is a true Mecca of Cameroonian tourism. The populations of the far North have managed to preserve their authentic culture which manifests itself through architecture, artistic creations, crafts, traditions and folklore. The Safari, the discovery of customs and traditions, and the friendliness of the populations will be the richness that we will obtain from this trip. Cultural diversity invades you all of a sudden. We will discover authentic peoples such as, the Mboums, the Komas, the Namchi also called Dowayo, the Peuls or Bororo, the Mousgoums, the Kapsiki etc…. We cannot end this journey without making a detour to Bouba Ndjida National Park.
Located in the northern region near the Chadian border, it was created in 1932 as a wildlife reserve and became a national park in 1968. It covers an area of 220,000 ha, and is part of the complex of protected areas of the North with the Bénoué and Faro national parks. It adjoins the Sena-Oura National Park in Chad and forms the Binational Sena -Bouba-Ndjidda complex. It was once the private hunting reserve of former Lamido de Rey-bouba from which it takes its name. It is also the largest national park in the country.
The climate
Bouba-Ndjidda National Park enjoys a Sudano-Guinean climate characterized by seasons of equal importance: a six-month rainy season from late April to mid-October and a dry season from November to April during which no rain is observed. The Bouba Ndjidda region receives between 1,000 and 1,250 mm of precipitation per year. The rainiest months are August and September and the annual average temperature is 28 ° C.
Hydrography
Bouba-Ndjidda National Park benefits from a very dense hydrographic network including the Mayo Vaïmba which, unlike other rivers that are seasonal in this part of Cameroon, flows throughout the year. Water is abundant throughout the park and even during the dry season thanks to the bedrock and clay soils which often delay its infiltration, thus ensuring the development of ecological interaction processes between wildlife species and habitats characteristics in this environment.
Wildlife
The park is home to around 24 species of large and medium mammals such as savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana), lions, giraffes, panthers, hyenas, bush pigs and warthogs, hippos, buffaloes, hyenas, baboons, vervets, patas, colobus, aardvarks, servals, wild dogs and jackals which are also very abundantly represented. Rhinos appear to be extinct in Cameroon. The park is also home to around 11 species of antelopes such as the Eland Derby, which is the largest, the most majestic and also the fiercest of African antelopes, Hippotragus, Damaliscus, Buffon’s kob, Defassa Kob, red hartebeest, Reedbuck, harnessed bushbuck, Grimm’s duiker, red-sided duiker, etc.
Avifauna
About 250 species of birds have been identified in the park, 25 of which are restricted to the Sudanese savannah biome. Considering the ornithological richness of the park, it has been declared an area of importance for the conservation of birds. For ornithology enthusiasts, several hundred species of birds alone provide the reasons for a trip. Among them, there are species such as the jabiru or the marabou, the giant Abyssinian hornbill, raptors and scavengers, fish eagles, jugglers, bald vultures, but also smaller species such as the brilliant Abyssinian rollers or the green and scarlet bee-eaters.