Waza National Park: A little bit of East Africa in Cameroon

Streets of Maroua

Dinner of delicious avocado salad & bread

Normally, West Africa is not associated with savanna animals but there are a few parks in the Sahel region spread across several West African nations that lay claim to several of the savanna animals including the Big Five. In the northern most part of Cameroon sits Waza National Park which was reputed to be one of the best in West Africa.

Having visited some of the better national parks in East & Southern Africa, I wasn't desperate to visit Waza but since I had an extra day in the north I thought ‘why not?’ Getting there was another matter altogether because absolutely no tour companies wanted to go there.

Waza NP sits sandwiched between Nigeria and Chad and if the threat of Boko Haram wasn't enough, this region is made further volatile by armed bandits, smugglers and poachers seeking an easy buck by slaughtering some of the last remaining rhinos, elephants and lions in West Africa.

Hamidou’s boss helped me find Sali who agreed to take me there and although he assured me it was totally safe, I would be lying if I said I didn't have a few butterflies in my stomach before embarking towards Waza, especially a narrow stretch that passed very close to the Nigerian border.

The tired looking chief of Oudjilla

Each pot represents an ancestor of the chief &
when the current one dies a pot to symbolize
him will be placed besides that of his ancestors

There was no point entering the park in the heat of the afternoon so we decided to visit the hilltop village of Oudjilla which was just a small detour from where we were heading. Oudjilla was never in my plans but I had met a couple Germans a few days who seemed surprised I wasn't going to the best village in the region. If I had to believe the Germans then Oudjilla certainly had to be something special to beat out the likes of Rhumsiki, Tourou, Maga and Pouss.

Hut of one of the 52 wives

Kitchen

As we neared the town through the rough mountainous road it was evident why Oudjilla was so special. It sat at the top of a mountain with spectacular views of the flat endless plains and its distinctive round thatched huts that hugged each other appeared to have naturally grown out of the ground. The village, the huts, the views and the people seemed to belong to fairy tale than reality.

Design on the wall of one of the huts

Maze of huts....the Y shaped branch is a
ladder to the entrance window to the granary

The best example of the architecture was the chief’s compound where he lives with his 52 wives…yes 52; it’s not a typo. Each wife has her own hut and kitchen all grouped together with the 50 odd wives huts in a single area forming the chief’s compound. I paid my respects to the chief who looked tired and exhausted to be bothered which left me wondering if that's what happens when you have so many wives.

Passing through the compound was like navigating through a maze of huts, kitchens, courthouses all belonging to the chief and his huge family…amazing stuff indeed!

When I hiked down back and met up with Sali he quipped how a person could manage to live with 52 wives.

Sifting the grains with wind power

Hill top village Odjilla

He pitied the wives having to wait over 50 days to spend time with their man and more importantly would the chief even be able to know which of his children were really his. Couple that with remembering the names of the children who might need to call out their names and the names of their mothers to identify themselves to their own father, i.e.…I am Ibrahim, son of Ayesha 3…and so forth; weird but funny!

After descending down from Oudjilla we had lunch at a local joint before driving further north to Waza through millet and cotton fields. There were several Bororo settlements along the way and the occasional smuggler on his motorcycle loaded with cans of fuel smuggled in from Nigeria. Interestingly the Bororo as claimed by Sali are related to the Fulbe except that they are hardy “bush people”. After coming back and doing a little bit of research I can say that Sali was right in a part because the Bororo are indeed related to the Fulbe or Fulani people, but they adhere to the nomadic pastoral lifestyle as compared to the sedentary way of life of the Fulbe. Perhaps it was this nomadic lifestyle that Sali was referring to when he said the “bush Fulbe”.

Fuel being smuggled from Nigeria

Millet field

A short while after entering the park we encountered a magnificent Giraffe and through the afternoon’s drive we saw several topis, impalas, giraffes and a few birds but sadly none of the big game (lion, elephant) I had come to see.

Subconsciously though, I knew the chances of me seeing big game was thin. The infrastructure at the park gates was not too inspiring and there was no way the park was managed adequately.

Bororo settlement...notice the huts are made of
woven mats that can be easily dismantled and moved
in keeping with their nomadic lifestyle 

West African Giraffe

The highlight most certainly was my first sighting of a roan antelope…a magnificent male at that. The one good thing about the Waza NP was the guide actually encouraging me to get down from the vehicle and tracking the animals on foot which I think is a much better way to experience wildlife. It’s definitely not legal since the board at the entrance clearly stated to staying in the vehicle at all times but the guide was least bothered. This has certainly piqued my interest in walking safaris….Zambia or Zimbabwe maybe?

A scene one would associate with East Africa

Topi

Impala with a couple grey crowned crane

Unfortunately for Cameroon’s wildlife, the uncontrolled poaching, most certainly abetted by some corrupt officials that has devastated some of the other national parks of northern Cameroon have perhaps now affected Waza as well. There is no way game rangers patrolling on motor bikes are going to stop the heavily armed poachers. At least I saw several foot prints of elephants that Sali claimed had migrated towards the Kalamaloue National Reserve further north indicating that they do exist.

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Elephant tracks

Waterhole

As the Sahara expands and there is less land for grazing and agriculture, people continue to encroach on land set aside for wildlife. Infact, Waza’s area has been reduced in the recent past to accommodate the needs of the local people. The continued existence of several of these iconic animals in West Africa is hanging by a thread under severe pressure from habitat loss and poaching. You can read more about the shocking slaughter of elephants in Cameroon here

Sali suggested that I would be better off seeing a gorge near the village of Guider further south rather than spend more time at Waza so we headed south and although a decent place it was nothing special. Perhaps I was spoilt after seeing so many spectacular sites in the Extreme North Region that are were rustic, beautiful and different from the stereotypical image of Cameroon.

Male Roan Antelope

Bororo cattle returning back to camp at sunset

Cargo heading to Kousséri, the gateway to Chad  

 The long journey from Maroua to Garoua with Sali afforded ample time for us to discuss several things including Boko Haram. Being a Muslim himself, it was interesting to hear his take on Boko Haram.

Me at the Gorges de Kola

Checkpoint on the way to Garoua

My flight back to Yaoundé

He firmly believed that Boko Haram was not a terrorist organization driven by religious ideologies but driven purely by greed.
They were nothing but petty bandits hiding behind the veil of religion. The whole Islamic ideology was a facade for them to engage in kidnapping of western national for ransoms. The ransom money is then used to acquire ammunition to terrorize the local people and carry out further kidnappings.

He further stated I would have nothing to fear from them. He said, I eat, live and travel like a commoner and therefore they would have nothing to gain from me. I don't know what to make of it but I suppose it is good to not be considered a target.

Back at the Garoua airport where I had spent a night before embarking on my fascinating adventure in the north it was all coming to an end. It had been over a week of hiking, camping riding motorcycles and exploring this fascinating region as a “commoner” but it was time to return back to the part of country that I earlier claimed as stereotypical Cameroon.

I could now start dreaming about tracking Gorillas and exploring the land of the pygmy people. The remote region of South East Cameroon beckoned!