Yaounde Sights and Landmarks Guide, Cameroon

Yaounde is a wonderful city of history and culture in Cameroon, Africa, and there are plenty of sights to see when traveling through this city.

The National Museum of Yaounde was started in 1973, having ecological and cultural treasures housed here.  The museum has belonged to the Department of Cultural Conservation of the Cultural Affairs Head Office since 1972.  It is the central museum of all the museums in Cameroon, and right now it is located at the former ministerial residence.  The building's former sitting room was turned into an exhibition hall permanently.  The National Museum of Yaounde is also going to become a museum of ecology so that the generations in the future are able to find of the country's socio-cultural activities there.

The Musée d'Art Camerounais is a museum that forms part of the Benedictine monastery of Yaounde.  It is the home of a great collection of bronzes, pottery, wooden bas-reliefs, and masks.  The 'Great Maternal Figure' brass sculpture is a piece to look out for, which is from the Foumban northeast area.  The chapel of the monastery is located under the main church and is decorated with some crafts and textiles of Cameroon.  Kora are used sometimes in accompanying the Mass singing.  There is a handy guidebook for the museum in English and French, which is available at its entrance.  The Musée National is another museum, but when compared to the Musée d'Art Camerounais, is rather dusty and small.   

One of the best zoos in West Africa is the Mvog-Betsi Zoo.  It is co-run by the Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund, which is based in the United Kingdom; and it includes a rather large collection of primates native to the area, which include chimps, drills, and gorillas that were mostly rescued from the bush meat trade and poachers.  There are also a few hyenas, lions, lizards, snakes, and birds housed here.

Yaounde is also the home of a rehab center for primates, which is not located in the city's zoo.  It is actually about an hour outside of the center of town and is a great place to see how these animals are teken care of by a volunteer group.  The name of it is Mefou National Park, and it contains about 1044 hectares of land.  There are 8 electrified enclosures right now that are the homes of baboons, gorillas, chimps, and other various types of monkeys.

email to a friendAsk our travel experts a question about Yaounde
ask now

Things about Yaounde you may be interested in

Be the first who requests a site listing for this page.

 

+ list your site

 

ReviewsTravel TipsWrite a reviewWrite a travel tip

 

 

Read our members' reviews about Yaounde

No reviews have been added yet for this category. Be the first to add a new one.

 

Read our members' travel tips about Yaounde

No travel tips have been added yet for this category. Be the first to add a new one.

 

 

Community

Members Who Have Been to Yaounde

See who has been to Yaounde and ask them a question (membership required)

donald ask a question add to friends

 

show all

 

 

the best travel deals provided by TravelZoo...