N'djamena Travel Guide, Chad

N’djamena, Travel guide – Location

The capital city N’djamena is the largest city in Chad, located at the border with Cameroon on the banks of Chari River. N’djamena travel guide will offer a short description of the city and its main natural and economic features.

N’djamena, Travel guide – Geography

With an almost monotone topography N’djamena’s landscape is dominated only by the Chari River and its sandy banks. The reddish soils, savannah vegetation, gallery forests and the muddy waters of the river create unique scenery typical for N’djamena.

The climate in the city is semi arid with two seasons: a rainy one from June to September and a long dry one form October to May. The temperatures are high throughout the year with an average of about 36ºC and rainfalls are scarce, the wettest month being August with 320mm or precipitations.

Chari River is the natural border between Chad and Cameroon, between N’djamena and Kousseri. In N’djamena the river receives its tributary Logone River and their combined waters will flow afterwards into the Lake Chad, one of the largest in the world.

N’djamena, Travel guide – Flora and Fauna

Though the climate is harsh in N’djamena, flora adapted and developed quite well especially near the river or other wetter areas. Cultivated plant species and trees can be found along the roads, small green areas or along other access ways. The dominating tree species are the Guanacaste trees which are also the symbol of the country, fig trees, silk cotton trees, pochote trees, coyol palms and cenizaro trees. Among the cultivated species one could find many fruit trees like the papaya, coconut, citrus, bananas and mangoes.

Besides the numerous cows, sheep, goats and donkeys found here one can also admire few hippopotamus species, crocodiles, baird’s tapir and more. The waters of the river also abound in fish and reptiles, some species being used as common food by the locals.

N’djamena, Travel guide – Transport

Transportation to N’djamena is quite difficult due to the poor road infrastructure, only some of the roads being paved thus influenced by the various climate changes, especially sudden rains. Railroads are completely absent in Chad and the water transportation is possible only from the city to Lake Chad. The capital city has its own airport, the N’djamena International Airport collaborating especially with African airlines.

Within the city there is no public transportation system, tourists having only the option to hire a taxi or travel by minivans. Taxi fees are negotiable while for the minivans there is a fix tax paid by everyone.

N’djamena, Travel guide – Population and Economy

With a population of almost one million people, Chad’s capital still looks more like a small town than a modern capital city. The large number of locals is due to the migration of important number of people from rural areas to the city, looking for a job and a better life. Most of the people from this class of the society live in mud houses and work the fertile lands nearby Chari River like they would in their hometowns. The dominating religion here is Islam, people taking this aspect very seriously; as a consequence the city houses several mosques and educational centers. The official language spoken in N’djamena is French and Arabic, still numerous dialects are spoken in the city especially by the immigrants arriving from other parts of the country.

N’djamena, Travel guide – Cuisine

Traditional cuisine in N’djamena is a mixture between local dishes and French and Arab cuisine. Among the main ingredients is the millet, sorghum, rice, different types of fish especially perch, eel and carp, meats like the mutton and chicken, vegetables like the locally found okra and cassava leafs and many spices. Desserts usually have as ingredients local fruits like the bananas, mangos, raisins, guavas, nuts and more.

Some of the most popular dishes in the city are the aloco, a kind of street food made with fried bananas and vegetables, njamma-jamma, a delicious vegetables stew with cayenne pepper and mfumbwa which is a combination of peanut paste with mfumbwa, a local vegetable. Local beverages are alcoholic like the beer and wine or nonalcoholic like the juices obtained from different fruits or vegetables combined with sugar and are much appreciated by the city’s inhabitants.