Cameroon: Various travel information
How do you get to Cameroon?
Airplane
direct flights go from Paris and Zurich to Douala. Other international airports are located in Yaoundé and Garoua.
Ship
There are also irregular ship connections between various European ports and Douala. Cargo ships are equipped with up to 12 passenger cabins.
Car
highways lead to Chad, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Gabon. During the rainy season, however, they are partially impassable.
Travel in the country
Air connections
Domestic air connections exist between Douala, Yaoundé and other cities in the country.
Railways
The country’s railroad network covers around 1,000 km. Regular passenger trains run between Yaoundé and Ngaoundr as well as Yaoundé and Douala with connections to Nkongsamba.
Bus
Modern long-distance buses travel between Yaoundé and Douala, Bafoussam, Bamenda.
Roads, rental cars
The country has around 4,300 km of paved roads. Gravel roads lead from Douala to Yaoundé, Limb, Bua, Bafoussam and Bamenda. All other roads are impassable in the rainy season. An international driver’s license is recommended for rental cars. Travelers by car also need an international registration, the green insurance card and a “Carnet de Passage”.
Ferry connections
There are around 2,000 km of navigable waterways in Cameroon.
Traffic rules
Right-hand traffic prevails in Cameroon. In order to avoid trouble with the police or even the courts, one should strictly adhere to the traffic regulations in force in the country. The maximum speeds shown can of course be reduced or increased by traffic signs. Regardless of the information given here, it is advisable to obtain detailed information from the ADAC or the AvD. According to the German embassy there, the following rules have been in effect since 2005:
Top speeds
- Urban: In built-up areas there is a speed limit of 50 km/h
- Country roads: There is a speed limit of 90 km/h on country roads and 80 km/h in the rain. However, on the pothole slopes you often do not go faster than 20 km/h.
- Motorways: There is also a speed limit for motorways, namely 110 km/h.
Blood
alcohol limit In Cameroon, there is a blood alcohol limit of 0.8 per mille for drivers of motor vehicles and 0.4 per mille in the air they breathe.
Special features
On many roads in the country you can see boards studded with nails lying on the street. With these drastic methods, all those passing by are checked by the police station and usually only allowed to continue after paying a “toll”.
International license plate
According to Abbreviationfinder, Cameroon’s international license plate is:
CAM |
Tourist office
Cameroon Tourist Office for Europe
26 rue de Longchamp
75016 Paris, France
Tel: 0033 – (0) 1 – 4505 9648
Email: bitcam@wanadoo.fr
www.cameroun-infotourisme.com
Cameroon: entry and exit regulations
Tourists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland need a passport that is valid for at least six months after their planned stay, a visa and a return or onward ticket.
For entry by land with your own vehicle, an international driver’s license, an international registration, the green insurance card and a pass (“Carnet de Passage”) are required instead of the return flight or onward travel ticket.
A valid yellow fever vaccination must be proven when entering from a yellow fever infection area.
Foreign exchange and goods
The national currency of Cameroon is:
CFA franc 1 CFA franc = 100 centimes
Cameroon is part of the Central African Economic and Monetary Union. The CFA franc (Communanté Financiére Africaine) is the currency in 14 African countries that were usually French colonies in the past: Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoite, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. It is pegged to the euro and therefore the exchange rate of the euro and the CFA franc is always the same. For countries belonging to the Central African Economic and Monetary Union, the conversion rate is:
1 Euro (€) = 682.671 CFA Franc (XAF)
The import and export of the local currency is limited to 20,000 CFA francs.
The import and export of foreign currencies is unlimited.
The following articles can be imported into Cameroon duty-free:
– 400 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 5 packets of tobacco
– 1 bottle of alcoholic beverages
– 5 bottles of perfume.
Travel medicine, vaccinations and warnings
Infectious Diseases
In Cameroon, the following infectious diseases, which are not or less common in Germany or Central and Northern Europe, are to be expected:
- Malaria: There is a risk of infection with malaria throughout the country, all year round. About 80 to 90% of infections are caused by the very dangerous malaria tropica, the remainder by malaria tertiana.
- HIV, AIDS
- Amoebic dysentery
- Bacterial agitation
- Schistosomiasis
- Cholera – but there is only a risk of infection for travelers who come into contact with polluted water or contaminated food.
- Intestinal infections from contaminated food or water, including amoebas, lamblia, salmonella, shigella, worm infestation and all kinds of viruses and bacteria
- Filariasis
- Typhus
- Early summer meningoencephalitis
- Yellow fever
- Hepatitis A and B
- Kala Azar disease
- Polio, polio
- Leishmaniasis Disease
- Meningococcal meningitis
- Sleeping sickness
- tetanus
- rabies
- Typhoid – however, there is only a risk of infection for travelers who come into contact with polluted water or contaminated food.
- Tick bite fever
Vaccination recommendations
- Cholera – but only for travelers who can come into contact with polluted water or contaminated food.
- Diphtheria – a vaccination against diphtheria should always exist, also in the home country.
- Yellow fever
- Hepatitis A and B – vaccination against hepatitis B is only necessary for those people who may come into contact with blood or who are looking for sexual contact.
- Polio, polio – vaccination against polio should always exist, also in the home country.
- Meningococcal meningitis
- Tetanus – a vaccination against tetanus should always exist, also in the home country.
- Rabies – but only for high-risk travelers who can come into contact with the vector animals.
- Typhoid – but only for travelers who can come into contact with polluted water or contaminated food.
Compulsory vaccination
For all persons older than one year and coming from a yellow fever infection area designated by the WHO, there is a compulsory vaccination against an illness with yellow fever.
Yellow fever vaccination for children
In most countries where a yellow fever vaccination is compulsory, this also applies to children over one year of age, in some countries even from six months. It should be noted that vaccination against yellow fever had a number of side effects, such as encephalitis. Around two-thirds of those affected were children under six months. Therefore, under no circumstances should children under this age be vaccinated. But children under one year of age should also not be vaccinated if possible. If in doubt, yellow fever infection areas must then be avoided. Any vaccination against yellow fever may only be carried out in specially authorized yellow fever vaccination centers!
Malaria prophylaxis
When traveling in the country, it is strongly advised to undergo malaria prophylaxis. However, if the side effects seem questionable to you, you should at least have a “stand-by preparation” with you.
Current warnings
Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany
Citizens’ Service
Tel: 0049 – (0) 30 – 5000 – 2000
Fax: 0049 – (0) 30 – 5000 – 51000
www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de
Shop
Shop opening times
Cameroon’s shops are generally open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays, and from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Shops are increasingly open all the time.
Inexpensive or country-specific goods, souvenirs
Tourists in Cameroon like to buy ceramic goods such as earthenware bowls, grass-woven mats and rugs, baskets made of raffia, camel-hair blankets, embroidered clothing and jewelry.
Cameroon: Diplomatic missions
Visit Countryaah for a full list of Cameroon embassies and consulates in each country around the world.
Representations of Cameroon in Germany
The embassy building has been located on Ulmenalle and Eschenallee in the Neuwestend villa district in Berlin-Charlottenburg since October 2010. Behind the embassy building parallel to Eschenallee is the embassy garden with a beautiful copper beech. The district in which the embassy is based is located between Spandauer Damm, Reichsstrasse and Königin-Elisabeth-Strasse.
Embassy in Berlin
Ulmenallee 32
14050 BERLIN
Tel.: 0049 – (0) 30 – 89068090
Email: berlin@ambacam.de Consulates
German representations in Cameroon
Embassy in Cameroon
Rue Nouvelle Route Bastos, Bastos-Usine
Yaoundé
Tel: 00237 – (0) 22 – 210 056
00237 – (0) 22 – 200 566
00237 – (0) 22 – 214 434
00237 – (0) 22 – 217 292
Fax: 00237 – (0) 22 – 21 62 11
00237 – (0) 22 – 207 313
Email: info@jaunde.diplo.de
www.jaunde.diplo.de
The German embassy in Cameroon is still responsible for:
- Equatorial Guinea
- Central African Republic
Legal and Consular Office
Rue Charles de Gaulle (opposite CNPS)
Tel: 00237 – (0) 22 – 223 881
Austrian representations in Cameroon
The Federal Republic of Austria does not have a diplomatic representation in Cameroon; the embassy in Nigeria is responsible.
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Austria in Nigeria
Plot 9, Usuma Street
Maitama – Abuja
Tel: 00234 – 706 – 418 3226
Email: abuja-ob@bmeia.gv.at
The Austrian Embassy in Nigeria is still responsible for:
- Equatorial Guinea
- Benin
- Gabon
- Ghana
- Cameroon
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Chad
- Togo
- Central African Republic
Representations of Cameroon in Austria
Honorary Consulate in Vienna
Villa Flora, Hüttelbergstraße 23a
1140 Vienna
Tel: 0043 – (0) 1 – 9147 7440
Email: konsulat@society.at
Swiss representations in Cameroon
Embassy in Cameroon
Angle rues 1811 et 1814, Quartier Bastos
CM- Yaoundé
Tel: 00237 – (0) 222 – 050 67
00237 – (0) 222 – 118 57
Fax: 00237 – (0) 222 – 093 86
www.eda.admin.ch/yaounde
The Swiss embassy in Cameroon is still responsible for:
- Equatorial Guinea
- Central African Republic
Representations of Cameroon in Switzerland
Embassy in Bern
Brunnadernrain 29
3006 Bern
Tel: 0041 – (0) 31 – 352 4734/37
Email: ambacam.berne@yahoo.fr
www.ambacamberne.ch