You are stepping into
Douala because it is also the gateway to Cameroon. In the distant picturesque
background is the Cameroon Mountain, an imposing volcanic outcrop from the
Atlantic Ocean that features layers of forest,
grassland, and rocky desert at its entire altitude. You will also find
beautiful creeks, rivers, and streams
that crisscross and surround Douala. These unique features give the area its
beauty and lustrousness—something admirers of nature always marvel at whenever
they view the city from the air, the sea, or the land.
Now, brace yourself for
the challenge of walking into a unique unknown by opening the gates of Cameroon
through the soul of Douala.
Douala is the city where
the German colonial administration sought to build a cross of Berlin, Leipzig,
and Hanover in Africa, leaving behind an impressive array of architectural
monuments as a stamp of their presence in the land, an exploit that lasted three
decades and made Douala the melting pot of multi-ethnic German Kamerun.
The French also embarked
on an ambitious project of making Douala a sub-Saharan Paris after they kicked
the Germans out of the city in 1916. After all, the machinery of the Free
French forces in Sub-Saharan Africa was molded here, and Jacques-Philippe
LeClerc made his debut in the city, eventually becoming the finest French
general in the field during the Second World War.
Now that you have walked
into Cameroon, what do you find going on inside the heart of Douala? If you
perk your head a little higher, you will find a modest one-story building
standing in the northwestern portion of the neighborhood of Bali, close to Akwa.
They say the Akwa
neighborhood has been popular for over a century now. It hosts Douala’s popular
waterfront and main thoroughfare, where you will find some of Cameroon’s famous
restaurants, bistros, bars, hotels, coffee houses and French-style bakeries and
nightclubs—all within commanding view of the sea, creeks, and swamps. It is the
part of the city frequented by the city's large expatriate population and
tourists, and those Cameroonians with a taste for contemporary trends. They say
the city’s inhabitants regard Akwa as their mirror to the rest of the world.
By Janvier Chouteu-Chando, author of Flash of the Sun amazon.com/Flash-Sun-Comp
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