The crossroads of west and central Africa, Cameroon is almost dizzying in its diversity, with wicked wildlife and melodious musician in a landscape that sweeps from rocky mountains to lush rainforest.

Cameroon’s landscape has a bit of everything: mountains, desert, forest, savannah and coast. Much of its coastal region is thick with some of the lushest rainforest in Africa, which stretches as far as the Congo Basin. In contrast, the Mandara Mountains are barren but beautiful and form a natural border with Nigeria down to the Atlantic coast.

The western mountain chain is one of Cameroon’s most beautiful areas. In the south, volcanic Mt Cameroon seems to rise almost straight from the sea and peters out into a chain of green hills and massifs punctuated with sublime crater lakes. Further north, the Mandara Mountains are a total contrast, drier and dotted with rocky escarpments.

Waza National Pak hosts healthy populations of elephants, antelopes and big cats, and some excellent bird-watching to boot. The southern rainforests are also home to forest elephants, lowland gorillas, chimpanzees and drills.