Sunday, October 28, 2007

Trip to Cameroon: Kribi and its beaches

Ok, I have to admit that I could have done it before.

But the thing is that since I left the charger of my digital camera in Paris when I went to Cameroon, I basically don't have pics of my own, so I have to wait until my bro upload them online to display them.


I have already a couple of posts on my trip to cameroon, including one on Cameroonian Food (damn I miss it).

But we didn't visit just the capital and the countryside.

Although we had to cancel the trip to the North where we wanted to go to visit the natural park of Waza, we managed to go to a coast city named Kribi.



Well to sum up, you take a car from Douala (or from Yaoundé), you follow the direction "Kribi" (it's not really indicated so you better go with someone who knows the way) and 2 hours later, there you are.

The next step is to find a hotel. And damn that is the hardest part of the movie.

We wanted an hotel just in the front of the beach.

If you happen to want that too, be ready to choke when you check the prices.


You wont find anything below 25000 FCFA (37€!!) and at this price you will get a barely decent bedroom (and when I say decent, I'm kind).

For something satisfactory you hit 32000 FCFA(almost 50€!!) ouch!

Ok, some people might not understand why I was surprised but one have to know that it's 1/4 to 1/3 of the salaries of government employees.




What struck me was the difference with the prices in Thailand and Cambodia (and even Laos although I've never visit a coast city in Laos).

When I went to Sihanouk Ville (Cambodia), we where in a nice hotel which was 5 min away from the beach (not in the front of the beach but just behind). I wont say it was top-notch but it was a nice one, with a silent AC and TV (with gazillions of channels).

And for that we paid US12$ (or was it $10?), less than 9€!


When we went to Siem Reap (Angkor, Cambodia), one of the most touristic city in southeast Asia (if not the most touritic) we slept in a very nice guesthouse with a wonderful swimming pool and a enjoyable decoration with a lot of wood and bamboo.

For that we paid US$34 for two nights (makes 17$/night for people who dont get along that well with maths). Granted, we bargained a lot, but that's the rule.

Noted it down if you don't know yet, "In Cambodia, U ALWAYS BARGAIN, about EVERYTHING"


So, yeah I found the prices to be, to say the least, surprising.

This is the part of the movie where having the right contacts proved to be handy.

Mum managed to find us two rooms in a company-employees-only hotel which, for this reason is WAY cheaper.

Ok, the rooms were just OK (actually on par with the hotels we visited before, but without the smell we found in one of them), but we paid "just" 15000FCA (22€).

I still find it expensive but it was the best we could find if we wanted to be just in front of the beach.


The stay was very nice (except for the sleep, the beds were not so great).

The food was awesome but awfully expensive. Kribi is supposed to be a fishing city and it is actually.

But for some mysterious reasons, the fish here is actually noticeably more expensive.

I wont complain because the food was delicious, just want to let you know that you better show up with 10000FCFA (15€) per meal if you want a 3courses meal and if you are alone. If you are more than 2 people(and if you dont eat like my bro and me) you might start to tap into the economy of scale.


We stayed there during slightly less than 48 hours.

It was a very enjoyable trip, and we had a great deal of fun (and some funky stories too, but its Cameroon right).


I wanted to include the pictures in this post but since this post is already quite long I think. I'll make another post (u know the one u just read above lol).


Click the blue "comment" link below this post to leave comments.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

lol very funny story sorry for u about the waza park i know u would have liked it
And about the room lucky u had ur mum