Hostels in YAOUNDE, CAMEROON

City Yaounde in Cameroon: The Capital City and the Economic Centre

The capital city and the second largest city in the country, City Yaoundé in Cameroon lies in the centre of the nation. A city located at about 750 meters above sea level, it is also the economic centre of Cameroon. Major products traded include tobacco, dairy, glass, lumber, clay, coffee, cocoa, copra, sugar and rubber.

Accommodation
Luxurious as well as budget hotels in and around the city provides facilities of instant booking. Some youth hostels and guest house are also there. However the chamber d’hotes in the city is completely different from the traditional bed and breakfast joints. Located in the heart of rural villages, the chamber d’hotes helps the rural population and develops tourism in the villages providing welcome diversion from urbanism.

Brief History
Founded in 1888 by German traders as their base for ivory trade and also as the agricultural research centre, Yaoundé was occupied by Belgians during the First World War. With the defeat of Germany, France dominated the colonies in Cameroon and Yaoundé became the capital of French Cameroon. Currently it is the capital of Cameroon Republic.

Getting Around
Frequent air services from all major European and several African countries connect Yaoundé with them. Also once a day there is a six hour flight over 5000 kilometres to Europe. Cameroon Airlines, SWISSAIR, SN Brussels and Air France are the major air services from the city.

A host of other airlines have services as well. Nsimalen International Airport in Yaoundé is the point of entry to Cameroon. Different types of taxi services with varying fares are available in the town. In addition there are the blue buses of Yaoundé City Transport. Help of guides on the city can be taken to find out all the modes of transportation.

Popular Places and Monuments
City centre houses most of the government officers, market places and hotels. Bastos neighbourhood is the home of foreign embassies. Major places of interests in Yaoundé are –
•    Cathedral Notre Dame des Victories that is also the seat of Archbishop;
•    Cameroon Art Museum;
•    Basilique Marie-Reine-des-Apotres;
•    Cameroon National Museum;
•    Palais du Sports;
•    Mokolo and Mfoundi Markets;
•    Afhemi Museum; and
•    Small zoo in Mvog-Betsi

 A small assortment of nightclubs and restaurants make the city night life quite exotic.

Language
Official languages in Cameroon and so also in Yaoundé are English and French. However no less than 250 ethnic languages are in circulation around the country and some of them are also spoken in Yaoundé.

Currency
Currency in use in Cameroon and so also in Yaounde is the CFA F. Current exchange ratio for 1 USD is 450 CFA F. However, one should keep track of the news in electronic and print media and Internet to find out about the latest rates of exchange. Foreign currencies are easily converted in CFAF through authorized exchange services, hotels, international airport, travel agencies, and banks.

Yaounde group accommodation | Budget hotels & hostels