Douroum

On the occasion of a volunteer’s birthday a group of us visited a very remote village in the Mandara mountains. At the end of a very difficult dirt path there is a surprisingly good “encampement” which is powered by solar panels and where they have good rooms and serve good food. The rooms are modelled on “boukarous”, round mud huts. A typical homestead in the Far North of Cameroon consists of a walled enclosure called a “concession” which contains several boukarous, one for the father of the family and one for each of his wives. The wives take turns to cook and also to visit his boukarou to service his other needs. Children live with their mother. The mountains and the villages around Douroum are very beautiful and the whole setting is very peaceful. We saw monkeys but did not have enough time to go in search of gorillas which also inhabit the mountains.