Special Supplement in ATA World Congress Edition Letters to Editor

Ngondo Festival on Wouri River, Douala

Africa in One Country

Africa Travel Association's Prestige Magazine to publish a "GRAND TOUR "OF CAMEROON" edition, with year-round, long-term worldwide distribution!

On the cultural front ... Annual traditional festivals provide an occasion for carnivals and colorful dances. In December of 2001 our group of ATA delegates and media from North America were privileged to attend the Annual Ngondo Festival in Doula, which takes place in early December. This was an outstanding spectacle with deep spiritual significance; an occasion the visitor will never forget.

It is a ritual in which magic and reality come into play, to celebrate the unity of the SAWA community and the bond between the SAWA people and their ancestors who are believed to live in the waters. The Ngondo festival offers traditional dances and choral music, handicraft exhibitions, canoe parade, canoe race, carnival, and the collection of the ancestors' message from the bottom of the sea.

- In the West and northwest, ' Funerals' constitute an occasion during which there are colorful ceremonies in memory of the dead ;

- The "Ngouon" traditional festival of the Bamouns takes place once very two years ;

- The Nyem-Nyem annual festival in the Adamaoua which traces back the heroic resistance of the people against German penetration into their land. on allemande.

Fantasia in Northern Cameroon

Masks are a key part of the Cameroon Culture
Whether they are of wood, beads or animal skins, masks perpetuate over all the country; shapes and ideas that have come down from the dawn of time. In the area of ecotourism, one may also mention: - the site of the dinosaur in Manangia, North Province (Mayo Rey). This site which dates back to 120 million years was first discovered in 1988. Two hundred and fifty footprints and some fifty tracks of the dinosaur have been fossilized.

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	Ebenezer Elimbi	Jean Npombo	Boniface Piga

Editor's Comment: We thank our tour supervisors Ebenezer Elimbi, Jean Npombo and Boniface Piga. They were great companions throughout my 30 days in the country. Our travels in Cameroon will eventually be compiled in a book that will help future travelers from North America enjoy this fascinating country to the fullest. It was a month we will treasure forever, and even as time passes, the images and voices of Cameroon have not faded one iota - they've become even more vivid in the theater of my mind. What I truly love about the many Cameroonians whom I've come to know - is that to a person, they "Accentuate the Positive."