BANGEM

by Tangwing Pius Monjib

The town of Bangem is the capital of Kupe Muanenguba division of the south west region of Cameroon. This division consist of two sub-divisions: Tombel and Nguti subdivisions. The town is considered as the heart-land of the Bakossi tribe. It is found halfway up the famous Mount Muanenguba and its twin lakes. Bangem enjoys a cool comfortable climate and lots of rain during the rainy season.

It has a short dry season that runs from November to March, and a very long rainy season that runs from March to October. The road network in this part of the country is horrible, making travelling during the wet season to be slow and very uncomfortable.

Bangem has roads leading to and from Melong, Tombel and Nguti. At times, only the Melong-Bangem road is accessible by powerful cars. The others roads can only be used by motor bikes, or by 4 wheel drive cars.

The town is a beautiful one and is among the most touristic potential towns of Cameroon. There is a developing touristic site at the crater twin lakes of Mount Muanenguba which is being managed by the Bangem council. Other touristic sites are equally interesting and beautiful too.

However, for the moment, they are inaccessible. The Bakossi National Park consist of some of the most diverse rain forests, with a diversity of species of plants. The park also has chimpanzees and a very huge population of drills.

Also, the nearby Bayang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary consists of some forest elephants, chimpanzees, pangolins, etc.

The forest area of Bangem also is a habitat for a variety of species of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, the Mount Kupe Brush Shrike, various species of hornbills, the worlds largest frog-the Goliath frog, etc. The neighboring Lake Bermin can also boast of the highest diversity of species of fishes.