Travel Guide Banyo

Banyo is a small village in the heart of Tikar country, at the foot of the Gotel words. This small town is a perfect illustration of the cultural paradoxes that are all the more prevalent in a country like Cameroon, located at the crossroads of Africa. Deeply Muslim, with no paved roads and often no electricity, the town seems to live and breathe soccer... French football.The main Ligue 1 matches are regularly broadcast via satellite in the town's "cinema", a room where dozens of benches gather in front of a small television. Aside from the fact that daily life is punctuated by prayer, as in all Muslim towns, everyone here is a fan of France's biggest clubs: OM, OL and PSG. Pronouncing the name of one of these clubs over a beer can gently ignite a bar, or even start a passionate debate. Of course, the city has other, less "footballing" points of interest. The region was also the scene of the war between the Nyem-Nyem, a warlike people of the high plateaus who resisted domination, and German troops. And it's not without pride that some locals explain that Lamido Nyem-Nyem was the first to kill a white man in Cameroon. On the surrounding hills, a cemetery and a few ruins of German buildings remain. Numerous caves, where the Nyem-Nyem took refuge, remain in the surrounding area. At night, all you have to do is look up to admire the beautiful starry sky. Here, we're far removed from the parasitic lights of civilization. At Banyo, there's a strange sense that time is standing still.. This can be frightening, arousing curiosity or simply relaxing for the mind as well as the body. Just a few hours... Soon the frenetic rhythms of African music take over in the local bars as night falls. Then, at dawn, the sound of the muezzin awakens the city and calls for prayer. Another timeless day...