Faro National Park

Faro covers around three thousand three hundred square kilometres of wooded savanna and riverine forest in the north-west against the Nigerian border, drained by the Faro and Deo rivers, and it is the least accessible of the northern parks. Hippopotamus and crocodile occupy the rivers, and the savanna holds giant eland, buffalo, kob, hartebeest and lion. It was among the last places in Cameroon where black rhinoceros survived; the western black rhino was declared extinct in 2011 and none remain. The park has very little infrastructure and is visited mainly by researchers and by hunters using the surrounding zones, with tracks passable only in the dry months.

History

The park was part of the Lamido de Tchamba forest reserve, protected since 1947, and became a national park in the 1980s, covering 3,418 square kilometres. Across the Nigerian border it continues as Gashaka Gumti National Park, part of a wider protected landscape (Wikipedia, Faro National Park).

The landscape

• The Faro and Deo rivers - the water running through the savanna.
• Hippos and crocodiles - the river species of the park.
• Giant eland and buffalo - the large savanna mammals.
• Riverine gallery forest - the wooded strips along the water.

When to go

January to April, the driest months. Two to three days. Access requires permits, guides and a capable vehicle arranged in advance.

Good to know

This is the hardest of the northern parks to reach and has almost no visitor infrastructure. The western black rhino that once lived here is extinct. Tracks are impassable for much of the year.

Nearby

Poli is east; the Nigerian border lies west.

Key facts