Waza National Park

Waza is the classic savanna park of Cameroon, seventeen hundred square kilometres of acacia scrub and seasonal floodplain on the plain south of Lake Chad. It was made a hunting reserve in 1934 and a national park in 1968. Elephants gather in herds of a hundred and more, and lion, giraffe, hartebeest, kob and topi share the grassland with ostrich. As the dry season deepens the animals concentrate on the remaining waterholes, which is when the driving is worthwhile. The yaéré floodplain in the east fills with waterbirds. Rest camp huts sit inside the gate. Kousséri and the Chadian border lie two hours north.