Living in Douala

I arrived in Douala with my one-month old baby in February, 2008. At first, people scared me with security and health issues.  I had lived in East Africa before and wondered how Douala could be any different.  It turns out that Douala has been a nice place to live for a family.  I would not go out of my way to visit Douala, but since we are here for a contract, we are trying to make the best of it.

Cameroonians are very good with kids.  They love them, play with them and enjoy seeing kids.  Kids mean everything to Cameroonians.  Therefore, it is a good place to raise small childeren since you can benefit from local help.

Many expat women are stay-at-home mummies and there are plenty of coffees and playgroups.  The expat community is very multicultural.  There are Spanish Coffees, English Coffee Morning, German Coffee, French Coffee, etc. It is easy to make friends here. There are nice restaurants also.  Bombay Masala and Piccola Venizia are excellent choices.  There are also Chineese restaurants, Thai, Lebanese, etc. The night life is very active, too.  Nightclubs can be full on Fridays and Saturdays. Beer is very expensive in an expat bar.  It is 4,000 CFA, or 10$ CAD (8 USD). 

The cost of life is high for imported products, but local food is cheap.  I usually spend 5,000 CFA per week (10$) on fruits and veg for 3 people. Water is expensive.  I buy 6 bottles of 1.5 liters for 1,900 CFA (4-5$).  Because you make coffee with bottled water, drink it, etc., we spend about 4$ per day on water. Most companies pays for a container from the employee's home country.  It is worth buying canned food, cereals, toys, coffee (the local coffee is cheap but not so good), appliances etc. in your home country and bring them over here. I wished I brought water from Canada.

Hiring staff can be a challenge. Their standards are somewhat different.  It took me a while to find a good maid (almost one year). You have to be very specific with what you want.  At first we were giving them liberty to do their job as they wished and it was a bad tactic.  You have to repeat over and over what you want, otherwise it will not be done.  ALthough they are excellent with kids, they are not used to our way of living.  For example, I asked one of my former nanny to put my baby a pajama before going to bed.  When I came back, I realized that she had put the pajama on top of my baby's dress...Hence the comment about being very specific about what you want. Expats pay their staff between 75,000 CFA to 100,000 CFA per month. My advice is to start at 75K or whatever the lowest you may want to pay, and then raise their salaries.  I used to pay a maid 100K per month on the basis that he was making that much money with his former employer.  We were impressed at first the the more it went, the less he was working.  It is difficult to lower your staff's salary but easy to raise it.  Plu, if you tell them what they may potentially make, they will tend to work better (like any of us!)

Thanks for your blog, it was very helpful.

One Love!

indyrah very nice post about the standard of living in Douala, Cameroon. it is no wonder that it ranks 18th most expensive int the world.

Thanks Indyrah,
Your blog is quite informative. I am an Indian serving in Dubai. My son who is currently working in India, is likely to join some retail store in Cameroon as manager shortly, the likely place of his posting is not yet known. He is married but still two-some only.
During the interview he is likely to be asked his expected salary.
I would be grateful if you could suggest the present cost of living including all expenses on food (only veg), accomodation, utilities, transportation and hiring charges for domestic help etc.....plus any other essential expenses required to be incurred for the stay in that country.
Thanking you in advance,
with regards,
Esskay

Hi ID,

Really good message but I am a little confused....

You mention them... who is them? do you mean the people from Cameroon i.e. Cameroonians  their country I might add… that you have decided to move to.... the people who are local to the country you decided to move to, your choice not theirs.

I have travelled all over the world, my Fiancé is from Cameroon and your comment is a little shallow, if you want people to understand your way of living, perhaps you should live in your own country?

Everyone has their own culture and surely coming from a different country you should make an effort to fit in rather than dictate your beliefs and culture.

Staff... mmmmm I thought slavery (maids.. can you not look after your own kids i.e. be a mum) had died out a long time ago? in Europe we look after people who care for our children as they do in Cameroon you seriously need to actually respect the country you live in and treat the people with respect, otherwise all you do or become is an outsider with money ( you mention it a lot!)

Good luck and as we say in Europe .. you say you are Canadian but are you sure you are not American LOL

By the way you need spell-check.....

Link for you.... typical_nocluecanadian.com

By the way don't take it out on the nanny they have relatives with machetes, you seem have a colour issue i.e. what can that "country do for you" word of advice Canada which I know very well has no opportunities for you??? Interesting, why put down a country that you don't actually understand...

Adios

T

Tobiasq wrote:

Really good message but I am a little confused....

You mention them... who is them? do you mean the people from Cameroon i.e.
..why put down a country that you don't actually understand...

I have lived there 19 years, still I am them for them.

First 5 years they were calling us FDP.

DP means displace person, F as you know.

They never learn respect to non WASP.

Just they live.

Just they live in their shallow minds.

doula is a nice place to live

Hi
My name is Waheed, I am from Pakistan,visitin Douala in last week of april 2011, I read your blog which is v usefoul for all new coming to Cameroon.
I need some more info about some cheap accommodation there for a single person and need some info and tariff of cell phone local and international calls as well as internet charges there, please let me know

Regards.
F.WAHEED
E.MAIL: [email protected]