Mount Cameroon

Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the South West region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous name Mongo ma Ndemi ("Mountain of Greatness"). It is the highest point in sub-Saharan western and central Africa, the fourth-most prominent peak in Africa, and the 31st-most prominent in the world.
The mountain is part of the area of volcanic activity known as the Cameroon Volcanic Line, which also includes Lake Nyos, the site of a disaster in 1986. The most recent eruption occurred on February 3, 2012.
Description.
 Mount Cameroon is one of Africa's largest volcanoes, rising to above the coast of west Cameroon. It rises from the coast through tropical rainforest to a bare summit, which is cold, windy, and occasionally dusted with snow. The massive steep-sided volcano of dominantly basaltic-to-trachybasaltic composition forms a volcanic horst constructed above a basement of Precambrian metamorphic rocks covered with Cretaceous to Quaternary sediments. More than 100 small cinder cones, often fissure-controlled parallel to the long axis of the massive volcano, occur on the flanks and surrounding lowlands. A large satellitic peak, "Etinde" (also known as Little Mount Cameroon), is located on the southern flank near the coast.
Mount Cameroon has the most frequent eruptions of any West African volcano. The first written account of volcanic activity could be the one from the Carthaginian Hanno the Navigator, who may have observed the mountain in the 5th century BC. Moderate explosive and effusive eruptions have occurred throughout history from both summit and flank vents. A 1922 eruption on the southwestern flank produced a lava flow that reached the Atlantic coast. A lava flow from a 1999 south-flank eruption stopped 200 m (660 ft) from the sea, cutting the coastal highway.
Flora.
 The mountain's natural vegetation varies with elevation. The main plant communities on the mountain include:
Fauna.
Large mammals on the mountain include the African forest elephant ("Loxodonta cyclotis"), with a population of over 100 individuals. Other herbivores include red river hog ("Potamochoerus porcus"), bushbuck ("Tragelaphus scriptus"), bay duiker ("Cephalophus dorsalis"), blue duiker ("Philantomba monticola"), and yellow-backed duiker ("Cephalophus sylvicultor"). The mountain is home to several species of primates, including chimpanzee ("Pan troglodytes"), drill ("Mandrillus leucophaeus"), red-capped mangabey ("Cercocebos torquatus"), putty-nosed monkey ("Cercopithecus nictitans"), mona monkey ("Cercopithecus mona"), red-eared monkey ("Cercopithecus erythrotis"), Preuss’ guenon ("Cercopithecus preussii"), and crowned guenon ("Cercopithecus pogonias").
Two species of birds are endemic to Mount Cameroon, Mount Cameroon spurfowl ("Pternistis camerunensis") and Mount Cameroon speirops ("Zosterops melanocephalus").
Mount Cameroon National Park.
 Mount Cameroon National Park ("Parc National du Mont Cameroun") was created in 2009. It covers an area of 581.23 km². The park includes the former Etinde Forest Reserve and most of the Bomboko Forest Reserve. A portion of the Bomboko Forest Reserve remains outside the park, on the lower northern slopes of the mountain.
Access.
The peak is frequently ascended by hikers. The annual Mount Cameroon Race of Hope scales the peak in around 4½ hours. Sarah Etonge has won the race seven times and is also a tour operator.
English explorer Mary Kingsley, one of the first Europeans to scale the mountain, recounts her expedition in her 1897 memoir "Travels in West Africa".
Flora 