ACCOMMODATION

Hey guys,

I will be moving to Douala for one year from November and I was wondering what would be the best accommodation arrangements to make.
Am a 25 year old female from Kenya.
Are there people who host foreigners or how easy can it be to rent a room in Douala?
Any leads will be highly appreciated.

Hello, welcome to Douala in advance.
I suggest you to take a rent and pay for one year since you will stay for one year. you can take a studio, are you coming for work ? If the answer is yes I suggest you to take a rent near your office area because of traffic jam. tell me more like do you want a furnished appartment or non furnished appartment. What is your budget ? I will surely give you a hand.
Hope you will enjoy staying in Douala

Hey, I will be coming for internship for one year with DHL. My budget is 150 dollars per month or less. I would appreciate a furnished studio, something small and cosy would be great for me, and yes somewhere close to work and if I can only walk to work would even be great.
Thanks for the help.

Hi,
Okay I know where DHL is situated, they are in Bonanjo-Douala, and I can assure you that unfortunately, you budget is very very very small for a furnished studio in that area even in another area your budget is still small for a furnished studio, in fact you can't get a furnished studio at that price here in Douala.
I have contacted one real estate agent, and he told me that he has a non furnished studio in Bonanjo (same area with DHL) at 300.000cfa (300 dollars) per month, it very expensive. In fact rent is really expensive in Bonanjo like you can see.
Since your budget is 150 dollars, you can just have a non furnished studio, and it will not be near DHL, you will take a taxi to go to work... In that case, we can look for a studio that cost at least  125 dollars, in a place that is secure I precise that it will be non furnished... you will have to buy at least a bed and a mattress...

And I understand that I need to pay for the place 6 months in advance? I will talk with the company and see what we can do about the budget. I have a place to stay at least for the first month to give me time to look for a permanent place. Maybe when I come to Douala we can link and you can help me see whats available. Thank you so far, this information is very helpful.

Yes you can pay 6 month first ... When will you come ?

Hello my dear,


    You are welcome in my beloved country.
Are you there alrady? what about your accomodation ?
           willing to help anytime,
  Your's,   fzithfully

Tinteen,

You need to be VERY CAREFUL with your situation. People (especially the locals), will try to rip you off with rent. 

- Since you have a place to stay for the first month, try to connect with your co-workers at DHL, and ask them for advice. Ask the Human resource manager to help you find a place within your budget. There might be other expat there that can rent you a room if you are lucky.

- I do not know if there are Kenyan here in Cameroon but if there is an embassy here, contact them and ask them for advice as well. you might be able to meet other people from your country and they should be able to help you with whatever. Under the network section of this website, try to search Kenyans in Cameroon and contact them. Someone might reply back.

- Are you familiar with couchsurfing? google it to find out more. People use that website a lot in the US and Europe but I am not sure about Africa / Cameroon. But you can try anyway.

- You can post an ad in the classifieds section of this website and someone might reply. You never know.

Good luck and hope this helps.