Originally Posted by
hauteboy
Actually most of Africa is pretty expensive-wise.. west Africa is on the CFA which is tied to the Euro. However Ethiopia was very cheap. Two of us ate meals including water/beer and the most expensive came to $13 for two.
It all depends what you want and what you know (local knowledge).
As an American who grew up in Cameroon, I can take you to a local food restaurant in Yaounde (the capital city) where most of the food costs about 1000 CFA (= $2 USD) per person. I have taken many expatriates here and no one has gotten sick from the food. Bottled drinks cost 500 CFA at this place (=$1). A large beer is 700 CFA ($1.40). The street price in Yaounde for a 1.5 litter bottle of water is 400 CFA ($.80)
Now, the vast majority of expatriates would spend $10-$30 per meal in Yaounde, especially if they want to eat western food in a western restaurant environment.
In the small village in rural Cameroon where I grew up, you can get a decent local meal for 300 CFA ($.60) Now this is very far off the beaten track...tourists almost never come that way. The village is on a dirt road and does not have electricity or running water, among other things. Not a place you can live like a westerner.
Originally Posted by
Factotum
It seems there are too many variables to produce a one-size-fits-all answer to the OP's question.
Exactly!
Originally Posted by
Factotum
If you look at the "global cost of living" surveys that come out every year - I believe the Economist does one, actually - Douala, Cameroon consistently comes out in the world's top-40. Why? Certainly not because the locals are shelling out big bucks for everyday items, but rather, because those surveys are based on Western expatriates consuming the goods and services that Western expatriates consume back home, and to recreate the Western experience in Cameroon is very, very expensive.
Interesting - I never knew Douala was rated so expensive. When in Douala I would stay at a mission guest house for 12,000 CFA per night ($24). Small clean rooms, free use of swimming pool. They will make you breakfast there for 1,500 CFA ($3) or you can go on the street and buy bread and eggs for about 400 CFA ($.80)
But yes, Douala would be a very expensive place to live if you wanted to feel like you were still living in the western world/do things the European/American way.
Originally Posted by
Factotum
Much of Africa is actually fantastically expensive for Westerners to travel in,
This is true for those westerners who want to maintain the things they are used to in Africa. IMO, Africa is one of the least expensive places to travel in. My Africa experience apart from the country I grew up in includes Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and South Africa. (FYI - Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa are VERY different from Cameroon and from each other) My approach is to mingle and learn the local ways of doing things, eat what they eat, sleep where they would sleep, etc. I have found the cost of doing that to be similar in Africa as it is in Malaysia, Thailand, and China (other low cost places I really like to visit).