The Ngondo is an annual water-centered festival held by the Sawa

Sawa

Sawa may refer to:*The Sawa peoples of CameroonLocations*Sawa, Nepal*The Sawa Defence Training Centre of Eritrea*Sawa, Lesser Poland Voivodeship Arts*SAWA, Japanese techno-pop singer*Devon Sawa, Canadian actor...

 (coastal peoples) in Douala

Douala

Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Province. Home to Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country...

, Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

. The highlight of the festival is a ceremony of the jengu

Jengu

A jengu is a water spirit and deity in the traditional beliefs of the Sawa ethnic groups of Cameroon, particularly the Duala, Bakweri, and related Sawa peoples. Among the Bakweri, the name is liengu...

 cult. The ceremony is held at a beach on Wouri Bay

Wouri River

The Wouri is a river in Cameroon. The river is formed at the confluence of the rivers Nkam and Makombé, northeast of the city of Yabassi. The Wouri then flows about southeast to the Wouri estuary at Douala, the chief port and industrial city in the southwestern part of Cameroon on the Gulf of...

, during which a devotee enters the water to visit the underwater kingdom of the miengu (plural for jengu). According to tradition, the devotee can remain underwater for hours, and emerge with his clothing appearing completely dry. Children are not allowed to attend the ceremony. Ngondo was banned by the government of Cameroon in 1981, but reinstated in 1991.