For more than a century, the legend of Tarzan has sparked the imagination of the Western world and molded its views of Africa. But the King of the Jungle's creator, American novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs, never even set foot on the continent. He drew most of his inspiration from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book and from what he'd learned from Africans at the 1893 World Fair in Chicago.

Since Burroughs first penned the tale of a young boy raised by apes, Africa has changed in public perception from a place of mysticism and darkness into an important world player. Some countries like Somalia are embroiled in ongoing conflict and instability, while other countries like Sierra Leone and Zambia are predicted to be among the top 10 fastest growing economies in 2014, wrote the Washington Post. But for all the changes the last century has brought to Africa and to the rest of the world, foreigners remain enraptured by the beauty and wildness of the African landscape.

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Although Burroughs never named a specific location for Tarzan's home, it was somewhere in West Africa, in a country with varied geography that includes a coastline and verdant jungles, in a country like Cameroon.

Located in the western half of Central Africa, Cameroon is sometimes referred to as "Africa in miniature" because of its immense cultural and environmental diversity. For thousands of years the country has been populated, first by the Baka (pygmies) and later Portuguese sailors who arrived at the coast in 1472. Today the country is filled with people from a variety of backgrounds who live on farms and in cities. But The lush jungle that may have inspired Burroughs continues to be a central aspect Cameroon's identity.

Among the scenic locations are Mount Cameroon, an active volcano and the highest peak in West Africa; the Limbe Wildlife Centre, which houses gorillas, crocodiles, parrots and chimpanzees; and Korup National Park, the oldest rainforest in Africa, says Natural Wonders of Africa. Travelers can also visit the Ebogo Ecoutourism site, located within the rainforest, that offers the chance to see Bantu cultural dances and drivel by canoe down the Nyong River, says the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure in Cameroon.

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One writer reported in the Washington Post that after a month-long tour in Cameroon, it felt as if he'd seen a microcosm of the continent of Africa: "The landscapes were diverse, but so too were the lifestyles I encountered, as if all of Africa had indeed cozied up inside the country's borders."

For a glimpse of the beauty that lies within the borders of Cameroon, browse the slideshow above and let your imagination take you away to the land of Tarzan.

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