Banfora Cascades

The Banfora Cascades drop over a sandstone shelf in a series of steps and curtains, the water hitting the rock face with a roar that carries across the surrounding savanna and creates a cool microclimate within a few hundred metres of the falls that is noticeably different from the dry surrounding bush.

The gallery forest that lines the river above and below the falls is an anomaly in the landscape: fig trees, Tamarindus indica and wild kapok dominate the canopy, their roots gripping the damp rock, and the undergrowth supports birds that are rarely seen in the open countryside.

The town of Banfora sits on a laterite plateau above the falls, surrounded by sugarcane plantations that stretch to the horizon; the contrast between the green industrial rows of cane and the wild forested gorge below the cascades is one of the most striking juxtapositions in Burkina Faso.

Below the main cascade, a secondary waterfall known as the Dyers' Falls drops into a shallow pool where women from surrounding villages traditionally wash and dye cloth; the colourful fabrics spread across the rocks are a popular subject for photography and give the pool a lively, working atmosphere.

The Tengrela Lake, a short drive north of Banfora, sits in a shallow depression surrounded by rock outcrops and is famous for its hippo population; the lake is considered sacred by local communities, and fishing and boat traffic are managed under traditional protocols.

The road from Bobo-Dioulasso to Banfora descends from the drier plateau into the more humid Cascade zone, a journey of about 80 kilometres that passes through villages of circular mud-brick compounds surrounded by sorghum and millet fields.

The cascades are at their most powerful in the wet season between June and October when the Coulouré River carries the full force of the regional drainage; the dry season reduces the flow to a single controlled-looking ribbon of water over dark rock.

The surrounding area of the Cascades region produces some of Burkina Faso's finest mangoes, and small orchards of grafted Keitt mangoes line the approach road to Banfora, producing a second green landscape alongside the sugarcane — an agricultural abundance that contrasts sharply with the arid north of the country.

The Mare aux Hippopotames, a short distance from Banfora, is a permanent wetland that retains water throughout the dry season, drawing hippos and waterbirds when all surrounding water bodies have dried up, making it one of the most reliable wildlife-viewing sites in the region.

The nearby Comoe River, which forms part of the border with Côte d'Ivoire, supports gallery forest and a different set of bird species from the savanna, including the rare yellow-throated apalis and the white-breasted guineafowl.

The cascades are one of the most dramatic natural features in Burkina Faso, dropping over a sandstone shelf in a series of loud, powerful curtains of white water.

The surrounding gallery forest creates a cool, green microclimate that is strikingly different from the surrounding Sahel landscape.

The nearby Tengrela Lake offers one of Burkina Faso's most reliable hippo sightings in a setting of considerable traditional cultural significance.