Lake Bam
Burkina Faso's largest natural lake, in the north, worked hard for market gardening.
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Lake Bam at Kongoussi is the largest natural lake in Burkina Faso, a shallow body of water in the semi-arid north whose margins are farmed intensively for vegetables through the dry season, watered by hand and by small pumps, so that the shore turns green while the country around it stays brown. The lake has shrunk substantially over recent decades through silting and drought and its future is a live concern locally.
What you actually see
- The market gardens - vegetable plots worked around the shore through the dry season.
- The shallow lake - the largest natural body of water in the country.
- The green fringe - cultivation against the dry country around it.
- The waterbirds - the species using the shallows and the flooded margins.
When to go
November to February is the cool dry season and the main gardening period. Water levels fall sharply through the dry months. The rains from June refill the lake.
Honest expectations
The lake has shrunk badly and in dry years is far smaller than maps show. Bilharzia is present. There is no visitor infrastructure at the shore.
Nearby
Kongoussi is beside it, and Ouagadougou is south.
What to pack for Lake Bam
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
