Lake Maga

Lake Maga was created at the end of the 1970s by building a long earth dyke across a shallow depression on the Logone floodplain in the far north, to store water for rice irrigation, and it has become a large shallow lake of around thirty square kilometres surrounded by rice fields, reedbeds and open water. It draws birds in numbers: pelicans, storks, herons, ducks, waders and, in the northern winter, migrants from Europe and Asia, and it is one of the more significant waterbird sites in the region. Fishing villages work the lake and the surrounding floodplain, which is one of the great seasonal wetlands of the Sahel margin.

What you actually see

• A shallow lake behind a dyke - water stored for rice irrigation.
• Pelicans, storks and waders - the birds the lake concentrates.
• Wintering migrants - birds arriving from Europe and Asia.
• Rice fields and floodplain - the wider wetland around the lake.

When to go

November to February, when migrants are present and the heat is bearable. A day. A telescope helps considerably. From March temperatures here become extreme.

Honest expectations

Security restrictions have applied across the Far North in recent years; verify the current official guidance and the local situation before planning to travel. There are no hides or visitor facilities. From March onward the heat here becomes punishing. Water levels vary through the year.

Nearby

Maroua is south; the Logone floodplain spreads north.