Tello Falls

The Adamawa plateau is built of old basalt flows, and where rivers cross the edges of those flows they drop abruptly, which is why the country around Ngaoundere has a series of waterfalls within a short drive of the town. The Tello falls are one of the larger of them, a river pouring over a dark rock lip into a pool in a wooded hollow, with the plateau grassland stretching away above. Flow depends heavily on the rains: from August the falls are full and loud, and by March they can be reduced to a thin stream over the rock. The track in is rough and a guide from the nearby village is the usual arrangement.

What you actually see

• Water over a basalt lip - the fall at the edge of an old lava flow.
• The wooded pool below - the basin at the foot of the drop.
• Adamawa plateau grassland - the open country above.
• Seasonal flow - full in the rains and thin by March.

When to go

August to November, after the rains, when the falls actually run. Half a day from Ngaoundere. The track needs a capable vehicle and a local guide.

Honest expectations

In the dry season there is very little water. The track in is rough and hard to find without a guide. There are no facilities. Rocks around the pool are slippery.

Nearby

Ngaoundere is north-west; the Vina falls lie south.