Gambaga Escarpment

The Gambaga escarpment is a sandstone scarp running roughly east to west across northern Ghana for around two hundred kilometres, marking the edge of a plateau and dropping several hundred metres to the plains below, which in a largely flat region makes it the dominant landform. Viewpoints along the top at Nakpanduri and elsewhere look out over a wide expanse of savanna woodland, with the escarpment face wooded and cut by clefts holding seasonal waterfalls. Baboons and monkeys live along the scarp. Nalerigu below has the remains of Naa Jaringa's wall, a defensive earthwork from the seventeenth century. The area is thinly visited and arrangements are informal.

What you actually see

• The scarp edge - the drop from the plateau to the plains below.
• Nakpanduri viewpoint - the best-known lookout along the ridge.
• Seasonal waterfalls - the falls in the clefts during and after the rains.
• Naa Jaringa's wall - the old defensive earthwork at Nalerigu.

When to go

November to March in the dry season for the clearest views and easiest roads, though the waterfalls run only in and just after the rains from June to September. Harmattan haze in December and January limits the view.

Honest expectations

There is no visitor infrastructure of any kind along the escarpment. Roads to the viewpoints are rough. Waterfalls are dry for much of the year. Accommodation in the area is very limited and basic.

Nearby

Nalerigu lies below the scarp; Bolgatanga is west.