Farako Falls

The Farako river drops over a rock ledge east of Sikasso into a pool surrounded by mango and forest, and in a country where most of the landscape is dry savanna and desert, water falling in quantity is not a common sight. An old hydroelectric station stands beside the falls, built in the colonial period and long disused. The flow depends entirely on the rains, and by March the fall can be down to a trickle.

What you actually see

• The fall - the river dropping over the rock ledge into the pool.
• The green surroundings - mango and forest around the water.
• The old power station - the disused colonial hydroelectric building.
• The contrast - falling water in a country that is mostly dry savanna.

When to go

August to November is when the fall carries real water, after the rains. By March it can be a trickle. The road is difficult during the rains themselves.

Honest expectations

Outside the months after the rains there may be almost no water. Bilharzia is a risk in the pool. Facilities are minimal.

Nearby

Sikasso is west, and the Burkina Faso border is east.