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Burkina FasoBenin Burkina Faso / Benin Waterfall

Chutes de Koudou

One of the waterfalls of Burkina Faso.

When to go

La boule du monde, Chutes de koudou, Parc W, Benin
Juanlopezvillar · CC BY-SA 4.0

In numbers.

29m³/s

Average flow

estimate

Aug–Oct

Best months

249m

Elevation

The water at Chutes de Koudou, month by month

It roars from August to September.

The fullest months: from August to September. The thinnest: from December to May.

  1. 3.9 m³/sJan
  2. 3.9 m³/sFeb
  3. 4.0 m³/sMar
  4. 5.5 m³/sApr
  5. 12 m³/sMay
  6. 26 m³/sJun
  7. 51 m³/sJul
  8. 87 m³/sAug
  9. 92 m³/sSep
  10. 65 m³/sOct
  11. 28 m³/sNov
  12. 7.5 m³/sDec
high water best months to go

From about 3.9 m³/s in the lowest month to 92 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from August to October.

Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.

Waterfall in Benin

Chutes de Koudou is a waterfall in Burkina Faso.

Getting there.

  • Diori Hamani International Airport (NIM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 201 km in a straight line
  • From August to Octoberbest months to go (estimate)

Plan your visit

Stay, explore and get there

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Seen from the sky.

8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.

Chutes de Koudou seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 2 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

The Le Mékrou through the falls
235 m240 mChutes de Koudou-1.5 km-1 km-0.5 km0← upstreamdownstream →

The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.

The valley below the falls
−690 m+690 m

Around the falls the river drops 6 m in 1.8 km. Here the river runs about 22 m below the lower rim of its valley.

What is around.

  • 4viewpointsChutes de Koudou and 3 more
  • —waymarked walking routes
  • —car parks
  • —swimming spots
  • —picnic sites
  • —toilets
  • —information boards and visitor centres
  • —bus stops within 1 km
  • —other named waterfalls within 4 km
  • —caves
  • —campsites
  • —hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 km
  • —restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Weather

The weather, month by month.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon °C343740393734313030333534
Night °C162023262524232222221916
Rain & snow (mm)01730741121682311595530
Wet days0021020252930271410
Sun h/day9.08.78.38.18.07.66.65.76.88.39.29.4

Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (249 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.

Photos

Through visitors' eyes.

Baignade dans le cours d'eau aux chutes de Koudou
Ross.Patrick · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cours d'eau aux chutes de Koudou
Ross.Patrick · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

Wet years and dry years

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020——585%103%64%62%97%87%118%146%——
2021——258%32%48%92%111%119%110%50%——
2022——92%103%88%192%129%104%154%119%——
2023——162%144%47%95%134%123%97%67%——
2024——27%314%187%293%165%126%119%273%——
2025——17%60%42%49%98%99%116%54%——

130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual

Compare with the waterfalls nearby.

Chutes de Koudou

Burkina Faso

  • —Height
  • 29 m³/sAverage flow
  • Aug–OctBest months

Tanougou Falls

Benin

  • —Height
  • —Average flow
  • Jul–SepBest months

See the guide

Kota Falls

Benin

  • 100 mHeight
  • —Average flow
  • Jul–OctBest months

See the guide

About these numbers

Names, height, width, riverWikidata (Q21773064) · CC0
River flow and catchmentHydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Relief, river profile, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Paths, viewpoints, parking© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.