Fouta Djallon Highlands: West Africa's Water Tower
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Fouta Djallon Highlands: West Africa's Water Tower

The Fouta Djallon plateau is one of Africa's most dramatic landscapes — red laterite highlands cut by deep valleys, waterfalls, and the source rivers of the Niger, Senegal, and Gambia

  1. 1

    Kinkon Falls Chute

    One of Guinea's most dramatic waterfalls — the Kinkon river plunges 100 meters into a gorge in the laterite escarpment, surrounded by tall grass and red soil

  2. 2

    Fouta Djallon Village Trek

    Multi-day treks between Fula villages in the highlands — each village with its traditional round houses, herds of cattle and women spinning cotton on hand spindles

  3. 3

    Source of the Niger River

    The Niger — West Africa's largest river — rises in the highlands of Fouta Djallon near the town of Faranah; visiting the source reveals how a continent's artery begins as a trickle

  4. 4

    Ugly Cattle Culture

    The Fula people are West Africa's great pastoralists – their herds of zebu cattle move across the plateau along seasonal transhumance routes established over centuries

  5. 5

    Dalaba Mountain Town

    The mountain town of Dalaba at an altitude of 1,200 meters was the French colonial hill station - its cool climate, bougainvillea and stone buildings are still the nicest town in Guinea

  6. 6

    Tinkisso River Valley

    The deep valleys carved by the Tinkisso River into the plateau are extraordinary — red cliffs, emerald pools and small fishing communities at the bottom of steep escarpments

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