W National Park in located on the Niger River and is sometimes referred to as the W National Park of Niger. The park stretches into the borders of Burkina Faso and Benin. The area is a rich eco-system with a diverse habitat of grassy areas, small rivers, ponds, dense forests and thick shrubs.

A total of 400 species of trees and more are found in the protected area. This unique eco-system hosts more than 65 different mammals including the cheetah, African elephants, dugong, red-fronted gazelle and the endangered African wild dog among others.

The river and fringing forest woodlands or water logged savannah attract more than 300 species of birds to the park making it an important bird area in Benin and Burkina Faso.

This Burkina Faso National park is located near the town of Bobo-Dioulasso and is sometimes referred to as only a game reserve located in the eastern part of the country. This game reserves is popular for the herds of African elephant often seen crossing the trails in the protected Area.  Other animals in the park include springbok, hippos, buffalo and the crocodile among others. Nevertheless, increasing human activity and poaching have led to a decline in the number of wild animals in the park.

The Park was named after the Bale River which crosses through the dense vegetation and deeply forested park.  The west border on the Black Volta River is part of the protected area under Deux Bales National park

The Park is a few hours drive from Ouagadougou to Bobo Dioulasso. The Park gate is at Boromo where entrance tickets and ranger guides are found. There are several camping and accommodation options in Deux Bales National Park and some of the options include Le Kaicedra Camp-a standard camping woth 6 tented suites to enjoy under the African Sky.

This park is located in south eastern area of Burkina Faso bordering Pendjari National park in Benin to the south and Singou Reserve in the west. It was gazetted as a national park on 1954 and covers an estimated 760sq km on the banks of Arli and Pendjari rivers.

Its is part of the greater WAP Nature complex that include other national parks like Pendjari Park in Benin and the W of Niger National park found in Benin and Burkina Faso. The habitat in Arli National park is mainly dense riparian forests, water logged savannah grasslands, sandstone and undulating hills of Gobnangou.

Wildlife

There are several species of mammals in the park, many crossing borders to enjoy the lush grasslands in the different countries. Some of the popular sights include elephants, hippos, lion, baboon, buffalo, western hartebeest, warthog, boar, waterbuck, duiker, roan antelopes, bushbuck and the red & green monkey endemic to the forests in western Africa.

Getting there

The park can be accessed via the N19 highway via Diapaga or Pama. The roads are rather slippery during the rainy season and it advisable that you visit Arli National park in the dry season. Game viewing is excellent during the dry season as animals collect on the water pools at Tounga.

This park is located near the capital, Ouagadougou and a few kilometers from the border with Ghana. It is one of the treasured national parks and protected areas in Burkina Faso that was gazetted a national park in 1976 as Po National Park. The named changed with tribute to a game ranger who was killed by poachers in 1991.

The park is established on the banks of Nazinon river-formerly Red Volta. Other rivers in the park’s eco-system include Nazinga and Sissili found in the south-west and along the Nazinon river respectively. The Vegetation in the park is mainly distributed into northern sudan savanna grassland for the north and in the south, a blend of the southern sudan savanna and northern guinea savanna.

Wildlife

The park is an important birding area in Burkina Faso which bird species like Senegalese Parrot, Violet Turaco, yellow billed shrike, Blue belleir roller, yellow penduline, piapiac, bearded barbet, Pied winged swallow, Sengal Eremonela, blackcap babbler, sun lark, Purple glossy starling, lavender waxbill. Chestnut crowned sparrow weaver, Brown rumped bunting and many other birds.

Getting there

The park is located only 130km south of Ouagadougou near the border with Ghana. The highway from Ouagadougou to Bolgatanga crosses through the park winding into Ghana further north of the park

Accommodation

There is accommodation in Ouagadougou Hotels such as Palm Beach Hotel within the city centre, Laico Ouaga Hotel near the airport, Mercure Silmade Hotel, Dragon hotel and many other options.

Burkina Faso is one of the leading African safari destinations in West Africa with so much to offer from wildlife safaris to cultural safaris and visits to river Mouhoun on the Black Volta. It is a warm country with average temperature of around 35ºC for most of its cities like the capital city Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, Bozo and Kantchari among others

Burkina Faso Flights

The main Burkina Faso airport is located on the outskirts in the capital Ouagadougou city centre calOuagadougou International airport led (OUA). It handles both international and domestic flights to and from Burkina Faso with a number of international and regional airlines. The domestic airport in Burkina Faso is called Borgo about 16km from the town of Bobo Dioulasso.

The international air carrier is Air Burkina with flights from Burkina to Europe(France) and within Africa. Some of the flights schedules for Air Burkina are from Nouakchott, Mauritania and Paris to Ouagadougou 9has 12 destinations in Africa; Dakar, Lome, Accra, Cotonou, Libreville, Bamako, Niamey, Conakry, Abidjan,etc). it is best described as west Africa’s regional airlines and a busy fliers between west African international airports.

Airlines to Burkina Faso

Airlines flying to Ouagadougou Burkina Faso include Aeroflot, Air Algerie, Air France, Air Ivoire, Ethiopian Airlines and Sabena. Air Volta operates flights to Bouake (Côte d’Ivoire), Tambao and Bamako Mali.

Other airlines flying to Burkina Faso

• Ethiopian airlines
• Royal Air Maroc
• SN Brussels
• Delta Air
• Air Algerie
• Afriqiyah Airways
• Aigle Azur
• KLM
• Air Canada-flights from New York (JFK ) to Ouagadougou
• US Airways
• Antrak Air
• Continental Airlines

Book cheap Burkina Faso flights from an online travel agency or through a Burkina Faso travel and safari company. Book in time will help you secure cheaper airfares to Burkina Faso faster.

Burkina Faso is also known as Burkina and it’s a landlocked country in West Africa bordering Benin, Niger and Ghana. In the past, it was called the Republic of Upper Volta and its taken to be the land of the upright people.

What to see

Burkina Faso is such a great destination for tourists to stay and the plan of its structure shows that it’s the best place for tourists on vacation. The country suffers a problem of climatic change and this has hindered the number of tourists from visiting the country. Although the best months for visiting are November and February of which there may be an interference of the Harmattan wind that brings in the Saharan dust.

Ouagadougou is the capital city of Burkina Faso, quickly referred to as Waga. It is a busy city centre, with bustling city markets, streets and a major cultural centre. Visit the municipal gardens, the forest park and lake, large shaded avenues, the presidential palace, Mogho Palace and the cathedral. Other interesting towns include Banfora, Bobo Dioulasso, Dafra and Dori among other towns

Visit the national museum in Waga and experience some of the best collections of traditional music, basketry, pottery, farm tools and masks from traditional ethnic groups.
The most noticeable demonstration of the very multifaceted Burkina be literary mix are music, dance and wooden masks. The latter, in particular those of authentic antiquity, are highly sought after by collectors, while the contemporary mask and Burkina be sculpture markets provide much material for the curio and artifact trade in Europe.

Other interesting sites on Burkina Faso holiday tours include the Ruins of Loropeni, The Grand Mosque at Bani and Reserve De Nazinga

Burkina Faso National Parks

Part of Burkina Faso tourism is its national parks and conservation areas. There are 3 national parks within Burkina Faso, each sharing a border with another country.

Parc National du W (W National Park) is a very important regional conservation effort and is managed by inter-governmental co-operation between the 2 neighboring countries of Benin and Niger, east of Burkina Faso. This park is actually the largest nature reserve in Burkina Faso and in West Africa occupying the meandering tributaries of Niger river that form some shape of W. Regular sights in the park include buffalos, antelopes, elephants, hippos, lions and birds like Arli.

Arli National park is found south east of Burkina Faso on the border with Benin. It is Burkina Faso’s most visited game open to tourists from December to mid May. Some of the game sights include elephants, monkeys, hippos, lions, antelopes, leopards and a variety of birds.

Kabore Tembi National park is found south of Ouaga occupying an area of 15,000 km with common sights of primates, elephants and birds

Burkina Faso is the junior partner with smallest territorial involvement, but from Burkina Faso access to other regions of the park is relatively easy. Unusually in West Africa the park system is well run and conscientiously policed. It is largely free of human influence and hosts strong populations of elephant, lions, hippopotamus, cheetah and leopard as well as many others. The area is also an important bird habitat with some 350 recorded species including many long range migrants.

Burkina Faso Travel

Travel and tours within Burkina Faso is quite easy, reached by flights via Ouagadougou airport located 3km from the city centre. There is a train that services the city with schedules from Abidjan (Cote de Ivoire) to Bobo, to Waga and Kaya. Buses and vans operate from all neighboring countries.

The country is characterized with a tropical climate with two different seasons. The hottest months are between March and June when actually the temperatures are above 40°C and humidity is between May and October. The best time to go for Burkina Faso safari vacations is December to May when most of the parks are open to tourists and warm temperatures prevail across the country.

Hotels in Burkina Faso range from five star luxury facilities, standard hotels wit restaurants, guesthouses and budget accommodation is available too. The top rated hotel in Burkina faso include Hotel les Palmiers, Hotel Restaurant Les Palmeirs, Le Karite Bleu, Hotel Canne a Sucre and Hotel L’Auberge among others