It is the spring of 2025, and rainy season is setting in. What better then, to get out of busy Bangui and into nature.
Watery nature.
< img src ="https://www.sophiesworld.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Les-chutes-de-Boali.jpg" alt=""width ="640"height="461"/ > I am in RCA(Republique Centrafricaine), the Main African Republic, a practically forgotten country. In truth, I wager if you ask 10 random friends of yours, a minimum of half of them will not even have actually heard of it. Unless they’re all extreme tourists or geography nerds, that is. (, on both counts). So my job here today, is to get the word out.
RCA is among 55 countries in Africa.
55? However there’s only 54 countries in Africa, isn’t there? Ah, you must mean United Nations member states. 54 undoubtedly. However not here. In Sophie’s World, Western Sahara is considered a country as great as any, so 55 it is.
However enough of numbers. When we ended, we were in the Central-African capital, with trials and tribulations and fun times, all mixed up. Today, we are on an objective to discover more of RCA.
Les Chutes de Boali
Waterfalls! I enjoy them. It is my preferred function of nature, absolutely nothing less. And it is becoming a straight-out travel custom. Let’s go see a waterfall! Can’t make an exception now, can we?
Time for a road trip! We head for Boali Falls, about 95 km north-west of Bangui, along RN1– National Highway 1, which continues into Cameroon and to the Port of Douala on the Atlantic Ocean. This is among just a couple of paved roads in the nation.
For two hours, we drive through beautiful countryside and previous vibrant towns and on to dirt roadways– to the middle of nowhere. Or so it seems.
The road to Boali
But unexpectedly, there they are, les Chutes de Boali.
Like les Chutes de la Lobé throughout the border in Cameroon, Boali Falls are not especially tall. Naturally, my default comparison on the planet of waterfalls is home. And Norwegian waterfalls are long and narrow, much like the nation itself. Here at Boali Falls, the water cascades from the M’bari River over a nearly vertical cliff of schist, dropping only 50 meters, about the like Niagara Falls. However what it lacks in height, it makes up for in width; the falls span more than 1/4 km.
The rainy season is from April to October. This is when the circulation is at its peak. Well, today, on among the extremely last days of March, it appears it has actually already begun. Nature is placing on a quite impressive power program for us, a wonderful drama of thunderous water and gentle mist.
Fresh air. Mist on my face. Ahhh!
You can hike down a series of steepish, rock-hewn stairs to the bottom of the falls, with a couple of lookouts along the method. At the bottom is a natural pool sculpted by disintegration. The rocks are a bit slippery, so beware.
It is possible to wade, or even have a swim, and some of us do. Although some state there are crocodiles in the water. As always, we are all responsible for ourselves. Your call!
Around Boali Falls Also along the staircase(and all over, truly) are several self-appointed guides. If you wish to delight in nature’s phenomenon on your own, you require to be firm. They do not quickly take no for a response. Nevertheless, if you do choose to utilize their services, they anticipate– and deserve– a good suggestion. Les Chutes des Boali is probably the most famous traveler destination in RCA, but that does not help much in a nation nearly without travelers.
Simply listed below the falls is the Boali Hydroelectric Power Station, just recently fixed up, a collaborative effort in between RCA and China’s PowerChina corporation. Important facilities– and an ideal target if you wish to stage a terrorist attack, or a coup.
The complex supplies an overall of 38.75 megawatts of electrical energy to Bangui and other towns. But that is insufficient. The nation has an electrification rate of just 3%!
On a more favorable note, on the edge of the waterfall’s precipice, is a rustic gazebo dining establishment, Restaurant des Chutes de Boali. The food takes time, though. A lot of time! So put your order in, have a walk/hike/swim, then return. If you’re lucky, the food may be ready. Or not. May too get used to slowing down.
On the table next to us is a group of aid workers, primarily South Americans. They’re astounded to hear we are travelers. Here? In RCA?
A few hundred metres on the other side of the dining establishment, is a little zoo of sorts. It is disappointing: monkeys in small cages, a caiman in a tiny pool, boa snakes, parrots in cages. It hurts to see! However apparently this animal jail attracts 1,000 regional visitors pr week.
If you wish to see monkeys in the wild, though, you can hike along the nature tracks here. The location is abundant in biodiversity: lush vegetation, stunning surroundings, and birdwatching if you’re so inclined.
Crocs or no crocks, that’s the concern
A bit additional along, is a suspension bridge across the M’bari River. There are no crocodiles in this river, among the self-appointed guides assures me. Well, I’m not so sure … Ecological context, along with other individuals’s statements, strongly suggest the existence of said predator. Not to mention the fact that I got a glance of one. Hanging on to that lightweight rope for dear life!
- Insta-friendly photo op, though As at March 2025, entryway cost to Boali Falls is 5,000 CFA (EUR7,6) for immigrants. But you will most likely be with a guide/fixer (a minimum of I hope you will), and it will be baked into the overall expense of their services.
- The closest lodgings option is Motel Pierre d’Onyx, by the entryway to Boali Village.
No guns More, a lot more, about the Central African Republic in this post– including what to be knowledgeable about, need to you choose to take a trip to this oddball nation. Most notably: do not go it solo!
All photos by moi (up until my phone absconded) and David Røgler.