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Rwanda Rwanda Waterfall

Ndaba Rock

On the Ndaba River.

When to go

Landscape view of waterfall in Rwanda
Peace Batuma · CC BY-SA 4.0

In numbers.

0.23m³/s

Average flow

estimate

Apr–May
Nov–Dec

Best months

2,110m

Elevation

The water at Ndaba Rock, month by month

It roars from March to May and from November to December.

The fullest months: from March to May and from November to December. The thinnest: from July to August.

  1. 0.3 m³/sJan
  2. 0.3 m³/sFeb
  3. 0.4 m³/sMar
  4. 0.4 m³/sApr
  5. 0.3 m³/sMay
  6. 0.2 m³/sJun
  7. 0.1 m³/sJul
  8. 0.1 m³/sAug
  9. 0.2 m³/sSep
  10. 0.3 m³/sOct
  11. 0.4 m³/sNov
  12. 0.4 m³/sDec
high water best months to go

From about 0.10 m³/s in the lowest month to 0.42 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from April to May and from November to December.

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.

Ndaba rock historically place of Rwanda

Ndaba Rock is a waterfall on the Ndaba River, in Rwanda.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

  • Mabanzanearest town · 6.7 km in a straight line
  • Goma International Airport (GOM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 50 km in a straight lineCar hire in KigaliDiscover Cars · Affiliate link
  • From April to May and from November to Decemberbest months to go (estimate)

Plan your visit

Stay, explore and get there

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

Seen from the sky.

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

Ndaba Rock 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 Ndaba through the falls
1,900 m2,000 m2,100 mNdaba Rock-1.5 km-1 km-0.5 km0+0.5 km+1 km← 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 247 m in 3.0 km. Here the river runs about 130 m below the lower rim of its valley.

What is around.

  • 1viewpoints
  • —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).

Towns nearby

  • Mabanza6.7 km in a straight line
  • Gitesi10 km in a straight line
  • Kibuye14 km in a straight line

Weather

The weather, month by month.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon °C212221202020212222212021
Night °C151515141413131415151414
Rain & snow (mm)126132191191141613880118164196149
Wet days2018242522961117222623
Sun h/day5.45.65.35.25.76.26.65.95.85.24.95.2

Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (2,110 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.

Photos

Through visitors' eyes.

Les Chutes de Ndaba Forest
Ngabojules · CC BY-SA 4.0
Les Chutes de Ndaba
Ngabojules · CC BY-SA 4.0
Portait view of waterfall in Rwanda
Peace Batuma · 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
2020114%112%210%107%54%262%141%27%52%95%277%87%
2021148%161%41%100%64%39%22%88%77%44%84%116%
2022121%194%80%95%71%19%74%142%121%28%80%62%
202323%30%76%97%101%39%10%3%46%41%97%82%
2024150%58%71%86%44%20%33%21%40%151%113%114%
202537%44%42%68%60%72%9%191%22%53%34%94%

130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual

Compare with the waterfalls nearby.

Ndaba Rock

Rwanda

  • —Height
  • 0.23 m³/sAverage flow
  • Apr–May, Nov–DecBest months

Rusumo Falls

Rwanda

  • 15 mHeight
  • 223 m³/sAverage flow
  • Apr–May, Dec–JanBest months

See the guide

Kisiizi Falls

Uganda

  • 30 mHeight
  • 2.6 m³/sAverage flow
  • Apr–May, Nov–DecBest months

See the guide

Chutes de la Kagera

Burundi

  • 80 mHeight
  • 0.13 m³/sAverage flow
  • Dec–MarBest months

See the guide

About these numbers

Names, height, width, riverWikidata (Q107388828) · 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, canyons, caves or dark skies?

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

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