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Intro
Visiting
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More to know
Geology
Very old rocks throughout the parks area, of a intrusive igneous and metamorphic
Geology
Very old rocks throughout the parks area, of a intrusive igneous and metamorphic nature form a large eroded plain. In the south the only visible elevation are the promontory of the Chain of Atakora, which crosses the Mekrou river near the Koudou falls. More to the North the canyons of the Mekrou river and the Tapoa, cut into the quarzite testify recent adjustments in the landscape. The plateaus of the parc are mostly covered with a dense coating of laterite rich of iron, which allowed the development of a small prehistoric metal handcraft.
Hydrography
Only the Niger river flows all year, in the park the rivers
Hydrography
Only the Niger river flows all year, in the park the rivers Tapoa, Mekrou and the Alibori do not provide water during the dry season but a rim of water points, where one meets all the large animals of the park. During the dry season a number of other water holes allow the large mammals to quench their thirst.
Vegetation
The park as a whole is covered by soudanese savannah which flourishes each dry season
Vegetation
The park as a whole is covered by soudanese savannah which flourishes each dry season. Beautifull gallery forests unfold along the watercourses in the south of the park, while the north is dominated mostly by thornbushes and shrubs, especially at the reserve of Tamou. We can distinguish between the nothern half of the park as a north-soudanese savannah rich on bushes, thorny shrubs and anual grass and at the south of the park a middle-soudanese savannah with arboreal thicket and trees, grass, herbaceous perennials and legumes. Furthermore there is a large variety in vegetation from the Sahel frontier to the guinea frontier which bases the richness and diversity of the natural environment of the W Park.
Climate
is characterized by the change of two quite contrasting seasons:
Climate
is characterized by the change of two quite contrasting seasons: from november untill april dominates the dry season, and a raining season during european summer. The temperature at the beginning of the dry season is quite convenient but rises to a very high level at the end of march.
