The Germans' Fault is one of Burundi's most impressive and least-known landscapes: a gigantic geological rift cut into the mountainous escarpment of the south-east, a green canyon at almost 2,000 metres that looks out, 700 metres below, over the vast Kumoso plain. Between gallery forest, bare ridges and dizzying views, it is an adventure destination for travellers with an explorer's spirit.
Its name —Faille des Allemands, 'the Germans' Fault'— comes from history: during the First World War, German troops set up a strategic fort here and, harassed by Belgian and British forces, abandoned their position by fleeing through the canyon. That wartime memory adds to the natural spectacle of this young tectonic fault, which is part of the great Rift Valley system.
This guide explains how to visit the fault: how to reach the remote Rutana region, how to combine it with the Karera Falls, what to expect from the canyon hikes and how to do it safely. An off-the-beaten-track destination for discovering the wildest, most mountainous side of Burundi.
The Faille des Allemands (or Faille de Nyakazu) is a young tectonic fault in the escarpment of south-eastern Burundi, part of the Great Rift Valley system that fractures this region of Africa. It owes its name to the First World War: the Germans, who were colonising Burundi, set up a camp and a strategic fort near the rift; under pressure from Belgian and British troops, they abandoned the position by fleeing through the canyon. Today the fault, together with the nearby Karera Falls, forms a protected natural monument and is on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List.
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Origins, formation and what the sources say.
The Germans' Fault is, above all, a geological phenomenon. It is a recently formed tectonic fault, opened up in the Nkoma schist massif on the mountainous escarpment of south-eastern Burundi. It is part of the great East African Rift Valley system (the Albertine Rift), the huge fracture in the Earth's crust that runs through the continent from north to south and that, over millions of years, has given rise to the region's great lakes, volcanoes and escarpments, Lake Tanganyika among them.
The fault appears as a deep depression or canyon in the massif, and it is exceptionally beautiful: a great green amphitheatre that drops from almost 2.000 metres above sea level towards the Kumoso plain, some 700 metres below. The contrast between the strips of humid forest that carpet the canyon floor and the bare ridges along its edges creates a spectacular landscape, very different from the rest of the country.
Formations like this are evidence of the tectonic activity that is still shaping East Africa, where the continent is slowly splitting apart. The Faille des Allemands is one of the most impressive and accessible examples of that process in Burundi, and because of its natural value it is part of a protected monument together with the nearby Karera Falls.
The site's popular name, Faille des Allemands or 'the Germans' Fault', comes from an episode in Burundi's colonial and military history. At the end of the 19th century the country came under German rule as part of the colony of German East Africa. The Germans governed indirectly, through the mwami and the local aristocracy, but kept a military presence at strategic points in the territory.
When the First World War (1914-1918) broke out, the conflict also reached this part of Africa. German colonial troops fought Belgian forces coming from the Congo and British forces, both advancing on German possessions. According to local tradition, the Germans set up a camp and a fort near the fault, taking advantage of the commanding, defensible position the escarpment offered. From there they controlled the area and the routes to the east.
Under pressure from the advancing Belgians and British, the Germans eventually abandoned their position and, the story goes, fled through the canyon itself, using the crack as an escape route to the east. That episode gave the place the name it still has today. Germany's defeat in the war soon led to Burundi passing into Belgian hands under a League of Nations mandate.
Because of its geological, scenic and ecological value, the Faille des Allemands (or Faille de Nyakazu) is part of a protected natural monument in Burundi, together with the nearby Karera Falls. The site covers several hundred hectares and protects both the fault and its gallery forest and the Karera waterfalls, all within the same mountain setting in the south-east of the country.
The classic route links the two: from Karera Falls, at around 1.600 metres, up to the fault, at around 1.950 metres, the landscape alternates between gallery forest, dense montane forest and bare ridges overlooking the Kumoso plain some 700 metres below. This variety of habitats over a short distance is part of what makes the area so special.
Burundi has put this natural site forward for international recognition, and the fault is on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List. In a country with scarce resources for conservation and heavy pressure on land, protecting these areas and developing responsible nature tourism is a major challenge and, at the same time, an opportunity for the south-east of the country.
Today the Faille des Allemands is one of Burundi's great adventure destinations, although it still sees few visitors and has no tourist infrastructure. Getting to the remote Rutana region, in the south-east, takes time and a suitable vehicle, and for the hikes you need a local guide. That difficult access is exactly why anyone who makes it there feels they have found an almost secret place, wild and grand.
The main draw is trekking: trails that drop down through the canyon between strips of humid forest and ridges, with dizzying viewpoints over the plain. It is an intense experience, both physically and for the scenery, and very different from beach life on the lake or the cultural atmosphere of Gitega. Combined with Karera Falls, it makes a complete nature circuit in the south of the country.
For the curious traveller, the fault brings together many layers of Burundi's history: the Rift geology that shaped this part of Africa, the memory of German colonisation and the First World War, and today's challenge of conserving an exceptional natural heritage. It is a green canyon looking out over the plain where, with a little imagination, you can still hear the footsteps of the soldiers who fled through it more than a century ago.
