Jenifer Lewis fell from a balcony while vacationing in Africa a couple years back -- and she says the horrific experience nearly took her life ... part of which was caught on video.

The "Black-ish" star recounted this awful story to Robin Roberts on 'GMA' Tuesday ... and yes, it's terrible as it sounds -- as JL says she practically died from this accident -- which happened while she was in Serengeti ... this after traveling to Cape Town and Rwanda.

This all happened in late 2022, after Jen had wrapped production on Season 8 of her hit show ... and she was doing a little traveling with friends. She says things were looking up.

Anyway, when she got to Serengeti ... Jenifer says she checked into a hotel -- one she didn't get a tour for, she notes -- and that's when this nightmare unfolded. As she was in her room at night, Jen says she saw an infinity pool right outside on her own deck.

She thought she could just access it directly from the balcony -- but because it was so dark ... she didn't see that there was a massive gap, through which she fell a whopping 10 feet.

Jenifer says there was no warning sign that someone could fall there -- and goes on to describe the excruciating pain she felt ... once the initial shock wore off, of course.

She says ... "My right hip took the impact. My shoulder went up against the stone. A lightning bolt went through my mind's eye. In pitch black, I didn't know I was falling. nothing would move."

Jenifer continues ... "So I laid there and said, 'Move your body, baby. Come on Jenny, move your body.'" Eventually, people came to her aid -- but she was still in danger ... because there were wild animals roaming about, including a Cape buffalo that got very close.