a day out to visit the Arch of Kamadjan

 

My time in Mali is passing quickly, even though I am pretty much restricted to the Bamako office and my accommodation (now sharing an apartment with a colleague so as to save costs).  However I have managed to get one day out, when I visited the small town of Siby, some 45km south-west of Bamako.

It is well-known amongst travellers for the Kamadjan Arch which is near the village, and I started my day with a walk through the fields to the viewpoint from where I took the picture above.  Then we started an ascent, via the 'consultation cave' (where the elders come to ask advice from resident spirits who will speak to them in the early hours of the morning) - here a picture looking out from the cave - and from there up to a point underneath the arch.

It seemed as though that was the endpoint of the walk, but then the guide mentioned that it was possible to get on to the top of the arch although not everyone would make it up.  Something between a walk and a climb.  I asked if he thought I'd make it and he said maybe not ... but I said we should start the ascent, on the understanding that I could turn back at any point where it got too difficult.

There were some tricky bits - "put your left foot here", he said, "and your right foot on this rock here..." - but my legs weren't long enough to reach - so I did get lifted, pushed, and pulled a few times!  My taxi driver had come with us, having never visited the arch before, but on one of the steeper parts where you had to hold on with both hands he gave up, said he was getting vertigo and would wait for us to come back down.  But I made it all the way up (and back down)!  It was worth it in part for the sense of accomplishment, and in part for the great views.