Is there Rock Climbing in Mali?

Rock Climbing in Mali

As one happy Peace Corps Trainee discovered… Mali has a lot of vertical rock … there is a plethora of large cliff faces in the Mopti region… a variety of mesas erected like rock pillars supporting islands of isolated green forests sitting atop hundred foot faces rising out of the semi arid flats (see pics of Mopti region in the Landscapes of Mali section on this blog).

In the lush southern part of Mali… one can also find many cliff ridges and some unique rock formations constructed out of sedimentary remains… although much smaller in size compared to the rock faces found in Mopti… a climber can not complain about the level of grip found on the southern rock…

For those of you who know Jared… you may be happy… to hear that I have “some access” to this favorite past-time of mine, rock climbing… however… here in Mali I am very busy as a volunteer and am finding it more exciting to learn about what this rock means for the well-being of the Malian people… and learning about what we in Peace Corps are calling sustainable development…

Rock climbing is an already established form of Ecotourism here in Mali. French climbers have had a strong presence here in Mali… they have left a trail of local Malians educated and very enthusiastic about rock climbing, making climbing accessible to tourists, and using it for economic gain while also filtering some of the revenues back into protecting the beautiful habitat that makes the climbing experience here in Mali – well – priceless…

Indeed, the rock climbing scene here in Mali has already developed into an international attraction, with climbers coming from all over of the globe… I have not see or heard much about the semi-big-walls of the Mopti region, but I know it exists from what other PC volunteers and climbing guides have told me… when stopping at a gas station along the highway in the Mopti region (on the way from Bamako to Gossi) I was asked by locals if I was arriving to climb rock (sadly I was not)…I also noticed the local hotel/restaurant established for tourists coming to trek and climb… all it really took was one look at the Mopti cliffs, with the heart of a climber I realized that someone else with the same love as me has already enjoyed the combination of rock and human movement… Indeed… my homologue in Gossi, Boubacar Gindu, is a Dogon man who grew up living in the Mopti cliffs, he says “I had to climb the rock everyday to get inside my house built in the cliff face – I grew up climbing…”.

My experience of rock climbing here in Mali has come only through Peace Corps… The Natural Resource Management (NRM) volunteers, like Natalie, went on a planned field trip to visit a local rock climbing facility, which was more broadly an Ecotourism operation, located just outside of Bamako. The purpose of the field trip was to learn about rock climbing in Mali, Ecotourism, and sustainable development… it didn’t take long for me, Bess, and Susmita to find our way onto what was an excellent NRM field trip…

Rock Climbing Field Trip

We traveled in a Peace Corps bus to a small town called Sidi about an hour outside of Bamako down a “mostly” paved road. The facility was nice, clean, and reminded me of a climbing facility I had stayed at in Krabi, Thailand… there were many small rounded straw-roofed bungalows in a complex with a communal “hangout” hanger and a restaurant/bar, a perfect place for people asking nothing else in life but a place to eat, sleep, climb, and ever once in a while… drink… the local guides were easily recognized by their constant smiling and emanation of happiness – I can always recognize a person who makes a living taking people rock climbing – they have the same - I am living Jared’s dream written all of them… anyway… we learned that people came to this facility mainly to rock climb but also to hike… and we then learned about a nearby waterfall and gigantic cave worth hiking to… so after an hour of talking about Ecotourism… the Peace Corps staff told us that the best way to learn about Ecotourism is to do it… and see first hand why it is appealing and worth paying money for… so we went hiking through the forests to see the climbing site… waterfall… and gigantic cave…

The rock climbing site was awesome… there are many established routes… all bolted climbs… and the rock is brilliant in color (red, brown, black), has many unique features, is grippy in texture, and forms some wild routes… we didn’t get to climb due to limited time and the size of our group… but barefoot-free-soloing was acceptable… one of the climbing guides complimented me on my technique and the head of the NRM department challenged me to climb higher… what fun… not only did we see the climbing area but we also heard the legendary Africa stories that blessed or haunted the various lookouts, caves, and outcrops – “this is where a warrior carved a hole in the rock with his tool to prove that he had magical powers strong enough to defeat his enemy, and so his villagers followed him into battle… etc…”

The waterfall was very beautiful too… the cave was very BIG and had an awesome view… the rock climbing was gorgeous… so Mali is a great place to visit… and rock climb… best of all… all this may be used to bring prosperity to a country limited in Natural Resources… good thing some of us have a deep love of climbing rock…

Pictures of Rock Climbing Site, Waterfall, and Big Cave

Talking about rock climbing in Mali and Eco tourism in the hotel/hostel/hanger

Hiking to the rock climbing site

Hiking up to the rock climbing site

Hiking up to the rock climbing site

Climbing Guide in white-cap

Good friend Kevin at the rock climbing site

Good Friend Kevin, at the hole made by the warrior

Listening to African Legends, at the look-out

Peace Corps Trainees
at an outcrop-lookout

Bess

Where the warrior cut a hole in the rock

Peace Corps Bus

parked near rock climbing site

Peace Corps Trainee, John, at waterfall

Hiking to the Waterfall

Peace Corps Trainees at Waterfall

Hiking to the big cave

The big cave

Peace Corps friends in the big cave

The group (NRM and others) in the mouth of the big cave

The big cave

Southern Mali

Jared wrestling with a boulder problem

Jared making yet another move upward

Jared pulling the crux at the top of the problem

Jared topping out while peacing (corps) out