So I lied. TODAY was glorious. Glorious. GLORIOUS. That hike Julie and I had planned out? Totally happened and turned out to be better than we could have ever imagined. We woke up early, had some delicious rice porridge with powdered milk and chai mix, then headed out on our delicious adventure. As it turned out, we never did make it to the ridge we saw from the cliff yesterday. But we did end up walking for a solid three hours outside of Bamako into the boondocks of towns whose names we could not pronounce and whose beauty we never expected. Early on the trek, we found a little river (read: trickling creek) in the middle of the road and just decided to follow it, since the water had a breeze nearby where it seemed to open up a bit. The riverbed opened up into a flat rock canal of sorts and we just decided it was more fun to follow the water than to find our mystery hill. As we followed, the river opened up and we found people washing their clothes, bathing, playing in the water, and we seemed to be on some of the only waterfront property in all of Bamako (and Mali for that matter), which was strange and nice.
About an hour along this path, the trash heaps just stopped appearing and the houses got more spaced out until suddenly, we looked around and realized that there was GRASS! There were TREES! And in some places, there were even baby farming plots! We stopped for a while under one of said trees and just hung out for a while with our first of many hoards of children to play with us. We played soccer for a bit by the river’s edge, took a brief respite under the minimal shade of the tree, then kept on walking. Surprisingly, the further away we got from Bamako proper, the less we heart toubabou cries, which was great. For the majority of our trip, we got to travel without harassment (though certainly we were noticed). And as our trek brought us more and more visions of this strange green Paradise, that lack of attention became critical and so valuable. Honestly, at points, we both looked around and just said, “WHAT THE HELL? How is this still in Bamako?” It was so unbelievably beautiful. Though most people who might see what we saw would have smelled outdoor toilet water and seen algae blooms in the water, I legitimately felt like I had found the land of milk and honey after forty years in the desert. There was something distinctly holy about the precious quality of where we were and I loved being able to cherish it.
We eventually walked into town from the river and found a food vendor (harder than in in Sikoro, for certain). After turning down a pot of fly-covered fish heads and the oh-so-sour piles of zabans, we found a quaint little shack that was serving our favorite foods ever: tiga dega nah (peanut mush sauce – don’t knock it ‘til you try it), and nadji (generic sauce), both with copious amounts of rice and only costing a quarter for a heaping plateful. It was a great treat.
As if the day couldn’t get any better, an hour or so further down the river, we found ourselves our very own rock climbing gym. WAY bigger than our own rock formation in Sikoro, this place had some INTENSE climbs that were likely too dangerous to tackle, though we did anyway. The fact that dozens of local children could scramble up around us to get to the top in under five minutes made me feel that it was certainly do-able, though we took slightly more strenuous routes. It was so nice to get the exercise and be doing something physically challenging outside. And the views were great. From that formation, we could look back and see all of Bamako from the suburb we were in. It was quite a view – one that really brings it home that Bamako is the fastest-growing city in all of Sub-Saharan Africa.
After a long day, we just high-tailed it back and went to our respective homestays for well-earned bucket baths. But let me tell you, I could not have been prouder of the day’s work. It was so worth it, one of the most satisfying days I’ve had here to date.
Mmmm…
X Adama X
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