One last climbing trip?

Yea rock climbing!

The last week was spent in Hombori again for, quite possibly, my last climbing trip here. Sad as it may be, my time it running out rather quickly. I have been invited to the Foreign Service Oral Exam (the final test/interview before I find out if I will be hired as a Public Diplomacy Officer) on July 10 in Washington DC. It is a strange feeling knowing that I will be leaving Mali in under three months. Speaking with friends in village, they are both happy for me and sad that I will be gone. It is good to know that I have something to look forward to when I leave and I am excited to see all of my family and friends back home, but it is dissapointing to think about all of the connections and friendships I have made here that I will not be able to continue. I take comfort in the idea that I will be able to call friends in village on Sundays when they go into Douentza for market (the beauty of Skype!), but it is just not the same as actually sitting, joking, making tea and sharing in life with them. Perhaps I will be lucky enough to return here one day in the not-too-distant future.

With a date set to be in the States, I am rallying to finish up all of my projects, do everything I have wanted to do here and enjoying the remainder of my time with both Peace Corps and Malian friends. I will write up the final report on the cereal bank project soon (there is still one receipt that I am waiting on) and hold an educational session on proper mosquito net usage in village next week. Thanks to my mom's coworkers, we received funding for mosquito nets to be sold at a highly reduced rate in village. The nets were bought for roughly$3 a piece, and we'll be selling them for about $0.50 each. I am opposed to just giving the nets away because they will be underappreciated and I also don't want to continue the practice of gift giving in Mali. If people buy the nets with their own earned money, they will have a greater appreciation for the nets and will take better care of them. If given a gift, they may sell them, use them for fishing nets, turn them into ropes to tie up their animals with, etc. Selling the nets will be more effective. Plus, the money that is recycled back in will go to both the men's and the women's associations. They will use this money to fund projects such as garden seed dispersal and tree planting campaigns (to counteract the effects of desertification in the Sahel and to improve soil quality in the fields...two for one woohoo!).

Back to Hombori... We had some pretty gnarly and crazy climbs. They were the most intense and difficult I have done so far. I spent 5 days at the Hand of Fatim with Jared, Chris and Dan. We climbed on the blocks and also set up multipitch climbs on 3 of the 5 fingers. The best day was the last. We woke up at 3:30am to escape the heat of the day for the two hour hike to the base of the climb. It's hot season now, so the temperature rounds off at about 110 degrees midday. Fun, huh? I got up real early, made a quick cup of coffee and had to fend off a giant scorpion that was patrolling around my climbing gear. It eventually ran off and I was able to get my gear ready. We put on our headlamps and began the hike. About 30 minutes in, we ran across a young brown and yellow snake in the path (probably poisonous, but we didn't get close enough to find out). Jared snapped a few photos and we moved on once the snake cleared out of our way. The sun was just rising when we set up the first of 4 pitches. Jared lead climbed, but it was still too dark to climb w/o his headlamp. I belayed him up, he set the anchor and then I belayed me up, followed by Chris. The perch was tiny, and we didn't think one could be any smaller. We were mistaken. After the next pitch (about 60 meters up), we ended up on a completely exposed perch barely big enough for three sets of feet. It's a good thing we had so many locking caribeeners and slings! By 8:30am, we had made it to the top of the fourth pitch, hiked around to the gap between the first and second finger and attempted to set up a slack line for Jared to walk across (crossing a gap 200 metters above the ground!), but the wind proved too much. Jared tried to get up on the rope, but was blown over by the wind and became entangled in his support ropes. No worries, though. He untangled and brought himself back to the solid rock. You can check out a few of the better pictures from the trip below. Enjoy! I may end up in Hombori for a few more days in late May or early June, depending on work here. I would definitely like to spoil myself one more time by climbing at such an epic location.

A giant griffin bird flying high above Hombori at the Hand of Fatim. It's wingspan is wider than I can spread my arms.

The longest pitch of the climb called Black Mamba (intimidating name).

Hanging on and rockin the touba laah (not a skirt, more or less a giant square of fabric sewn together with leg holes... funny looking, but awesome pants for hot season).

Jared bouldering in shadow mode in front of Suri Tondo and Wanderdu (the rocks in the background).

Jared pulling a Peter Pan move across the slack line that he attempted to walk across. Too bad for the wind.

Up and at 'em I go.

Jared belaying Chris up from the top of the fourth pitch the last day. We're up real high... about 450-500 meters).

Chris entertaining us with a cover of Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life

Chris plays guitar while Jared plays rock. I had fun with the camera.

Here is the vicarious perch from our climb the last day. Not much room to hang out. Jared even had to keep one foot up.