Climb the mist-shrouded peaks of Mount Bintumani © Katrina Manson
The highest point in west Africa, Bintumani is known as the ‘king of the mountains’.
The highest point in west Africa (well, west of Mount Cameroon’s 4,095m), Mount Bintumani isn’t known as the ’king of the mountains’ (‘Loma Mansa’ to the Kuranko) for nothing. Even finding yourself at the foot of its 1,948m, among the range of the Loma Mountains, takes some doing, and trying to manage an ascent in the rainy season approaches madness; not that people haven’t done it. Look out for Bintumani herself – the female spirit that lives on the mountain. There is more than one way to climb this mountain: you can scale the beast in a day if you’re dead set on speed; or seven, if you’re keener on taking your time, camping out in the wilderness, spotting herds of buffalo and trekking through rainforest that even the rebels didn’t reach.