Hombori Tondo

Where is Hombori Tondo?

Hombori Tondo is part of the Hombori Mountains, Mopti Region.

You will find it in: Mali.

Summit: 15.259° N, 1.666° W

The story behind it

Hombori Tondo rises from the flat Sahel like a fortress: vertical walls of red-brown sandstone, layer upon layer, with a wide and almost level top. Wind and the rare but heavy rains have carved the rock for millions of years, leaving caves, ledges and towers around the edges. Near the mountain stand the slim rock spires known as the Hand of Fatima, which draw climbers from far away because their smooth faces are among the most demanding in West Africa. Baboons scramble over the boulders, vultures circle along the cliffs, and thorny trees keep their leaves long into the dry season, when the harmattan wind fills the air with pale dust. The town of Hombori lies at the foot of the mountain, and its name is also the name of the peak.

Find it on the globe

Hombori Tondo is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.