PONTS DE LIANE

The authentic liana bridges that are the pride of the region are inherited from sacred Yacouba traditions. You have to go as far as the Danané region to see them, some 80 km west of Man where the Cavally River cuts off some villages from the road. Imagine a bridge of frail intertwined lianas that you have to cross while keeping your balance above a bubbling river... a shivering Indiana Jones-like ordeal! There are few of them now, no more than a dozen, as concrete has replaced these fragile bridges that must be constantly renewed, but the tradition is centuries old and still alive. The liana bridges were once legion where the roads leading to villages had to span the bubbling Cavally River to return from the fields. The most visited and accessible today is the one in Lieupleu, 20 km from Danané, where the river is wider than in other villages. But a concrete bridge ruins the landscape right next to it, which is a pity. You have to go to Vatouo to see an authentic liana bridge, rebuilt in March 2022. Authentic because it connects the village to the other bank of the Cavally River, the road, the fields... it has always been used as a vital artery where all kinds of goods transit. It is also authentic because it was built in one night as the tradition wants. Legend has it that the Yacouba initiates built the liana bridge in a single night, helped by a sacred spider that would weave the lianas like a giant web.