The Dogon of Mali

And I'm off!!! After a year of growing into my African alter ego, living through an unbelievable hot season, and being able to make jokes in Hausa, I headed out of Niger for a month of vacation. My first stop was my next door neighbor, Mali. Despite the similarity in landscape and climate, the cultural differences were enough to transform me to a different world!
I strapped on my back pack and passed through Burkina Faso to enter Mali from the southeast corner. To cross the border into Mali, I waited for a bush taxi to carry me down the 120km dirt road. The golden rule of bush taxis is that you can ALWAYS fit one more, so after smushing yet another person in, we were ready to depart at about 5:00pm. I knew this would have me traveling at night, but didn't want to waste my night in Ouahigouya (try saying it, it's fun!) We stopped at several fireside customs and border crossing huts and finally arrived at Koro, Mali at 3:00 in the morning after the customs agent detained us for two hours to search everything on top of and inside the van.
My luck turned a bit better the next morning as I was able to hitch a ride with an NGO vehicle to the next big town, Bankass. This would be the launching point for my hike into Dogon country so I stocked up on bread, threw chlorine tablets into my well water, and waved off offers for a guide. Then I found another bush taxi to take me to the dirt road that serves as the Dogon "trail head". Most people will try to tell you that a guide is compulsory, but I thought I'd try my luck and ignore them. Traveling solo has its benefits! It took a while to explain that I've hiked infinitely harder trails than the flat road winding along the escarpment and that living in Niger had me accustomed to the heat. It's amazing how much they think white people can't do! Probably rightfully so as I saw groups of tourists touting bottled water and whizzing by me in 4x4s.
With Bob Dylan in my ears, I starting walking to Teli, a beautiful village that would be my first stop. I met a young guy who took me up into the cliffs where the Dogon built their villages. It is believed that the area used to be very wet and lush, so the Dogon kept their villages in the cliffs and reached them through vines that hung off the 300 foot cliffs. They were a pygmie people with a very rich animist tradition. They worshipped the crocodile for its ability to move through water and reach land and incorporated masks into many of their celebrations. Before traveling, the Dogon of Teli would visit a pool of water in the cliffs that still drips today, in order to give alms and wash themselves in preparation.
I moved on from Teli after paying 1,000 cfa (about $2US) to the village chief for the privilege of stopping by. Along my walk, I was offered a ride by some Flag beer distributors. I accepted the lift for a few kilometers and made some plans to meet up for beers in one of the upcoming villages. After reaching my destination for the night, Yaba Talu, I tossed back some Flags, had an incredibly delicious dish of chicken and sauce, and settled down in my sleeping bag on top of a mud hut for a good night sleep under a sky of stars.
I made my way out of Dogon country by hitch hiking with a madman dump truck driver who laughed each time he ran a donkey cart off the narrow road. I was relieved to arrive at the next main town and jump off his truck with my life still in tact!
The next leg of my journey went much more smoothly as I entered to calm river side city of Mopti. A major trading port on the bend of the Niger River, large boats still carry salt slabs that were hauled across the Sahara by camel caravans. A nice man gave me a tour of the city and invited me to have lunch with his family. This took me into the Old City of Mopti, a place where tourists rarely venture. Family life and structure is not much different from Niger and I felt at home with my new friends.
The next day took me to Bamako, the capital, for a few days of bar hopping and incredible live music before I flew out to Tanzania where I would spend the bulk of my vacation.
(photo index: Me in Mopti, My guide in the Teli cliffs, the Teli cliffs, the trailhead)