Day 3: Mali – Dogon Country

Mali is home to a relatively stark and flat landscape.  In the center of the country however, large majestic canyons dot an area of 100 miles.  This area is popularly known as Dogon Country, or Pays Dogon in French, since the Dogon people have settled into villages along its edge. There are tens if not hundreds of villages that line the plateau, each one as picturesque as the other.

The history of how the Dogon arrived to settle along the harsh terrain of the plateau is  questionable.  Moreover, they were not its original inhabitants.  They were greeted by the Tellum people, who the Dogon believe, were magical creatures with super powers.   The Tellum people lived hundreds of feet high inthe steep cliffsides, settling into small cave-like dwellings.  With no ropes or ladders, the Dogon believe the Tellum could fly. All we know now is that the Tellum are no longer here.  They fled.  No one knows why.  But their steep cave dwellings can still be seen today, and it took our breath away when we saw them lining the top of the plateau.  HOW did the Tellum get up there?  COULD they really fly?  WERE they aliens, as has been suggested?

Here are some photos of us hiking down to a few Dogon villages.  It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Overlooking the savannah near Sanga village, on the top of the plateau, about to hike down

Climbing down a Dogon ladder to reach a village

Hiking down to Ireli Village - We had no idea of the view we were about to see, pictured below

Dogon homes at the bottom, hundreds of Tellum dwellings in the cliffside - Ireli village

Closer view of the Tellum dwellings

Chilling with village elders in front of their town hall 'toguna' (Females are NOT allowed inside)

Side view of the Toguna

Upon arriving in the village, we were greeted with a warm bowl of ... millet beer.

We’re not normal

Most people that go to Timbuktu….go to Timbuktu and BACK.  We, on the other hand, went to Timbuktu and on, and on, and on, and then BACK.

Going from the Sahara desert to the tropical coast of Benin within a week was one heck of a trip, but it was worth it.  Despite a few mishaps and warnings (dodging Tuareg grenades in Gao, Mali / entering Benin without a visa / etc)., we remained in high spirits and unscathed the whole way through.  We rode camels in the desert, ran with giraffes in the Savannah, and hiked through cliff villages in the hills. It was truly a first rate adventure and I am seriously depressed it’s over (and that the boys are gone).  Before I go into details and post photos of the various segments of our journey, below is a map of West Africa and of the route we followed from Bamako, Mali all the way to Cotonou, Benin, covering over 2,500 kilometers.

T-1 Swimming on Land

That’s right.  Only ONE MORE DAY until my boyfriend, his brother and my brother arrive for a action-filled jam-packed two week visit I’ve nicknamed, “Swimming on Land.”  That is because we will literally be following the legendary Niger River by car from Bamako, Mali all the way to Benin (stopping in Segou, Mali | Djenne, Mali | Mopti, Mali | Timbuktu, Mali | Gao, Mali | Niamey, Niger | Malanville, Benin + an overnight in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire).  My boyfriend was also a Peace Corps volunteer, in Benin, and we will be visiting his village along the way.  We plan to hike, to swim, to follow desert elephants, to spot bush giraffes, to sleep on Dogon rooftops and perhaps even to duneboard on the desert hills.

The segment of our trip to Timbuktu coincides with the Festival in the Desert – a three-day  concert, 15 miles outside of Timbuktu, frequented by hundreds if not thousands of Malians and international tourists coming to see famous African and Western bands perform, at the same time sleeping in Toureg tents and riding camels.  This fesitval is supposed to be amazing, however long ago, I opted NOT to go because I am not a big fan of hoopla and crowds.  I thought going to Timbuktu was enough.  (C’mon, Timbuktu!?  I cannot wait to get my body there.  Having that stamp in my passport will finally SOLIDIFY my status as a real world traveler.  It will be as priceless to me, a traveler, as an Olympic gold medal may be to an athlete. ).

Although we are NOT going to the festival, I am following some travel warnings issued FOR the festival nonetheless.  If  I feel like our safety is ever at risk (well more of a risk that it is normally) I have a PLAN B where we would scratch Timbuktu and go through Burkina Faso, the country, to get to Niger instead.  😦  I would love to see Burkina Faso but I really don’t want to give up on my dream of going to Timbuktu.  But don’t worry, safety first.

I plan to check in with you all every few days ago, and hopefully, will find a connection strong enough for me to post some stories along the way.  Just want to let you all know, access to the internet will be intermittent, but hold in there, I promise some fabulous photos and hopefully good stories at the end!

On another note, this is my 100th post!!!  Wow, I cannot believe I’ve kept this up but I am glad I did.  Thank you for being faithful readers, I love your comments and appreciate your input!  If you’ve been a lurker until now, I would LOVE if you could de-lurk and identify yourself.  You can make up your name if you want, you can be Jane, John and Mohammed, that’s up to you.  But I would love to know how you came across my blog and anything more about you.  A tout a l’heure!