Dogon Country, Mali

The Dogon people are a Malian ethnic group that currently live along the Bandiagara Escarpment in the Malian desert. They use the cliff as protection from the elements and enemies much like the way the Pueblo Native Americans of Mesa Verde in Colorado. After constantly hearing how amazing their culture is from other volunteers, I took a few days off saving babies and headed North into the desert with a few friends to see it for myself. Other people had talked up similar trips so much that I had become skeptical. Having seen many of the National Parks in the states I kept my expectations low. After the first night at the base of the cliffs I was proven wrong and thoroughly impressed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogon

Tired and covered in dust from the long bush taxi ride north we arrived in Koro, Mali. It’s about 15 hours on various transport means from my house… mountain bike, bus, bush taxi, etc. We met our guide Oumar who has been taking volunteers on tours for over 10 years now and we set off in a beat up station wagon to the first village next to the cliffs. We got there at dusk just as another rainstorm let up. The station wagon couldn’t bring us all the way due to a rising river, so we had to get out and wade across and hike to the village. The evening light made the cliff line appear massive and a roaring waterfall next to the village produced an impulsing beat. Mist rolled over parts of the cliffs hiding their true height and gave the entire village an eerie ancient feel. We got to our compound and had a quick dinner and passed out after a long wet day. I slept hard, but as usual I had to wake up in the middle of the night to use the facilities. This is a nuisance that I have come to accept, but tonight I was grateful for my small bladder. I woke up to a full moon peeking through the clouds. As the rain on top of the cliffs continued a virtual lineup of waterfalls appeared through the fog and ran off the cliffs. The ancient abandoned village under the cliffs was illuminated by the moon as a mist and dull roar encompassed the compound. It was one of the most surreal experiences I have ever seen. I just sat there for what seemed like forever as the village slept. I tried to capture it with my camera, but the moonlight was not sufficient, and I quickly gave up. Film can never capture an entire experience and certain things are more vivid remembered only in the brain. I will always keep this memory. It was amazing. I did get a little clip of footage in the morning of the view, but the waterfalls had already started to cease as the sun came up.

Wanting to get a good view of the cliff line and some good pictures of the sun rising and lighting up the cliffs, I left the camp early and hiked out almost a mile away. I crossed a small stream and continued up some sand dunes to get a better viewpoint. The rain continued up on the cliffs. I was gone only an hour and returned as my stomach started to call for breakfast. I followed my steps back to the village and a small concern that was in back of my mind when I crossed the stream, which was only at my calves an hour before, became a reality. The stream had risen a lot and now was 3 times as wide and possibly over my head. The current was strong and increased at the narrows. Even at its narrowest spot I could never jump it and if I did fall in would be swept away. I walked a ways in both directions but found no solutions. I had to get back to the village to start our tour and decided to try and cross where I had before, as to have a better idea of its depth. Knowing that if I lost my footing and had to swim my camera would be ruined, I decided to wrap it in my shirt and coat and throw it across the stream. It was only about 40 ft and thought the risk of a cushioned impact was less than it getting wet. So I took off my sandals and looked for a soft landing spot in the grass. I threw it as far as I could. The wind caught my coat and slowed it down enough that it bounced off the bank and into the stream. So there I was watching my camera float down the stream slightly wrapped in my coat. I whipped my sandals across the stream and dove in to save my camera. I was carried down stream a bit but managed to get my camera out of the water. Sure that all my photos and camera were ruined I returned to the village soaking wet too scared to open my camera bag. It was obvious to the villagers that I had to swim the stream, and most thought it was pretty funny. In the end my camera and memory cards turned out to be dry, and I had another funny story to add to my journal.

The next few days were spent visiting cliff dwellings from centuries ago, some from the Tellum people who, according to our guide, lived there starting in the 1400’s. They climbed vines that have all been cut down or receded from climate change to build their houses in hard to reach places high on the cliffs. Some of the houses are 100’s of meters high above sheer faces. Other ethnic groups like the Dogon that settled in the region thought that the Tellum people could fly due to the heights and inaccessibility of their settlements. We also visited local hunters, sacred ceremony sites and graveyards. Our guide Oumar was great and his ability to speak English really made it seem like a vacation. I read in Lonely Planet Guide Book and heard from other volunteers that visiting the Dogon Plateau and Escarpment is one of the “Top 10 Things” to do before you die according to some. I am not sure if it should be in that list, but it definitely was close to making my mine.