Day 3: Hike along the Dogon cliffs
Some of the Dogon and Telem villages (Telem are precursors to the Dogon) are stuck in crevices on cliffs. They look much like the Anazassi cliff-dwellings in Arizona. We hiked along a trail just off the bottom of the cliffs through villages. We often made way for women with baskets on their head going to the fields or to the market. Our guide, Mamadou “Le magnifique” (we should all have superlatives after our names, my sister pointed out), told us about the Dogon cosmology (a list of “sacred” animals) and we gave Kola nuts to the elders sitting under the Tougona (“la maison de palable”).

(Eric, Filou and "la plaine du Pays Dogon")


(The old men sit under the Maison de Palable called "Tougona")

In the afternoon we hiked back up the cliffs under the rain and waterfalls. A stream of women were coming back from the market with baskets on their heads and children tied to their backs – hoping from slippery rock to slippery rock bare-footed or in flip flops. Amazing! But we made it up alright without injuries too. Dinner was served at the Campement de Sangha on a long table for us all after showers, and we felt much like we’d deserved it.

(Robbie goes to Dogon Country)