Blogs from Bandiagara, Dogon Country, Mali, Africa

IMAGES OF MALI...ROCK ON ROCK IN DOGON COUNTRY The top of the falaise was rock, rock and more rock, appeared to be ironstone on sandstone...& we went up and down, by, and along until we rocked into Konsogou-Ley for a cup of tea, and "Welcome, welcome, you are very welcome" from our host as he played his own composition on his dogon guitar...and of course we danced...and hugged as we left...a very special time...and a highlight of the trek. Further rock hopping, climbing, winding, up, down and around...until we arrived at Dourou...a village split in half by a massive crack in the rock...and that is what there was...rock, rock and more rock...1,000 people living there...in a severe landscape... The accomodation was not condusive to pleasant sleeping...all inside, windowless and no free rooves...so we mixed with ... read more

IMAGES OF MALI...DANCING IN DOGON COUNTRY...ENNDE We can hear the drumming as we approach Ennde, a more substantial village at the foot of the cliff...4,000 cfa each OK..."here come and sit here" as we are led to the very front row...and an hour of flashing feathers, rustling raffia, pulsating dancing, masks, stilts, athletic bodies... with a cricket bat rock monolith as backdrop...a photograher's paradise known as the festival of the Danses des Masques... Our own mud campement tonight...showers...heaven for the girls...G & T's with our guides and members of the festival band...it does not get better than this! Buying mud cloth, masks & Dogon jewellery...always room for more...to add to my Dogon walking stick that I am determined to get back to Oz... Yabatalou for lunch, massage and siesta...and the odd first aid...a big dance session ... read more

Date: 30/1/2010 Evening: Begnimato We had agreed between us that we would like to start walking early in the morning and get to the lunch stop before it got too hot each day and then start again about 3pm each afternoon. So, today we started early and walked about 5km (in sand mostly) along the plain following the escarpment. Before leaving Ende, we had a long walk around the village as this was the village most famous for the mud painting - we watched several artists work on specific pieces. We also saw the women processing indigo dyed blankets and scarfs and one of our group was fortunate enough to purchase a copy of one of the masks worn during the dancing yesterday....it was a really good find as only one man in the village makes ... read more

Hello everyone, sorry for the delay in blogs but have been out of e-mail contact for last 3 weeks. In the last week of our travels in Ethiopia - lots to tell you all about but that will have to wait until we finish off Mali. Hope you are all well and safe. Regards, Roslyn. Date: 29/12/2010 Lunch: Teli.....Evening: Ende This morning we walked 4km from Kani Kombole to Teli - a reasonable sized village with Tellem dwellings. There is a well preserved Tellem village along the escarpment which is abandoned today but sometimes used for storage in the graneries and for burial sites. The Tellem people eventually moved out of the escarpment village and down onto the plain, however, it was a great experience to climb around this village and learn about the lifestyle - ... read more

The next afternoon we started the Dogon trail- the main reason for my booking the trip after reading about it in a magazine, and I was not disappointed. Dogon country is pretty much wide open space occupied by tiny little villages that still follow a very traditional way of life, they vary between being Muslim, Christian etc, but there's no animosity between any religious groups. The start of the walk was probably the most comfortable and most attractive, we only started at 3pm so it wasn't so hot, we began by clambering down a steep and beautiful red rock gorge down to the valley below, with awesome views down to the village we stayed at that night where we witnessed, and as always, took part in our first dance ceremony before climbing up to our rooftop ... read more