Blogs from Dogon Country, Mali, Africa

For two centuries there were two groups living peacefully in the Dogon country - the Dogon people who were farmers and the Tellem - the meat eaters or pygmy small red people. The land back then was forest and had all the big game animals like the lions. But one day the Dogon people decided to cut trees down to create more land for cultivation. With that, overtime, the lions and other animals left and so too the Tellem. A war happened and the midget sized Tellem lost out and moved on to the forests of Congo and Cameroon or north to Burkina Faso… Who knows? Dogon country is made up in 3 parts – the plateau, the ridge and the plains. Coming from Mopti, Dogon is south about an hours motorbike ride. I organised a ... read more

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

1/1/2011 - day in Mopti On arrival in Mopti we were met by our tour organiser - who would accompany us on the river and festival sections of the tour. This was a good opportunity for some down time and washing. Four of us decided to take a walk around the town before dinner and while it is a major town in Mali - it didn't really hold anything special for us. The main area of interest was the Mosque, and we were invited up onto people's roofs to get a better view of the Mosque. "No charge" they say, but, you don't get anything for free and on the way up the stairs onto one roof we passed a little area set aside for making local handicrafts. So you know that you are going to ... read more