Reason #1 to go to Mali....

Africa » Mali » Dogon Country
November 2nd 2010

Published: November 17th 2010

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Sorry but we are not at home

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We stayed in Bandiagara for more than three hours, as one of wheelbearings of our 4x4 was ruined. On the way to Bandiagara we had to stop every 5 minutes to throw water at the wheel in order to cool it....

Why did I always want to go to Mali? Two reasons, and Dogon is one of them. Just imagine a big field with nothing much interesting to see. In itself it's pretty dull and boring, but then for some reason there is a huge cliff-like rock wall there. A bit like the Grand Canyon, but then with only one canyon wall. The wall can be up to 500 meters high. At the base of the wall the Dogon have numerous small villages where they live. This sight is already spectacular, but the Tellem houses are the finishing touch. But I'm rushing ahead.

So in Sévaré we arranged a guide and headed off for a 4-day trip hiking along this wall. The guide was a small guy, who actually lived in one of the villages that we passed. FYI: He was 28 years old, but looked like 18. Guess he knew this, cause he was sporting a small little mustage, just to make him look a bit older... Nice guy though, he talked a lot, also spontaneously explaining stuff and pointing out interesting things. Ok, he just spoke French, so we really had to brush up ours, but we managed pretty

The Donkey Boys in Bandiagara

Bandiagara is one of the main entry points to the Dogon area.

well.

From Sévaré we took a 4x4 to Sangha, a Dogon village on top of the wall. We needed a long, long stop halfway in Bandiagara, that was rather unplanned. Technical problems with the break resulting in a steaming tyre and a burning rubber smell... just below the fuel tank... But ok, the 4 days hiking basically became 3 days, as getting into the Dogon country took longer than planned. Overall it was still really good. The views were good, not 100% spectacular as there was already quite some dust in the air. Three weeks ago were the last rains, but the amount of dust... Really makes me wonder how the views are in May at the end of the dusty dry season... Taking pics from locals wasn't really possible, unless you would give them a small gratitude, like kola nuts. Big nuts, grown in Ivory Coast, bitter and apparently you can get a bit high by eating them. We tried, but the taste..... not meant for us. The hiking was in itself pretty easy. You get up at ~6.30 (the sun is rising), have a light breakfast. Walk till 11.30, rest and have lunch till 15.00 as the

Kola Nuts

The locals love them, especially the elders. This we used to pay respect to them and to be able to take pictures in return.

sun is too hot and too strong. And then do a final part till 17.30. The places where you sleep also arrange some basic food and you'll sleep under the stars. And many, many stars you can see.

Reason #1 to go to Mali: The Dogon Country

But what can you actually see and who are/were they? At the base of the wall the Dogon have numerous small villages where they still live. But the Tellem were living there before the Dogon people arrived and there were still lush forests around that time. They built their houses on the ridges of the rock wall. Some really halfway up, sometimes having basically whole villages together, 2000 people easy. Apparently they scaled the wall with ropes, as the wall itself is steep. Because of this it is believed by some in Mali today that the Tellem possessed the power of flight. The Tellem were pygmies or "small red people" who built dwellings around the base of the wall as well as directly into the cliff-face, sometimes really halfway up. Many of these Tellem structures are still visible in the area. The Tellem people have disappeared later on either by assimilation

Dogon Door

Wood carvings everywhere and this was just a simple one...

into the Dogon culture or some other unknown reason. Our guide told us they just moved east towards Burkina and Niger... Anyhow the Tellem left, so right now you'll just have the Dogon living at the base of the wall.

The Dogon are unique in that they have kept and continued to develop their own culture even in the midst of Islamic invasions, which have conquered and adapted many of the current people groups. The Dogon villages were established in the Bandiagara area in consequence of the Dogon people's collective refusal to convert to Islam a thousand years ago.

Until the 1930's the Dogon were very insolated from the outside world and resisted any foreign influence. Through oral tradition it is said that they originated from the west bank of the Niger River, around 1490 A.D. they were fleeing from the Mossi people and entered the Bandiagara cliffs region. There they have lived ever since. Because of their refuge in the cliffs they were able to resist the Muslims, the French, and others who have attempted to conquer them. The Dogon are strongly oriented towards harmony, which is reflected in many of their rituals. For instance, in one

Me and our guide Boubacar at a Toguna

At the Toguna the men settle issues of the village and in case there are no issues they just gather there for a comfi chat in the shade.

of their most important rituals, the women praise the men, the men thank the women, the young express appreciation for the old, and the old recognize the contributions of the young.

Some Tellem buildings—most especially the grainaries—are still in use by the Dogon, although generally Dogon villages are at the bottom or top of the escarpment, where water gathers and farming is possible. The Dogon are farmers and grow millet, sorghum and rice, as well as onions, peanuts, and some other vegetables. Unfortunately the mangos weren't ripe yet...

The majority of the Dogon practice an animist religion, including the ancestral spirit Nommo, with its festivals and a mythology in which Sirius plays an important part. But a significant minority of the Dogon practice Islam, another minority practice Christianity. We met an American researcher and he stated that the number of animist Dogon is really decreasing rapidly. 6 years ago more than 80% were animist, now just 60%.

In one of the pics you'll find a Toguna, which is a building only for men. They rest here much of the day throughout the heat of the dry season, discuss affairs and take important decisions. The roof of a

The Tellem Houses

High upon the wall, safe from the wild beasts, but also just incredible. Scaling every day these walls in order to descend and ascend again.... crazy!!!

toguna is made by 8 layers of millet stalks. It is a low building in which one cannot stand upright. This helps avoiding violence when discussions get heated...

Women have their own house, but this is not inside the village. We couldn't see or visit one: The house for menstruating women. It is constructed by women and is of lower quality than the other village buildings. Women having their period are considered to be unclean and have to leave their family house to live during five days in this house. They use kitchen equipment only to be used here. They bring with them their youngest children. But the strange part is that these animist Dogon ladies only have approx 40 cycles in their life, compared to the 400 of western women. The American researcher I mentioned earlier did actually a multi-year research on this topic.

------ Intermezzo ------

Ok, time for a stupid story: Extreme customer service

At the end of one day hiking we were comfi relaxing on a roof terrasse, enjoying the views. A bit thirsty, but ok. So when the locals ask us what we want to drink, we're going for the 'local'

Dogon Bags

Just a nice picture, that's all.

beer: a fermented millet brew. They say it's possible, so we give them enough money to get us 3 bottles: 1 for before dinner and 2 after. It's October 31, so somehow it's our 6 years anniversary. Time to celebrate. We wait and wait and do some more waiting. Our dinner arrives and still no drinks. We eat and wait. At approx 20:30 (Agi is dozing off already in the chair) we hear that the guy couldn't get the drinks in the nearby village. We look at each other in surprise: he had to go to the next village??? But ok, it will arrive shortly. We wait. Agi dozed off, so in the end at 21:30 we went to bed. No drinks, no party.

Later on our guide comes up to us and tells us that the guy made it back. It's 23:30. He did a 16km round trip on foot, passed 3 villages, but ok he got our drinks. We got our 2 bottles, eventhough it should have been 3, but looking down from the roof we could see 2 guys drinking from a similar bottle we had. They deserved it. They showed customer service the extreme way.

Tellem Houses

These were just at the base of the wall, others were high up the wall. Sometimes halfway up, really impressive.

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Dogon is nice and by now we really understand why it's one of the main reasons to go to Mali. And to be honest, I really wanted to go to Dogon, but I didn't really know what to expect, but great it was. But to all good things there's an end, so also for our Dogon trip. We scaled the wall (ok, it was a pretty easy trail up through a natural passage) and ended up in Dourou, a small village on top of the wall. The stars were still properly aligned for us, cause it was market day. No tourists, just the locals doing their own stuff. Really nice to see, sitting on top of a big rock with a frozen juice in your hand just watching the crowd. Nice.

Walking through Dogon and having a Dogon guide really gives additional insights in their lives. Their greetings are really funny to watch and hear. These elaborate greetings happen whenever one Dogon meets another. This custom is repeated over and over, throughout a Dogon village, all day. During a greeting ritual, the person who has started the greeting answers a series of questions about his

Small boys tending the goats

Crossing the fields with the wall in the background. The Dogon people still are living there and are farmers.

or her whole family, from the person who was already there. The answer is always "sewa", which means that everything is fine. Then the Dogon who has entered the contact repeats the ritual, asking the resident how his or her whole family is. Because of the word sewa is so commonly repeated throughout a Dogon village, neighboring peoples have dubbed the Dogon "the sewa people". It's always the same, so it becomes almost like a mantra. And this goes fast, really fast. Only after these greetings they can ask each other how things really are. And it's really funny to hear.

------ Intermezzo ------

Ok, time for a final funny story: Agi's Lunch Buddy

Agi often told me what a city boy I am (e.g. I prefer my chicken filet from the supermarket, properly packed, so you can hardly recognize that it is actually a chicken). However during one lunchbreak Agi got a buddy which she didn't like: a lizard with a flashy orange tail, total lenght ~ 25cm. Agi is just lying on her matress, relaxed until she notices him. He looks at her, and doesn't look afraid. A comfi lizard one metre away from her.

Meet the Band!!

While hiking we encountered this band. They were playing music, while other men were harvesting the millet. The men who harvested sang along with the music, just to make their labor under the burning sun more bearable.

Three minutes later he makes a dash forward and freezes again: 50cm from Agi. Agi and the lizard keep eye contact all the time, but guess that the staring game has been won by the lizard, as Agi turns to me and tells me the lizard came closer to her. Within moments it approached more and is only 30cm away. Agi becomes kinda annoyed and uncomfortable. She backs off and moves away a bit. He doesn't. He goes away for a moment, but keeps his eyes on Agi. She insists we swap matresses, so ok we do so. But the lizard is no fool, he quickly repositions himself and starts staring again at Agi. Agi is not happy. Then the guide tells us, that in case such a lizard crosses over a woman, that woman will become pregnant. Agi doesn't care, but keeps on losing the staring game with the lizard. She won't / can't relax. Is she afraid? In the end nothing really happens. He disappears in a hole, but before doing so he actually runs over my legs. Just wonder what happens in 9 months.....