Mali trip part 1 : The Dogon Country

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January 15th 2008

Published: January 16th 2008

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nat_vallee

Waiting for Ouaga-Mopti Bus

Waiting.. a really important patient thing that happens a lot in Africa

Alright.. as Courtney and I took about 600 pictures during the whole trip and there are just so many of them, I decided to divide the Mali trip in Half so that I could put as many pictures as possible for you to see and also, so I wont get pissed off with the slow connection and just go a crappy job. Cause yeah, really, just to post this blog entry takes me a whole afternoon. So much for working enh! But what can you do!

So this entry follow the Christmas one. We left on December 26th, had a hard time finding a bus that would get us to Mali and that would depart ASAP. We ended up taking a bunch of cabs around the city to different bus station and finally got to this station I never heard of where there was a bus leaving Ouaga to Mopti. We didn't need to get all the way to Mopti, we would get off in Bankass a bit before. The ticket, an expensive 15 000 CFA, so about 35$. We waited sitting there in the station thinking the big coach bus was the one leaving and that everyone that was

Our first bus of many...

Now leaving Ouaga to Mopti, Mali... We thought we would get to Mali that day.. Yeah right!! African ain't like that! We got to Ouahigouya, 5 hours away, still on the Burkina side.

next to us were also going to Mali.. NO! Out of no where, someone came and told us: "hey, the Mali girls.. come here". We got around the wall and saw this minivan bus. There was NO WAY we would go all the way to Mali in that! Oh crap.. It was a fun start though, the bus and people were great. On the way from Ouaga to Ouahigouya, people were getting on and off the bus, wherever they needed to go, so it was making a good circulation of people to be sitting with, whether it's a mom and her cute little baby or a man that really stinks. We see many things in those buses. One thing was stable throughout the ride though: The bus, us and the bus company people. It took about 5 hours if not more to get to a town you can reach in 2h30 by car (I went already with my NGO) We got there at night and when we got to the Shell station where the terminal is at, they told us we had to stay in Ouahigouya over night! WTF? I was so pissed.. The people of the bus company told

Early morning

We ended up staying in Ouahigouya overnight, to leave to the border first thing in the morning. They told us they would get us at the hotel at 5 AM to leave at 6 AM.. We're there waiting.. they never showed up....

us we would get to Mali that night, not just a couple hours away on the Burkina side! That meant we were screwing up all our schedule, we would be one days late, more expenses etc..etc.. Yeah.. Come on Nath.. what were you thinking? It's africa... Nothing works the way it was planed.

So the bus company guys brought us to a hotel close by they knew. We took a double bed room with an extra mattress on the floor. We set up the mosquito net on the double bed but could not set up the other one for the small bed, which resulted in COurtney having the shittiest night, getting bitten by who knows what.. probably bed bugs actually. We went in the street that night to "shop some meat" Got some sheep meat in the street and some salad freshly made.. It was an awesome dinner. Nothing better in Africa than all the types of street food you can find. We also had a nice shower under the stars and... believe it or not... it was my first toilet hole experience. But I survived and I'm proud of it!! 😊
The next day, the bus company guys

Crossing the border

We had to get off the bus plenty of times, walk to the police or border stations, nice dirt road in the middle of nowhere though..

told us they would come and get us at 5 AM at the hotel and that the bus was leaving at 6 AM. So, super tired, all bitten by God-knows-what!, we got up at 4 AM to be ready for 5 AM.. Yeah, should never do that again... They never showed up. I even called the 2 guys and the one whow as suposed to come get us answered with a really tired voice and said he was coming.. NOP.. We ended up walking to the bus station with our bags cause we were scared we would miss the bus. We got to the bus station.. Nothing.. no one.. Not even a bus.. We sat down at a breakfast stand, drank coffee and tea, ate bread. Finally, we saw Guira, the bus company guy who was all surprised we were still there.. He brought us to this other company and said to wait there, the bus would come.

The second mini-van showed up at about 8 AM.. yeah.. we could have slept a lot more! Now we really knew we were going to Mali.. The Van comes with about 5 touaregs guys in it!! Hurray! It was not a

Wooden statues at the hotel in Koro

We were eating and writing the contract with our guide.. Some nice dogon type art surrounding us

comfy ride at all. We were more than squeezed and it was a dirt road for about 2 hours. Finally got to Thiou, visited the police offices, the Burkina office, the Mali office and there we were: MALI!!

The bus continued to Koro, where we arrived at about noon. Again, we thought that same van would get us to Bankass.. no. We would have to change again.. but this time, we were only leaving in the next bus when the bus was full.. so who knows how long that takes.. So we sat down, I took time to buy a Mali phone number SIM card, some time on the phone.. Renee bought this ugly 80s trek suit jacket.. an horror that we laught at for the whole trip.. but hey! It kept her warm.
During our little shopping, Courtney got approached by a guide for the Dogon Country. Being all suspicious and religiously reading the Lonely Planet book, we were seriously keeping in mind the advice of: Don't trust the first guide you see! Alright! SO we dont trust him.. We debated with him, tried to make sure he was alright.. he was showing us his guiding card and

The second bus Koro-Bankass

Yup, looks like we were some sort of illegal immigrants! but the people were so nice.. it was actually one of the funnest rides for me

comments from other tourists about his guiding skills etc.
It took about 1 hour, he even got pissed at some point cause he realized we didnt fully trust him, but we ended up taking him anyway. He had a big asset, he spoke english, so it was better for the girls. We negotiated our price, 18 000 CFA per person per day.. a big total or 54 000 CFA each! so about 115$ Which is huge.. really, I dont know where he spent all that money..

We went to this hotel in Koro to eat and have a drink, decide on our itinerary and to write the contract, when the bus was full, they told us they would come and tell us, which they did.. SO we took this crammed bus all the way to Bankass and Jerome, our guide, was going to follow us with his motorcycle. This bus ride number 3 was fun.. It was the illegal immigrant bus! The back of the bus consisted of an empty space. All around the walls, there were some wood benches and in the middle (close to our legs), two car wheels.. How many were we in that little space?

Hotel Roof top view

Eating and relaxing after 2 days of busing.

I would say about 20 to 22.. packed! But it was a fun ride. Courtney had this guy next to her that spoke very good english, travelled around Europe and with who we had nice conversation. The people were really nice to us.. Apparently they were talking about us at some point, wondering if we were from the same tribes due to our facial traits. Yeah.. would be nice to tell them it doesnt work that way in our world..
It was a 2 hours ride to Bankass.. this little Village, really in the middle of nowhere. Jerome told us to wait for him at the bus station, which we did, eating bananas surrounded by kids with everyone looking at us. He wasn't coming.. so Courtney went around buying another bag and some socks if I recall. He still wasn't there. So, getting a bit suspicious and scared, we asked this other guide to bring us to the Hotel we were planning to stay at, the Togona, a really nice place, just at the end of town. I took the guide's phone number just in case really, Jerome would not show up. We were freaking screwed, we already had given

African camping!

The first of sooo many night outs in the cold! But dam! the stars and the sunrise are just too worth it to be missed!

him half of the money in Koro! We should have never done that. We should have waited and made sure he at least would have arrived to Bankass first..

But he did come! We were so relieved to see him! We sat down, chilled on the terasse, ordered our meals: Couscous and spaghettis. Took showers, put the mosquitoe net up on the roof and got everything ready. Jerome asked us that night if we wanted to go see this traditional dance contest. It was the selection of the Bankass best dancers for the national dancing contest. For sure! We gave the money to Jerome's friend so that he would get us tickets at the local price.. the place was packed.. By that I mean the outside of it, at the gates. People were screaming trying to get it.. we went closer to the gates, Jerome's friend gave him the money. They opened the door, oh gosh!! Everyone was trying to get inside.. but only we could, cause we paid. We were squeezed. Really, body guards would have been nice. Never got more afraid. Then we sat down, first row in the front, which we didnt feel too confortable with.

The crazy packed Traditional dance place

Just look at the people behind Courtney here.. we had to put ourselved in this once we got up, not to mention that as soon as we got up our seats, people jumped to come and get our spots!

But it was alright cause the high people of the village came eventually and told us is was there seats already reserved.. Yeah.. didn't feel too nice at that moment.

So we sat on the second row. When the show started, the whole place was full, right next to our seats, soooo mmmaaannny people standing up, one next to the other. Yeah one person moved, it made a wave movement all the way to the front. It was crazy. We were getting tired in the first part, with all the travelling and getting up early that morning. At the break, we told the guys we wanted to go out.. yeah.. try to get into that wave of people.. You so dont have any space.. that your personal bubble is in fact even pushed inside of your own body. I almost lost a sandal trying to journey through the crowed. but we made it! Holding each other's hand to make sure we wouldnt loose each other. Wow! It was crazy. We went back to the hotel. Got invited by the guys to drink some tea. I wanted the girls to try tea when we were at my house but we

Enjoying the stars....

Or rather.. having too much fun...

didnt get a chance, so I convinced them to come. It was a cool night.

The next morning, departure for the Dogon country, packing, breakfast on the table.. and then.. a horse cart! We had a horse and a charette to travel from village to villages. It was nice.. didnt have to carry anything.. it was taking a while, enough time for us to see the landscape, have children run next to the cart and ask: "Ya les bidons? Ya les bonbons? - You got bottles? You got candies? After a couple hours we made it to the first Dogon Village, Kani-Kombole. We went around the village walking, visited the houses, the people. We also went up the side of the mountain to look at the view. It was pretty nice to see some Telem houses, a people that was there a logn time ago, living in the mountains, eating fruits from trees. It was a really mysterious tribe actually. Some houses are so high on the side of the mountain that really you wonder how they got in. Stories say they used to have magical powers that would allow them to fly up there.

We had lunch

Drinking tea

Some guys we met at the hotels invited us for tea, although we were so tired, still convinced the girls to come chat for a bit..

at the kani-kombole's hotel, rested in this little paradise place for a bit and then took the road for the second village Ende. This is where we spent the night, in this again, other paradise hotel, with tables and cloths all around. it was nice. We bought sooo many of those blankets you see on those walls. they are pretty nice. Again, when we got there, we went up the side of the mountains and visited other telem houses, the chief's house and all. That night, we had an awesome dinner, To with local sauce, chicken and fries. It was also a night where I cleaned my hand.. an actual really african not sterilized process.. but nonetheless worked. My bandage would get soo dirty every day, going up those rocks, i needed the little help my hand could provide, cause really, you could fall...

We slept on the roof again that night.. and got up early in the morning the next day. The next day was the big hiking day. Courtney and I would make it to Begnemato, a village high up at the top of the mountain. Renee wanted a more cultural experience and decided to stay in

Getting ready for the hike!

And the Dogon Country trip was starting! Tie on the horse!! We're coming!

a close by village, chatting with women, making food, and helping during the cotton process.

This hike was an adventure. Jerome was always talking about it as a real physical challenge an really got me scared. But I didnt care how many times I would need to stop to rest on the way up.. I just wanted to make it to the top. I didnt come all the way there to just let it to.. and man.. It was so worth it. So in order to go up, we were going through this little creek that was going up slowly. It was surrounded by trees, so we got a bit of shade. The rocks steps were all set up all the way up by villagers, as they need to go up and down this track all the times. So it was basically like going up stairs for a really long time. The landscape was nice though. Arrived half way, there was this plain in between the mountains where the villagers had their garden. it was beautiful. We travelled that and then, went up a bit again, until we get to the top. Begnemato is divided in 3 villages, a

Charette ridin'

Our way to travel! Pretty african style compared to many other westeners with their rented 4x4 and vans! But our experience was 30 times better

muslim one, a Christian one and an Animist one. They are all around the mountains. Compared to the other Dogon villages, their architecture was not made of mud so much, but rather of rocks. We sat down and ate lunch, sweet potatoe stew which was just delicious and try some millet beer, which I am not a fan of...

Then we went around the mountain to visit the villages and to the top-top-top of the mountain where the view was just.. Awww.. breathtaking! I was really happy I made it to the top! it was soooo worth it! Courtney and I seriously wished we could have just sat there for hours, thinking, but it was not possible, we had to get back to the Village where we left Renee before dark would come. So after some little rest again.. we went down the mountain, using the other set of muscles 😊
And went back on our horse cart to join Renee and then come back to Ende where we would sleep again.

We drank a bit that night, had some fun and enjoyed our last night on the rooftop in the Dogon Country. Nights were cold, we wont

Desertic Savannah all around

lie.. Those blankets came in handy let me tell you! The next day, we left back to Kani-Kombole, where Jerome stopped the first car he saw, put us in it and there we were.. leaving for Bandiagara where we would rest for the day and then make it to the next journey. The road was pretty crazy, going up the mountain in serpent waves with not so much of a barrier on the side of the road. We got to this little paradise retreat hotel outside of town. We met a Burkina lady who lived in ouagadougou but was actually Ghanian. She came to ask if we had laundry to do!! Hey! I like you! 😊 Eee.. Yup!!! We had the biggest load of laundry ever.. she charged us 5000 CFA so 12$ to do it.. but spent probably the whole day doing it.. Our room was nice.. it was a little white hut, with nice beds and our own bathroom. Meals were really good too. It was expensive but we needed to rest a bit after all this thigh work.. seriously though.. i had a hard time just to sit on the bed or on the toilet.. it hurt

The landscape from the mountain sides

We climbed the side of those rocks to visit the Telem houses, a mysterious people that used to live up in the mountains

soo bad.

That night, we had tea with a guy Courtney met while writing in the hammock and with the hotel manager. It was pretty cool. Until Courtney decided to go to bed.. Then they all started to hit on me and talk about things I didnt really want to hear about.. so... followed Courtney to bed.. maybe 20 minutes later.

The next days.. we left for our new adventure - Mali trip part 2 -
It was December 31st, we would have to celebrate New Years and make it worth it..
But Since it's taking me so long... I wont get there yet.. maybe by the end of the week or next week..

I'm not gonna lie though, Dogon Country was nice. It was a really touristic place, high season.. but people are so friendly to tourist that they dont actually harass them all the time. It really showed me another side of Africa.. the heart and respect for others that they have. I can't believe that we didnt trust Jerome at first. We were actually sad to leave him.. it happened so fast too.. I think Mali has a really good system for the Dogon

Kani-Kombole's Mosque

The first Dogon Village we went to, Kani-Kombole and its mosque

Country. They actually give guide card to real guide and have police check every Malian person next to white people. They want to make sure tourist keep on coming to Dogon Country and make it as tourist friendly as possible. So if a guide has a card.. it's cause he's a real guide.. no doubt there.. It would have been good to know right from the start though.

The second part of the trip was not as exciting and nice.. but still.. I will remember the paradise of Dogon.. If you got a chance to go.. Go! It's worth it!

Additional photos below

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