Dogon Country

My last 6 nights/7 days have been spent hiking through Dogon Country. In all we hiked about 100km, mostly in the early morning and late afternoon, so as to avoid the midday heat. It all occurred along, or on top of, an escaprment that runs for about 140km and is 300 to 400m in height. Along the rock face of this escarpment is where many of the Dogon and their ancestors lived, with houses right in the side of the escarpment. It is something that must be seen to be understood. The hikes were broken up, with 7 to 9km at each time. The food was plentiful and tasty, although the toilets and showers left somethings to be desired (like toilet bowls and running water). None of the encampements had electricity, although some had solar panels or kerosene powered lamps...

One of my most memorable moments from the trip occured the third day as we hiked along the top of the escarpment early in the morning. The escarpment is about 400m high, with a vertical cliff face that runs at nearly 90 degrees to the Earth. The bottom of this escarpment marks the beginning of the Sahara Desert. Here is what I wrote in my journal asI walked along the edge of the escarpment that morning:
As I look out over the beginning of the Sahara - a landscape dotted with trees and scarred by sand dunes - the vast, flat surroundings stretch as far as the eye can see. The morning sky has set ablaze the World with colours of fire. So flat and vast is scene before me that the sky and the horizon blend together in an orange, gold, and yellow melody, making a distinction between the two impossible. The landscape is so magnificent and uninhabited that it feels as though we are at the end of the Earth, a place where life dares not to roam, and that the Earth is indeed flat. The melting of Sand into Sun off into the distance looks so pure and natural that nothing should exist beyond it....

My nights were spent sleeping on the roof tops of the encampements. I have not noticed the full range of the Moon in a long time. When we were at the Festival-au-Desert a week before Dogon, it was a New Moon and the stars were spectacular at night. Over the course of our week in Dogon I saw the moon go from half to full. As I witnessed its ability to light up the escarpment around me, the villages below me, and the Sahara beyond me, I was taken aback with regret for never noticing this at home in the city. It made me realize how important the Moon was, and still is, to communities and civilizations without electricity...

Of course, the trip was not perfect and our guide wound up being a drunk, a problem that increased as the days added up, culmenating in a near showdown in Sangha on the last day. Our guide, who was wasted at 11am, was arguing about money that wasn't rightfully his. Thankfully, Matt and his peacefulness - the ying to my too prideful yang - allowed cooler heads to prevail and we got back to Mopti without a scratch. On our arrival the tour operator was so apologetic that he refunded some of our money and promised to blacklist the guide. Although I know he will be used again in Dogon by other tour companies (his name is Seg), if he loses one job a month, I will be happy...

On a lighter note, we head to Ougadougou tomorrow (pronounced 'WAH-gah-DOO-goo', and the second best name of the trip so far, behind Djigibuimbou, pronounced 'Jiggy-BOOM-boo', a city in Dogon Country). After one night there we will head to Niamey, Niger, to walk with the only giraffes left in West Africa. After that we head to Benin where we hope to stay with José (from the pinasse trip and the Festival), he is there working with the Peace Corps. Benin will bring us to the Ocean, where we will forget about our struggles in the desert and laze in hammocks, drinking cold beers and reading good books.