Mali Day 13 - more Dogon Country...

After a nice night at Ali's Place, it was time to keep wandering through the Pays Dogon...

More Cool stuff at Ali's place

Without the millet and sorghum crops, this place is pretty empty.
All the creek beds near the escarpment were dry, but you could tell the place would take off after the next rainy season (still 3 or 4 months away)

As we hiked up into the escarpment through a narrow gully, we stumbled upon this little area with a natural spring stuck in a gorge no more than 50m wide, but full of vegetables. Onions seemed to be the crop of the season and they were everywhere

Just above the small productive valley is the town of Begnimato - one of the way points on the route through dogon country. You can walk for ten days up and down the escarpment staying at various villages - as we were out of time, we only managed the three day version. The town is peculiar as it has split along religious lines (without conflict). Up on the rock plain there are three distinct groups of houses separated from each other - the Muslim, Christian and Animist groups. Each group of families stay in their own little mini-village, go out into the field and work during the day, then return to their part of town. No one seems to mind the others and everyone gets on quite well.

Women returning home at the end of the day

One of the many small "new" villages built on the plane adjacent to
an older cliff village. Beyond the escarpment is a whole lot of nothing

George and I atop the cliffs - an awesome view that goes on for miles into the harmattan dust

Another crowded clifftop village a short walk from Begnimato looking back over the rocky plain

In the old days, when a visitor came to a village it was customary to stop in at the chief's (or king) house and be welcomed in to the village. This was often accompanied by a meal and sometimes accommodation. As the numbers of visitors (read: tourists) increased, the chief's started to welcome everyone, and for a small fee you could stay. These days (a few years on) in every village you go through there are "encampments" which is basically the chief's (or some other wealthy guy) compound where you can eat, rest or even stay. As space is generally limited in these small villages, and the weather's good during tourist season, most of the compounds offer sleeping on the roof. In Begnimato, when had the pleasure of meeting the local chief - nice bloke - and sleeping on his roof. In a place where the closest mains power is miles away, it gets dark quick and you can relax in bed and stare at the stars all night - perfect.