An ye yala yala Mali kono kosobɛ...

My sister's visit to Mali has just come to an end. We had a very eventful and enjoyable 'yala yala' across the country. Below is a brief summary of our excursion:

On Sunday, December 19th, Kim flew into Bamako. We immediately took a bus to travel up to Carrefour, then rode the rest of the way to Djenné on a bashɛ. The bashɛ to Djenné has to cross over the river Niger on a ferry to get into the city, and the bashɛ in front of us actually got stuck on the beach while driving onto it. I had to help the other men pull the bashɛ onto the ferry with a rope - just one of the many nuances with our transportation.

We spent Sunday evening and Monday in Djenné. Djenné is a very scenic and distinctive city full of large mud brick buildings, including the largest of the sort in the world, the famous Grand Mosque of Djenné. It was very cool to see the sights, but the Monday market was a bit overwhelming, as the local traders hassle tourists to no end to buy their goods.

The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud brick building in the world, and is the focal point of the city. The weekly market every Monday is situated in front of the mosque.

The City of Djenné is a network of narrow alleys winding between multi-story mud-brick buildings.

On Tuesday, we took another bashɛ out of Djenné; this time a smoother operation, however uncomfortable it may have been. We arrived in the city of Sevaré, where we waited for another bashɛ to leave for the city of Bandiagara. There, we stayed overnight and began our Dogon hike the following morning bright and early.

Our Dogon hike was 6 days/5 nights, and involved us traveling from village to village along the southern portion of the 'falais,' beginning at Djiguibombo at the South end of the escarpment up to the village of Dourou, veering off the last day to visit the beautiful village of Nombori. I must give a shout-out to our guide, Ibrahim, who is Dogon himself and was incredibly accomodating and informative throughout the trip. If anyone is planning a trip out to Dogon Country, I highly recommend hiring Ibrahim as your guide. Just drop me an email and I will give you his contact information.

I cannot say enough about how incredible this experience was. The natural scenery, with the mountains, plains, and encroaching desert lands, was stunning. When you take into account the villages situated upon these lands, and often carved into the sides of the rock cliffs, the result is nothing less than breathtaking. And beyond that, the culture of the Dogon people is just as unique as their architecture, and it was incredibly interesting to hear about their history and take in their customs.

A definitive highlight for me was roaming the villages alone, unguided, where I found that although the Dogon people speak their own language, the majority of them also speak some Bambara. So I was able to effectively communicate with the villagers along the way, learning even more about their culture and their way of life. It was fascinating to me to see the subtle differences between life in a Dogon village and life in a Bambaran village (my village). I plan on returning to Dogon country before my time in Mali is up to hike the Northern section of the falaise we unfortunately did not have time for.

I took many pictures of the sights along our travels, and I feel that this is the best way to share our experiences:

Wood carvings supporting a meeting place 'gwa' in the Dogon village of Kani Kombole.

The Dogon village of Teli as viewed from our approach down the sandy trail along the plains at the base of the escarpment. The Dogon people first came to this part of Mali to escape the threat of the Muslim religion, and settled high within the cliffs as a form of protection. The 'old village' was built upon/carved within the center of the escarpment.

My sister, Kim, and I on the roof of the Teli campement, with the village of Teli in the background.

The old village of Teli built halfway up the escarpment. The buildings you see here were used as houses, kitchens, granaries, and spiritual animist facilities.

The buildings in the back were home to 'Ogon,' or spiritual leader of the animists in the village. The painted designs utilize three colors: red representing sacrifice, white representing life, and black representing death. The Ogon was required to live in these houses and never leave, save for once during a festival which takes place every 60 years, in order to remain 'pure.' The animals sculpted into the walls have various symbolic meanings to the Dogon people. The crocodile, always facing up to the sky, represents all that is good, the little man in the middle is a fetish, and the snake represents purity.

A view from the 'old village' of Teli along the escarpment. The building depicted in the foreground is a granary. 

Kim and I in front of the new village of Teli.

A view of the escarpment from the sandy trails through farm land.

A craftsman in the village of Ende meticulously painting a Bogolan (mud cloth) fabric.

A view from our climb up to Indell up the escarpment.

Masked dancers during the Festival of the Masks in the village of Indell. These dancers represent the crocodile, which is a symbol in the Dogon animist religion for all that is good. The masks are traditionally only used during funeral celebrations, which may only be attended by men. However, the Festival of the Masks is now performed as a way to raise money for the villages. During a funeral festival, however, upwards of 70 masks are often used compared to this smaller performance.

A masked dancer performing during the Festival of the Masks in the village of Indell. This mask has about a 4-story tall tower, which represents traditional medicine.

The house of a traditional medicine man in the village of Indell. The compartments carved into the exterior walls hold the different sacrificial materials and medications used.

The beautiful village of Indell as seen from a rocky cliff at the village periphery.

Kim and I standing on the rocks at the edge of the village of Indell.

A view down the escarpment from the mountain-top village of Konsogou-ley.

We did hike over the Christmas holiday, and since the Dogon villages now represent a mix of Muslim, Christian, and animist religions, some small Christmas celebrations did take place. These people of the Christian village of Konsogou-ley organized a small caroling and dancing session of traditional African Christmas songs to the beat of the talking drums.

A view along our descent down to the escarpment to the village of Nombori.

A view along our descent down to the escarpment to the village of Nombori.

A view along our descent down to the escarpment to the village of Nombori.

The gardens of the people of Nombori, with the escarpment in the background.

This masked dancer acted as 'crowd control,' aggressively chasing after kids when they got too close to the circle.

Masked dancers performing at the Festival of the Masks in the village of Nombori. These dancers performed high-energy, difficult maneuvers on stilts. They represent a 'bush bird' found in the area. Behind the dancers are the village drummers providing the music for the festivities.

After the men finished with their mask dances, it was the women's turn to show off their moves.

Behind the villagers gathered for the festival is the village of Nombori built along the rocks at the base of the cliff. Above the current village is the old village of Nombori half-way up the escarpment. Higher still is the houses of the Telem people, who lived in these cliffs before the Dogon people migrated there.

A closer view of the Telem houses built into the cliff face of the escarpment.

Pictured here is 'togona,' or a 'justice place' found in every Dogon village. This is the place where elder men gather to discuss and address their problems. The roof is purposely constructed too low to deter men from getting angry, as if they stand in a fit of rage, they will hit their head on the roof.

A view from the climb back up the escarpment from Nombori to Dourou.

After we climbed up from Nombori to Dourou on Monday, December 27th, completing our Dogon hike, we took a bus from Bandiagara back to Ségou. The following morning, we took a bashɛ back to my site, where Kim met some of my fellow villagers (although most of my host family had unfortunately left to work in another village harvesting rice). She also got to try my standard lunch of 'to' (pounded millet and okra sauce) and dinner of 'basi ni tiga dɛgɛ na' (millet cous-cous and peanut sauce), while eating Malian style (communally and with your right hand). Unfortunately, she was not impressed.

We then returned to Ségou Thursday for a few days over the New Year's holiday, where we took a 'kurun' boat ride on the Niger river at sundown and had some good Italian food at a restaurant along the river. We also got some good time and conversation in with my fellow PCVs as we celebrated.

The following Saturday and Sunday were transport days, heading from Ségou to Bamako to Kita, on route to Manantali. The bashɛ ride from Kita to Manantali was unfortunately the low point of our trip. We had to wait at the gare for about 7 hours for the bashɛ to finally leave, then were forced to sit on rice sacks in the back of the vehicle with the other passengers as it took a detour to unload this cargo. We didn't arrive in Manantali until around 1:00AM.

Manantali is a village situated along the Bafing River, just downstream of Lake Manantali and the Manantali Dam. The water looks amazingly clean and clear, but due to the risk of Schistosomiasis, we refrained from taking a dip. The whole area around the river is beautiful, and is home to populations of hippos and monkeys. Unfortunately, the hippos were on a 'yala yala' well downstream of where we stayed at the time, and the monkeys only came by our huts to feed at night. So the only exotic animal sightings I got were a few brief glimpses of a monkey's back side when I spooked him while exiting our hut in the dark.

A view of Lake Manantali from the top of the Manantali Dam. The lake itself is on the other side of the dam from the village we stayed at, but we were able to climb to the top of the dam for some very scenic views.

A view along Bafing river downstream of the Manantali Dam. In the foreground are two 'kurun(s)', or small fishing boats.

A view along the Bafing river downstream of the Manantali Dam.

A view along the Bafing river downstream of the Manantali Dam.

A well-to-do farm of a couple people I met in the village of Manantali. They have a rather interesting water tower built upon three railroad/barge containers, which collects river water using a centrifugal pump. The John Deere tractor is also a rare site in this country, which still relies almost single-handedly on hand-tools and animal-pulled plows for agriculture.

A view along the banks of the Bafing river.

We spent Monday and Tuesday in Manantali before heading back out to Bamako on Wednesday. We wandered the streets of Bamako on Thursday to take in the Marché Rose (the grand market in Bamako), the Artisan market, and the traditional medicine market. The Artisan market was particularly interresting, as you are able to watch the craftsman as they practice their trade. However, I find the city itself to be rather dirty, crowded, and overwhelming. It is difficult for me to spend much time there, although there are some amazing restaurants in the city. We were able to gorge ourselves on both Indian and Thai food that would rival some of the best restaurants in the states.

A stand at the Traditional Medicine Market in Bamako. Included here are bird carcasses, various animal skulls and pelts, and animal noses. One of the men explained that they use the monkey skulls to prepare some sort of an oil to wash over your face to cure ailments.

Myself trying out a talking drum in Bamako's Artisan Market. The talking drum is a common instrument across Mali, and is featured prominently during the Dogon animist dances.

Friday morning, bright and early at 3AM, my sister flew out of Bamako to return to New York. I took transport back up to Ségou where I will be staying for the next couple days to work on my proposal for the pump replacement project in my village.

The trip certainly had it's highs and lows. Fortunately, the highs far, far outweighed the lows, which only involved the difficulty in taking transportation across the country. (Malian buses and bashɛs always wait until they are filled to about twice the standard capacity of the vehicle. You often have to wait several hours at the gare before the transport actually leaves, and once you do, you can just about always expect a painfully uncomfortable ride.)

But both Kim and I were overwhelmed by the striking beauty and the distinct culture found across this expansive country, as well as the warmth and generosity of its people. The difficulties in transport are definitely worth the experiences you have along the way. And at the end of it all, Kim is even talking about a return trip!