"With all respect, Sahib, you have little to teach us in strength and toughness. And we do not envy your restless spirit. Perhaps we are happier than you? But we would like our children to go to school. Of all the things you have, learning is the one we most desire for our children."
~Urkien Sherpa to Sir Edmund Hillary,
the first man to summit Mt. Everest

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Dogon Country

Check out pictures!

Last week I took my first significant trip North, to Dogon Country in Mali. I went with three friends, and with the Canadian we met on the drive up, we had a good smallish group. The Dogon people live along these huge cliffs that jut up from the floor of the Sahel. Thing is, they’ve built their villages along the base, top, and literally into the sides of the cliffs. We had a great time hiking around the cliffs, exploring ancient and modern villages, and napping. Plenty of glorious napping.

Our guide for the hiking expedition was Omar, the guide recommended by every PCV this side of the Mediterranean. We met up with Omar in Koro, Mali where he promptly gave us water to wash up and fed us. Two big pluses in my book. Omar had arranged transport for us to the first village, so we piled into a beat up station wagon, and set out into the bush. The great thing we quickly learned about Omar is that he took care of everything for us: where to stay; where and what and when to eat; routes up and down the cliffs. He even told us when to take pictures. You might think that this would get a little overwhelming and/or annoying. Nope. None of us had done any planning for the trip, so we were perfectly content to let Omar dictate everything. The other great thing about Omar is that he was really good about taking breaks during hiking. We’d hike for about 30 minutes before he had to stop for a smoke break. Each day at lunch we had a huge feast, then a three-hour nap. We never hiked more than 8km in a day. The first day was ridiculously hot, so not doing anything from noon until 3pm was very welcome. The second day we got caught in a dust storm that made us feel like we were hiking on Mars. Then the rain came, making the rest time not completely necessary but still very much appreciated. What will I ever do in America when someone says I only get 30 or 60 minutes for lunch. Aye.

The country itself is absolutely magnificent. Most of the modern villages are either at the top or along the bottom of the cliffs, and people walk up and down all day, going to market, trading goods, cultivating crops, and visiting friends. The ancient villages are all built into the sides of the cliffs. The people built their villages off the floor of the Sahel back in the day when it was covered by a jungle. Wild animals roamed freely, so people climbed up the now nonexistent vines coating the cliff walls, and built their villages in the safety of the cliff side. Insane. The Dogon and Telem people were also strict believers in black magic, and there are fetishes and remnants of fetishes all over the place. Unfortunately they were also a bit sexist, and women- considered unclean- are still not allowed in parts of the villages near fetishes. The neatest aspect of their culture (aside from the fact that they climb up and down cliffs all day) is probably their justice system. They construct really short hangars where elders go to discuss community problems. The ceilings are built so low that they prevent people from standing up and starting a fight.

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