Trekking Into Dogon Cliffs

Day: 30
Location: Ireli, Dogon Country, Mali
Weather: Beautiful, then torrential downpour
Kilometers: 80 + 7 a pied
Hours: 1 en voiture, 1.5 a pied
Health: tired despite rest
Accomodation: Campement Ireli
Price, room: 4K CFA
Price, water: 1.2K CFA
Shower: no
Morale: 9
Total spend: 96K CFA

GB: Eventful day. It all began with the drive to Bandiagara. We let Modibo drive since we wanted him to check for any weird signs, after 2 consecutive days of aggressive driving on rocks, sand, dirt and water. The car seemed fine by the time we got to Bandiagara, so after we got lunch there I took the wheel.

It was supposed to be a dirt road, so could be fun. We were headed for Sanga, at the north of Dogon country, where we hoped to set up 2.5 days of hiking in the region. And fun it was, for sure. Potholes, mud, rocks, and weird half pipe-like structures (see also inverted bridge) which allow the water to flow through during the rainy season.

As we kept getting closer to Sanga, we started discerning what seemed like a huge rain storm just above our destination. It seemed like the place was facing a major downpour. We were later to learn that this was the biggest single rain pour in 7 years, and a landmark event. While we were driving through what felt like a deep fog made of rain, we thought this was "rainy as usual" and definitely agreed that the rainy season had not been overblown.

After an hour of driving under intense rain, we got to Sanga. Modibo introduced us to a guide manager. We came to an agreement quite fast and we prepared our bag while the guide arrived. Not the best deal ever, but 75K CFA for the 3 day 2 night trip.

We then set off for Dogon country. In order to get there, we had to climb down a ravine, which given the equipment we had, certainly activated the adrenaline pump. Yet we made it, after a few scares due to Adam's shoes' poor adherence... Onitsuka tigers are crap for hiking boots. After 2.5 hrs of walking and climbing down, we got to Irely, a beautiful Dogon village, at the bottom of a cliff, itself bordered by a narrow plain, and further along by sand dunes. At this point Dogon country felt so amazing it was overwhelming, we just did not know what to focus on, considering how many sights were offered to us....We went to bed at 10, tired but happy, and feeling good.

AW: Ireli was legitimately excellent. It's not that it is untouched (the first cell phone tower went up last week at Sanga), or unvisited (Jacques Chirac has a house here), but it is different than anywhere I've been. The vast cultural differences seem genuine. There is a big plateau towering over a scrubby dune landscape that stretches all the way to Burkina Faso. The plateau falls off via sheer cliff faces and overhangs that are filled with ancient pygmy dwellings. These little houses are right out of Star Wars, and they are so high into the cliff that they are impossible to access today. While some Dogon believe that the pygmys could fly (I would like to see that on youtube!), according to science, there were once vines all over the cliff face that the pygmys could climb. Climate change forced them to follow the big game into Central Africa. Dogon houses are built primarily from cut stone (some mud brick also), and climb up the cliff face in a ramshackle way. There are a bunch of conical granaries with wooden hats, which store millet, onions, etc. There are taller ones for each male, and shorter female versions that the men are obliged to construct, one for each wife. The livestock runs everywhere through the maze of steps, squares, walls, and houses, while kids ask for bonbons and demonstrate their prowess with slingshots. We recommend looking at the photos when they are up because it is hard to describe, but this was amazing.

http://www.adamwibleprinceton.com/trekking-into-dogon-cliffs/