July 29th, Dogon trekking

Today was spectacular!

Our plan was to get up with the sun, at around 6am, make some breakfast, and then take off and go trekk a bit through some parts of the Pays Dogon and see the famous escarpment from closer. And so we did just that.

This whole place feels like it cane out of a dream. Seriously. It is so magnificent just about all over.

We walked for quite a while on the plateau rocky grounds to find the access down to the escarpment. The plateau itself is beautiful. Slabs and slabs of rocky ground of brownish, reddish, greyish colors. Little plots of cultivated land here and there. Several young kids herding their flocks of goats or sheeps. And as you look to the horizon, you just see nothing. Why? Simply because we are high up on the plateau and we know that at one point, the entire plateau turns into a cliff. As if we were on the edge of the world. Something so impressive.

I even got to see the famous Tableau du Renard (fox grid), which is still used nowadays for villagers to predict their future or fond answers to their questions thanks to the way night foxes walk through these special grids drawn on the ground combined with little wooden sticks and peanuts. Witnessing such set up must be fascinating, but wasn't my luck today.

Walking down the plateau along the escarpment was magical. We got to see tons of ancient Tellem and Pigme mud houses built hanging almost in the cliff. Some guide books say that back then, when the water was much more abundant, so was the vegetation and thus some people believe that there were numerous natural ladders and stairs all over allowing the locals of the time to access what looks today as totally non accessible houses.

This whole escarpment reminds me a lot of Kapadokia in Turkey, but also of Tana Toraja in Sulawesi. It is so interesting to see how through the civilizations, people have managed to master the art of building houses using the natural resources and context around them. I suppose that the less you are able to protect yourself with weapons and such the more you will tend to try and house yourself in places that are hard to access.

Once we got totally down to the level of the huge sand dune, we walk through immense cultivated plots of land among numerous baobab trees. People were cultivating between the baobabs, plowing the land with their bulls, while kids were playing hide and seek.

As we walk through each of the villages we made sure to gift some cola nuts to the elders. You should have seen their smiles. Teeth less for the most part but so expressive and joyful.

I think my favorite part of each little village or group of houses was the "case des palabres", basically the place where the men sit or/and lay down to cool down and chit chat. Women not allowed. These consist of a ton of straw and woods on top of rocks piled up at each corner, creating this thick large low roofed rock hut usually at the edge of a cliff or in the middle of a square. But the hut itself is a pure piece of architectural art.

We passed a couple of big ponds where supposedly crocodiles live and thus which people are afraid to get close to.

Towards mid day, as our shadows were totally vertical, we took a little rest under a baobab, sipping a bit of our now boiling hot water and wishing we had taken a lot more water with us. The longer the break the harder it got to get back up and walking.

The good thing is that we could see far away a huge waterfall coming from high up on the plateau and pouring down the escarpment. So we made it our lunch break target. We walked and walked...it was so hot. The waterfall was beautiful.

As we got closer, some kid shepherds told us to be careful as the pond at the foot of the waterfall had a few crocodiles in it. Bummer! We really wanted to take a good refreshing swim. So we walked further downstream until we found a safer spot surrounded by large rocks and under a baobab tree. The water was at the perfect temperature. We both bathed a bit, enough to get our body temperature down to normal, and then we made some sardine sandwiches sitting on the edge of the biggest rock overlooking the river stream surrounded by baobabs. Priceless.

We stayed there for a good two hours, basing, eating and napping. Life is good!

At 3pm, it was time for us to head back up. Still a long way to go to get back to the plateau.

On our way, along a very narrow natural stairway through the rocks and along the escarpment overlooking a sort of green forest further down, we hear and see a few kids playing around like monkeys and taking fruits from the trees. Amadou yells something at them and they all of a sudden all run like crazy high up on the other side. We don't see them for a while, and later they reappear, out of nowhere, hands full with mads, that very acid and sour fruit I was so fond of in Indar. We give them a couple of coins and start eating a few right there, on the rocks. They hang around with us as well eating some other fruits.

After a bit, a group of young girls make their apparition. They also wanted to fetch some of the fruits the boys were eating, but they were a bit scared to dive into the forest. The boys being macho refused to help. The girls being rural face their fear and just go in. I think after a while the boys got afraid that the girls would take all of the fruits from the trees so they disappeared and quickly went after the girls. Funny moment.

We got back on our feet and headed back up. The sun was slowly setting, but given the topography, soon we would be in the dark shade of the escarpment.

We finally reached the village again and our home. I finally got to shower (dipping my hand into a bucket of water) after two days. I guess two days is a good average to shower when in the countryside.

I also finally went to the toilet after 4 days. My stomach was dripping. I love the expression I heard in Indar "le ventre qui coule". Yes, I got sick again, most probably because of the water I have been using to brush my teeth, or maybe because of the sun I got all day...way to much strong sun and to little protection
I felt sick and strength less. Gosh I have been ill quite a few times already in Africa. I am accumulating them. Ufff!

So no dinner for me, not feeling hungry. Jus hoping it will just be a one day thing and pass without weight loss like in Nepal...