Ill all morning, I just stayed laying down to rest. Why push myself?
After lunch, and after Amadou took his nap, I felt better so we got up and moved. A little exercise. Little did I know we would walk so much. Ufff! And I only took my flip-flops...not ideal for trekking and rock hiking.
Amadou showed me yet another trail and landscapes. Breathtaking as usual in this area.
We found ourselves on this sort of canyon where a stream of water, part stream part still, was carpeting the bottom. Thus, very green, and lots of kids playing here and there. The village kids in one spot, the young shepherds in another spot. We kept climbing and finally arrived in this wall less cave which used to be a Tellem cave where we could still see remains of houses and storage compartments. As well, piles of human bones all over. Apparently, a while back the Dogons and the Tellems were at war. The Dogons won and decided to stack up the bodies of their victims in their own caves. Interesting idea.
Anyhow, the cave was high up and overlooking the whole canyon. Spectacular. And so we just chilled there for a few hours. It was so relaxing and surreal.
After a while, we took off and headed back to the village for yet another walk. This village is so huge, yet feels tiny, and is so spread out that I could spend day after day walking around without ever getting bored.
We made it to the pond where the girls usually bade and wash their clothes in the late afternoons, right in the little valley between two of the main neighborhoods of the village. And so we sat there for a good hour watching the activity of the girls bading while the older women were still cultivating the land and carrying water back and forth from the wells to their homes. I tried to discretely take a few photos of the scenes, but quickly got yelled at and apparently insulted by the girls. It upset Amadou a lot as they had insulted our parents. So he got up and went to yell back at them with a wooden stick. Hr was so upset.
If only locals could understand that without photos tourism would probably not exist. Photos is what inspires tourists to visit places, and photos is what tourists love to bring back.
Ha! I still managed to get a few shots and even a short video! Ha!
The sunset was gorgeous! So we stayed there...enjoying.
Back home later on, I ate white rice yet again. Ufff...am tired of this diet.
Another gorgeous night under the blanket of stars ahead...magical!
No comments:
Post a Comment