Border to Bankass
We
left our campsite which we thought might be in
Mali version of Boababs. We later learnt that the shape of the trunk is due to them cutting strips off to use as rope
Wrong,
there is so much and more. Our first stop was Bankass, where we were hoping to organize a hike into the Dogon Country, a culture that I studied
and became totally intrigued with ever since I can remember. To truly immerse
yourself into this ancient way of living and get to know some of their beliefs
and customs, you have to walk from village to village and employ the services
of a guide as it is easy to offend if you do not act in the right way.
We
found a stunning place to stay for CFA16 000 (R320) per night called Hotel Campement Le Nommo, just off the
main road (Tel: 00223 448 0965 or 00223 925 6086 e mail: moussaouedrago1@yahoo.fr),not
in any guidebook yet. Friendly staff, clean rooms with fans and they can even
do your washing! We found a stunning guide,
SAMBA (Tiamba) Dianda and can highly recommend him. He can be contacted at
00233 928 1476. He is an official guide and can do the trek from either Mopti
or Bankass. The fact that he is experienced and a bit older (38) ensures that
he has a lot of authority in Dogon country and always managed to get the best
spots and food for us. We agreed to do the tour with a combination of Ox and
Horse carts and walking and after agreeing on the price and time of departure,
decided to explore the town of
My Dogon outfit!!
Pounding Millet their staple
Modes of transport
We
arrived in Bankass on market day, which is a huge happening in Dogon country.
It takes place every 5 or 7 days and every village has a dedicated day. This is
where meetings take place, where stories are shared, news discussed and as an
afterthought, goods and food bought! It is a colourful, vibrant experience and
we marveled at the weird foodstuff sold, anything from onion balls to spaghetti
to fruit and fly bedecked meat! We did however try the “Patatas frittes” (sweet
potato hot chips) and they were delicious.
Scenes from the market
Selling cotton
Kola nuts. These are the favourites of the old Dogon men and as a guest in their villages, you are expected to hand out some to al the old timers.
At
the edge of the market are a few mosques, miniature versions of the huge one at
Djenne and I got into a lot of trouble by just taking pics without asking permission
from the mosque “guard”! We also saw for the first time some “Fulani” women with their black tattooed
mouths. The Fulani’s are nomads, kinda like our bushmen and have no permanent
abode, but move all over the Dogon area with their cattle. As it is now the
rainy season in this area, there were many in town and the black tattoos are
signs that the woman is married and a Fulani.
Fulani women
He cried when he saw us!
Even
though
Market and mosques
For
supper we had the standard
They posed perfectly for the shot! Poor STAN.....
After
having far too much wine at supper, we made our way back to the Hotel, reversed
in and boom! The back wheel disappeared into a huge hole that was covered by
sand!! Turned out to be part of the sewerage tank that has never been filled
properly and that we can assure you, was the last problem we felt like dealing
with after wanting only to tumble into bed at 10.30 at night. Alas, it was not
meant to be and after a lot of digging, filling holes, using the jack to lift
the car as well as Reiki, we got the car out of the hole only to discover that
the doorlock to the room broke as we tried to unlock it, so there we were,
tired, dirty, killing ourselves laughing at our weird luck, stuck outside our
hotel room. Well, nothing is ever too big a problem in Africa and within 30
minutes a “locksmith” arrived, fixed the lock whilst all the time bemoaning the
poor quality of Chinese goods that flooded Mali (and Africa) We could not care
less at that stage and fell into bed.
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