After a very enjoyable rest at Campement Kangaba outside Bamako, we hit the road towards Djenné, a city whose importance equalled that of Timbuktu at the times when the trans-Saharan trade route passed through there. It is still famous today for its mud-brick architecture, including the "Grande Mosquée", a UNESCO-listed site.
We visited at an unfortunate time though: heavy rains had turned the island into an inundated, muddy mess. We shot a picture of the mosque (under repair and closed to non-Muslims) and left.
Before reaching Mopti, we turn south towards Bandiaraga, where we leave the asphalt to reach Sangha on a sometimes shaky, rocky gravel road. We're now in the heart of the Dogon country, on top of the "Falaise de Bandiaraga". The landscape is spectacular, and the Dogon culture adds a very special flavour to it.
Although one can reach the Dogon villages on the bottom of the cliff by vehicle (we did it the following day), the best way to explore them is on foot, with a local guide. Climbing down the cliff over wet rocks at more than 35°C in the shade was a bit of a challenge, but the views easily compensate for the trouble. The Dogon live in very simple mud-houses without any modern facilities. While men work in the fields, women take care of the household, with much time dedicated to fetching water from nearby wells.
Tourists are welcome, and every single person we encounter has to be greeted at length. Some ask for medication or some other gift, but most just go about their (busy) lives. The Dogon are famous for having resisted conversion to Islam, maintaining a strong animist tradition up until today. While many Dogon rituals seem extremely out of place in the 21st century world, they gave us the impression of creating a layer of social order and justice that makes a lot of sense in the context. Let's see how long these traditions can resist the disturbance of tourism, religion and modernity.
Leaving the Dogon, we headed towards the Burkina Faso border near Koro, following Atimé on his motorbike for a while: instead of first back-tracking to Bandiaraga, then heading towards Koro on the asphalt, we preferred to take a straight line off-road through the Dogon and Peul settlements.
Passing the border from Mali to Burkina was no trouble at all. We inaugurated our Carnet de passage in Burkina: it's not compulsory, but it facilitates the customs procedures (the slightly drunk douanier just had to put a few stamps on the Carnet, instead of having to fill out a lengthy burkinabé document...). We made it to Ouagadougou that same evening, exhausted, and happy to accept a friend's hospitality!
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