Mali Trip

Im currently sitting in Nouakchott detoxing from my trip to Mali…. where do I even begin? This trip has truly tested me in the Peace Corps motto “Be Flexible” since basically every single plan I had made was thrown to the wayside by either crappy transportation issues, minor incidents of international terrorism or complications with the Mauritanian government. Its been a crazyyy few weeks…

So the first leg of our trip was to get from Boghé to Bamako, which was of course full of the usual ridiculousness that accompanies travel here in West Africa (aka lost reservations, 2 am border crossing, sleeping in a bus station). But once we got to Bamako it was completely worth it. Unlike cosmopolitan Dakar and sand dune filled Nouakchott, Bamako is a real African city. It is so green and tropical and has both western amenities (including a pool at our hotel!) and traditional African charm. I had a great time celebrating my birthday eve at a local bar full of PCVs from Mali and Mauritania (in town for the World Cup qualifying game and PC Mauritania/Mali Soccer game). And on a random side note, turns out it was the bartenders birthday as well so me and my friends enjoyed free bottles of champagne all night! The pictures below are me at a re-creation of the famous Djenne Mosque at the National Museum of Mali and me and Julie on my birthday eve.

After a few days in Bamako, me and Julie headed out to meet up with our friends who had already started hiking in the Dogon country. The bus ride from Bamako to Severe (jumping off point into the Dogon) was such a trip from hell that I decided it was better to forget it was my birthday because that just made me more angry, but even with the bus ride from hell it was completely worth it. The Dogon country is known for its beautiful rock formations and traditional Dogon culture that has withstood centuries of imperialism and globalization and is considered one of the top places to visit in all of Africa. The dozens of villages are only assessable by hiking up and down the rock facades and with an experienced Dogon guide. The views are amazing and the history and culture are unparallel to anything that Mauritania has to offer.

On the left is an aerial view of one of the Dogon villages where we hiked to and spent the night and on the right is a close up of some of the alleys throughout the village.

On the left is a traditional Dogon village and mosque with the ever present baobob tree in front and on the right is an engraved pole holding up the thatched roof of our campement.

Notice the houses built into the rock face on the left. These were originally built by the 'Tellem" people, a pygmy race in Mali. Due to the location of the homes, upon entering the territory the Dogon people believed that the Tellem could fly (although they soon discovered otherwise and forced them to leave). On the right is a house of "fetishes", things used for traditional medicine and rituals, like stuffed monkeys and skulls.

The goat skin is not Dogon specific but unfortunitly popular throughout West Africa. They swear it cools down water but i think its about the sickest thing ever! The picture on the right was in one of the Dogon villages where mirrors (or reflective sunglasses) apparently dont exist... these girls spent a solid 5 minutes tapping my eyes and showing their friends their reflections (although im sure they could have gone on playing with them for an infinite time if i would have let them).

Sadly in the middle of our Dogon trip we found out that the PC Mauritania/Mali Soccer game was cancelled. Everyone had really been looking forward to it for a long time but due to the continuing terrorist activity in north-eastern Mali the embassy decided it was best not to have so many Americans congregated at the same place. Then later during the same phone call we found out that our new group of volunteers had been denied visas by the Mauritanian government so all of our plans for this summer (that virtual revolve around training the newbees) no longer existed. Although there is still a possibility that training is just postponed until later this summer, it is still a huge blow to our moral as we watch the second year volunteers COS (close of service) and the possibility that they wont be replaced starts to sink in.