The Trans - Final Day in Dogon

So - today we finished walking in the Dogon Country. It was the hottest day yet. Luckily we left a bit after 7:00 (we were supposed to leave at 6:30 but that's African time). We mostly walked along the flat at the bottom of the escarpment. Oh - I just remembered the market we went to yesterday in the town we stopped in. I bought another blanket (this one indigo) and I bought a head scarf type thing. The seller was shrewd!! I think it was 3 generations of a family selling the indigo stuff - granny was ready to sell to us at almost the local price but the youngest was having none of that and pushed her away!

We got a decent price on the blankets (Eti bought one too) but I wanted a scarf...so I had one picked out and then I noticed the girl's. So she showed me hers and others like it - well, of course hers was the prettiest. And of course it was for sale - for 2x the price as the others. But since she had such a joking manner (even while robbing me) I had to buy it. I really love the people here though. They always have a smile and a laugh. Super friendly. I love Mali!!! Even the kids - although I don't like kids generally - the ones that come out and just look at me in awe are super cute. The ones that ask for money or presents are kind of annoying, but the little girls and even little boys that just want to hold my hand are super cute. I had a string with me today in the last town. One poor little girl had only one good arm (the other was deformed). I hope I gave her a good memory, because sad to say - she might not live that long. That's the one sad thing about these kids - is knowing their chances at reaching adults isn't that great. Jerome (the French guy with us) wandered out during lunch and found some random little girl with a massive cut on her foot that was all ulcered and infected. He brought her back and tried to like clean it but - really you know its just going to get dirty. So he made our guide send someone to get the girls mother and he gave the mom some money and said to take the girl to the health clinic - but who knows what will happen. And its sad to think a little girl can die of something as simple as a cut foot :( Anyways - happier topics. We walked a TON today! In the blistering heat. We did 8km before lunch and then another like 10km after lunch.

The morning we went to a UNESCO preserved old Dogon city up in the rocks. And in the afternoon we went to the very first Dogon settlement. So that was quite cool. Our guide is excellent and gives us so much information and insight into the culture (he is Dogon and has been a guide for 17 years!) Walking along the bottom of the escarpment honestly isn't as nice as walking up and down at the top (even though I hate walking up hills - walking through the sand in blistering heat at the bottom sucked). But it was a good day. Tomorrow we head to Bankass (I think its called) where we can find a bus to Kouru (I think...good that Eti knows where we are going) and from there we can get to Burkina Faso to meet the group. We got a text from our leader today saying they are still in Bamako and won't leave until Wednesday morning! What a joke!! They'll have spent 9 nights there!! Thank God I left!!! I would have killed myself!! Oh - and I found out about the massage this evening - I decided to give it a try. Yea...that was something special that I won't do again.  I won't go into details - but people love me here - and I had to cut that massage short!! :P

Now I'll spend another night under the stars on a roof. Eti said its 26 degrees (celcius) our here! Super super warm!! Warmer than last night. But - it finally hit 9pm - so I can go to sleep now!!! Yay!! Its another super early morning tomorrow so we can get a ride to the market in Bankass!! More shopping! I hope I have some money left!! Oh-and I've added some pictures here of Dogon Country. My favorite part of the trip so far (and probably will remain my favorite since there is only 2 weeks left)!!