Pictures

Some pictures from the last few weeks:

A view of the Bandiagara Escarpment with a Dogon village in the foreground.

The caves in the escarpment that the Tellem people used to live in. It is unclear how they got up (or down) to them but it is suspected that as little as 500 years ago the area was dense jungle and there were vines that could be climbed all over the face of the escarpment. The Dogon now bury the dead in the caves.

Dogon meeting place. The ceiling is high enough only for people to sit so as to foster peaceful solutions to problems.

While in the Dogon villages we slept on rooftops under the stars. The stars were amazing at night and the glow of the escarpment at dawn was incredible.

Some dancers in traditional dress during a mask dance that they performed.

The largest mud structure in the world, the Grand Mosquee in Djenne, Mali.

The boat that we rode on for 3 days during our trip up the Niger River to Timbuktu.

Me with the beard. I have since shaved it off. The tan lines were not pretty.