Bandiagara Travel Guide

 flynboxes Says:  Spend a night out here and chances are you will be offered a chance to see a dance. Next to beer sales to tourists..this is probably the local villages/chiefs next most profitable source of income. The dance lasts 30 minutes or so and includes most of the folks in the... 

 flynboxes Says:  From Bandiagara you will catch a cab or motorcycle to one of the trail heads. I think we stopped at Dourou for lunch and to visit the market prior to heading out on the plateau to Begnimato which is a 4 mile hike and probably the most fun as once you get down off the plateau... 

 atufft Says:  At the bottom of the escarpment is a decent place to eat with a view from a shaded rooftop area. There are several vendors selling dusty old dogon artwork and they can be bargined for. The problem for the bigger souvenirs though may be transporting them out of the area. Make... 

 atufft Says:  At road's end, hiker's traverse first through a village with stone houses. There are few provisions here, so it's better to have these things purchased and brought from Bandiagara, as per previous tip. Walk through the village and proceed across shallow soiled agricultural... 

 atufft Says:  In Bandiagara, it's recommended that a guide and encampmente package be worked out. Normally, a contract that includes food, encampement, and if necessary, donkey cart be agreed upon. The guides have albums of pictures and reference letters, which should be in the language... 

 chrisvandenbroucke Says:  Day 4 of 4In this village, Benigmato ended our wonderful trek. It's was a great but tough experience 

 atufft Says:  Below the escarpment tourists either walk and have a backup 4-wheel drive, or they use a donkey cart. I like the donkey cart because the 4-wheel drive is expensive and unnecessary. At the foot of the escarpment, the guide or you can make arrangements for a donkey cart to put... 

 atufft Says:  At the foot of the escarpment is a great place to bargain for carved wooden Dogon artwork. The doors and masks are extremely popular, but don't expect it to be as old as it looks. Dirt and dust cover much of the work, which can be easily cleaned off once back home. However,... 

 atufft Says:  The modern Dogon people living in this remote area still live more or less as they have for centuries. The unique conical buildings with thatched roofs and carved doors are particularly interesting for architecture and anthopology fans. The doors have locks, and the many... 

 atufft Says:  Before the Dogon tribes drove them out, the pigmy Telem peoples populated the escarpment. Their considerable mud architecture still hangs on cliff side voids in the escarpment, in a way similar to the pueblo architecture of Mesa Verde, a place more familiar to Americans. The... 

 atufft Says:  African women are the world's leaders for their elegant abilityt to balance loads on their heads. The youngest girl soon learns to carry a load like a woman. On the hike down the escarpment though, we saw the ultimate of this skill. Women carrying milk to market, many in... 

 atufft Says:  Even in Segou and Mopti, guides pleaded to return to their "home" in Dogon Country, showing us photo albums and reference letters. Yet, the costs of keeping a guide from Segou or Mopti is greater than from Bankass or Bandiagara. Our guide was the supposed brother of a man we... 

 flynboxes Says:  In the dry season it can get warm out here. While it stayed in the 90-100F degree range while I was here and was not bothered by it I did manage to dehyrate myself one day. The dry air and occasional breeze caught me off guard. If you stay on the trails you are usually never...