December has been a whirlwind month, and I am very ready to get back home to Kenieba. I've been away for 38 days, most of it for Peace Corps training but also enjoying the holidays with friends. I am anxious to get back and see my host family and other Malian friends, and stop living out of a backpack again!
Unfortunately I have some sad news to share... I checked in with the guy who has been watching my house, and he told me that my cat died, apparently of natural causes. Though I was not a cat person before coming to Mali, I enjoyed having Kalo as a pet. I'm definitely considering getting another cat, if the opportunity arises. I'm sure my house will feel different without Kalo around.
On a more positive note, I really fun time celebrating Christmas with a bunch of friends up in Dogon Country. We stayed with a Peace Corps volunteer, and both she and her work counterpart did an awesome job hosting us. We had a great time exploring her village, enjoyed an awesome Christmas feast, and completed an incredible three day hike.
The terrain there is actually pretty similar to Kenieba, a long chain of cliffs that dominate the landscape. The Dogons live on top of these huge cliffs, literally on top of the rock. There is not much dirt or arable land, so their houses are made out of the rocks. They are really impressive; the photos explain it much better. It is definitely not as green as Kenieba, as you are not far from the Sahara desert up there!
One drawback was that the region is a big tourist attraction and we were there in the height of the tourist season. The kids were pretty obnoxious, asking for a gift, candy, a pen, or our empty water bottles all the time! I must have heard "Monsieur, bouteille" at least a few hundred times, to the point where I thought my name was Mr. Bottle! The average tourist loves to give gifts to the kids, so they expect some from any white person who is walking through their town. That is something I am glad to not have to deal with in Kenieba. We are way off the tourist track down there!
Luckily we saw Dogon Country beyond the average tourist's perspective. The first few nights we stayed on the roof of the Peace Corps volunteer's house. It was an incredible experience to sleep under a blanket of stars and wake up to a beautiful sunrise each morning. The three day hike was probably the best hike I have ever done. We descended the cliffs and traversed across the plain through various villages, and worked our way back up the cliffs on the last day. The pictures explain it best. Here's the picture link: http://picasaweb.google.com/wbudd3/Christmas2009#
happy new year billy! we missed you again on the ski trip, but i'm glad to see that you had such a beautiful holiday season (: thanks for sharing all of these pictures and i hope your settling back into life back home. xoxo rae
ReplyDeleteThese are wonderful photos--what a hike! What you don't talk about is the heat, but from hiking in Mali myself, I know how hot it is, and I am amazed you could spend 3 days in it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Billy, for posting your beautiful pictures of the Dogon hike! Many of them are Nat. Geo. worthy! Most of all, thank you for showing a PC mom that you all look healthy, happy and amongst friends from both your host country and your PC world.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful and productive 2010 in Mali!