Dogon Camp

We cross the border into Mali, near a cattle market in progress. While Paul works through the bureaucratic paperwork, we wander through the market. Sigrid decides to shoot a series of cow portraits, to the endless amusement of the locals. Among the diverse mix of ethnic groups wearing colorful local garb, a man in western attire approached Sigrid and said “You are very beautiful, I would like to make a proposal of marriage.” She apparently declined. I was unaware of this interaction, and only learned later from Paul that I might have been able to negotiate for as many as 100 cattle. Now, Sigrid is the love of my life, but – you know – I mean - 100 cattle! That's a lot of cattle. Tough call. I think Sigrid would have understood.


Lunch in Koro, where we succumb to the annoying habit of photographing ourselves photographing each other. After lunch, some of us explore the Mosque in Koro, while Wes and Susan procure flip flops and pens to give away, and wine for the the group at dinner.

We begin the drive to Dogon country, catching our first view of the Dogon escarpment as we leave the village. When we took this picture, we did not realize that we would be climbing and standing on top of that escarpment the very next day.

Riding in the Zebra Land Cruiser we get stuck in the sand on the way into our campsite, much to driver Jon's embarrassment. Matthew and I help push him out. We set up camp in a valley between two escarpments, just below the Dogon village of Gomou carved into the cliff above us. It is Sigrid's second camp ever.

360 degree panorama of our Dogon camp from a nearby field. Click image to enlarge.