A sandstone wall some 150 kilometres long and in places 500 metres high runs across the Sahel of central Mali, and clinging to its face are houses, granaries and shrines that have been there for a thousand years. The Cliff of Bandiagara is the home of the Dogon, a people famous for their masks, their dances and their cosmology, which is among the most elaborate in Africa. The first inhabitants of the cliff were the Tellem, small people who built granaries in caves high up on the rock, and the Dogon who arrived from about the fifteenth century built their villages below, in the cracks and at the foot, linked by paths, stone steps and ladders. The area was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1989.
Dogon villages are a world of mud and stone. Square houses with flat roofs are crowded together, with granaries topped with thatched, pointed caps that look like witches' hats, and in the centre of a village stands the toguna, a low, open shelter with a thick thatched roof, where the men meet to discuss affairs. The roof is held up by pillars carved with symbols, and is deliberately low so that no one stands up in anger. Masked dances, performed at funerals and festivals, are the most famous expression of Dogon culture, with tall, swaying masks representing animals, ancestors and spirits.
I have to be honest about the present. Central Mali, including the Bandiagara area, has seen serious violence and insecurity for more than a decade, with attacks by armed groups and intercommunal conflicts, and most governments advise against all travel to the region. Tourism has largely collapsed. Anyone who is thinking of visiting should consult current official advice and local contacts, and treat any plan with great caution.
In better times, visitors came via Mopti and Sevare, where fuel and supplies were available, and then followed the tarred road to Bandiagara, about twenty kilometres from here, before leaving the road for the sandy tracks leading to villages on the plateau and at the foot of the escarpment. The dry months from November to February are the most comfortable, with warm days and cool nights, while the hot season from March to June is oppressive.