The next village was Kani Kombele and this would be our base for the next few days. It was market day in this village and I spend a long time observing the market and the wares people had brought from neighbouring markets. There were mostly women gathered with babies contently dangling from thier backs. They were selling okra, millet, grapes, groundnuts (the Dogon Variety is very black), onion, spices, clothes and Bobaob tree sauce. I wandered through the market and was able to see the wonderful mud mosque with Sudanic curves poised next to a watering hole.
We set up camp and then headed for a 6 plus KM climb up a plateau. This was a small village of about 200 people. We passed bathing children on the way and arrived to a group of kids at the top of the plateau. There sat the oldest Baboab tree in the region which is very important to the people because it is used for many purposes: the bark is used for making rope, the branches are used for firewood, the fruit and leaves are eaten.
I spent some time pounding millet with the local women and talking the the chief about the health of the children. On a millet only diet the children looked malnourished and we discussed geographical and financial barriers to health for this population
After hiking back down I rested into the rooftop of the mud building and had couscous and millet beer for dinner. I watched the stars dance overhead accompanied by the full moon.
The next morning we headed out for Teli where the village is half Muslim and half Christian. It was a larger village where one could head up into the cliffs to see the older part of the village. The view was beautiful and was a spot where the old chiefs watched over the village. After this village we headed back to civilization-content and exhausted.
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