Bandiagara Escarpment- Travel Tips
What to See, How to Plan & Tours- Natural Scenery
- 5 Reviews
Operators offering tours in Mali
Reviews of Cliff of Bandiagara
Abocar Tembine - 1
Bodny
John Haycock Haycock - 5
drove there in 1994 very striking
Lawrence Muhammad - 5
I watched a goat get skinned and gutted as it hung from a tree limb above a flowing stream. Then one of the farmers shared some, still warm, freshly brewed millet beer. The Dogon country has an ether that I have never forgotten.
Giorgio Peri - 4
The Bandiagara cliff, in Mali, today represents one of the major sites of archaeological, ethnological and geological importance in the whole of Africa. The cliff, which in geological terms corresponds to a sheer rock face, composed of sedimentary rock, is, in the case of Bandiagara, a wall approximately 500 meters high, which emerges from sandy soil, almost 200 kilometers long. Located in eastern Mali not very far (about 65 kilometers) from the city of Mopti. Its importance is increased by the presence of human settlements dating back to the 11th century. In fact, at that time the Tellems arrived on the cliff, a pygmy people (at least this is the opinion that archaeologists gave after finding bone texts in the tombs), who lived in accommodation created between caves and hollows in the rock. They chose that place due to its difficult accessibility, in fact they accessed their homes through ropes, thus making their lives safer. Starting from the 14th century, another people arrived in the area, the Dogon, fleeing from the Islamic invasions in the Mendè kingdom and in an attempt to preserve their culture and their complex traditions. They settled in the area of the cliff (today, in fact, the cliff is called "land of the Dogon"), leading to the escape of the Tellem (towards Burkina Faso) or their assimilation. In fact, archaeologists have found many elements among the Dogon customs that recall the Tellem traditions. The Dogon, a very interesting people from an ethnographic point of view and with a complex cosmogony, have transformed over time the caves inhabited by the Tellem into burial places, causing the around them an aura of mystery and sacredness. In 1989, UNESCO included the Bandiagara Cliff among the World Heritage Sites to be protected and preserved for posterity. There is great fear for the stability of buildings which require continuous and constant maintenance. The Cliff constitutes a complex cultural place, made up of almost 300 Dogon villages, ancient quarries and tomb architecture, and masked rites which still today (despite the abandonment of the villages witnessed in recent decades) make this place unique and rare.
Argimiro Segura - 5
It is the home of the Dogon. The disneyland of Mali. A pass for trekking. I don't know if the current security conditions are the best.
