My husband and I were three weeks into a two month trip -West Africa 2009 - five countries in all: Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, and The Gambia. We had crossed the Burkina border into Mali the night before and were eager to get to our destination, the Bandiagara Escarpment, home of the cliff-dwelling Dogon people. We had arranged transport before leaving Burkina Faso, along with an authentic Dogon guide who went by the equally authentic name, James Brown...a funny story