From the plain, trees at the edge of the village, Sanga region, Mali

"The Dogon value trees for several reasons. Some trees add important ingredients for seasoning and shortening the sauce added to the daily meals of millet mush. the Oro tree, a baobab, bears leaves that when cooked with sesame yield a dark green sauce greatly relished by the Dogon. Used more intensively than other trees, the baobab yields poor firewood and consequently is never cut down. Other trees that are important for their fruit are the Ponu; Omunu; Sa; and Yuro." [Hollyman S. and Van Beek W., 2001: Dogon, Africa's People of the Cliffs. Harry N Abrams, Inc.]. During his trip to Mali, Elisofon visited the Dogon people in Sanga (Sangha), a group of thirteen villages lying east of Bandiagara at the top of an escarpment. The most important villages are Ogol-du-Haut and Ogol-du-Bas. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for National Geographic and traveled to Africa from January 19, 1972 to mid April 1972.