Building a home on a cliff ledge was a clever way to stay safe and to protect against floods on the valley floor below. The Birifor people who built these dwellings understood their landscape perfectly. By tucking houses into the rock face, they also had natural shelter from the rain and shade from the burning midday sun.
The houses are round, as is common in many West African building traditions. Round walls need less material than square walls to enclose the same amount of space, and they are also very strong — they spread weight evenly all the way around. The roofs were made from local grasses woven into a conical shape, like a pointed hat.
Some of the older houses at Niansogoni are no longer lived in, and you can see the rock walls darkened by the smoke from generations of cooking fires. The site is being carefully studied and preserved so that the story of the people who built there can be remembered and shared.
The village of Niansogoni sits below the cliff, and descendants of the original builders still live there. They can share stories about their ancestors who shaped those remarkable homes into the rock. Standing at the base of the cliff and looking up at the little doorways and windows far above is a truly astonishing experience.