After several nights of bushcamping in northern Liberia it was time for a little luxury! Libassa eco resort near Monrovia is owned by a French couple who've created a stunning place to relax, catering mainly for the NGO and UN workers in and around Monrovia. They're always very welcoming to the novelty of tourists in Liberia, though we remain the only visitors they've had who choose to camp down by the lagoon! Above is their 'infinity pool' - and the only one in the area as far as we're aware!
Below is the lagoon, a chest-deep area of calm, clear water that's as warm as you'd expect a bath to be!
Above is the beach by Libassa, a huge expanse of sweeping golden sand with few other people around to share it with. After some time to relax here we headed on to Liberia's capital, Monrovia.
The Ducor Hotel is perched on a hill overlooking Monrovia, and used to be the definition of luxury, having been visited by various African heads of state such as Sekou Toure, Idi Amin and Houphouet-Boigny. It was closed shortly before Liberia's civil war started, but was unfortunately looted and damaged during the conflict. It remains a fascinating place to visit, and the security guards who keep squatters at bay were only too pleased to show us around the ruins of this once grand establishment. Below is a view from the hotel, down to West Point and the Mesurado river.
From the captial we headed west to Robertsport. This small town is just along the coast and always makes for a great spot to relax for a couple of nights. We camped on the pristine beach, watching the fishing boats come and go and just generally spending the day unwinding and relaxing. In the 1800's Robertsport was host to a colony of freed slaves, and though looted and damaged during the civil war, the town still hosts numerous rather decrepit plantation-style houses, reminiscent of what you will see in the southern states in the USA.
Once over the border into Sierra Leone we endured a couple of bumpy and dusty days en route to the diamond-trading town of Kenema. We thought we were having a hard time on the bad roads until we came across a convoy of trucks carrying heavy mining machinery, whose drivers were having to dig out many of the big bog holes to give enough clearance to get their machinery through! Fortunately for us the route was dry this time around.
Below is a picture of Aminah about to cross a log bridge as we drove from Kenema to Tiwai Island.
Above are some of the young characters we met en route. Below is a fisherman from Kambama near Tiwai Island.
Tiwai Island is located on the Moa river and is known for its primates. Scientific research on the island started back in the 1970's as the chimpanzees here have been observed using stones as tools to break nuts. Fortunately the primate population on the island has been protected for some time after significant amounts of poaching went on during the civil conflict in the 1990's. We learnt that the monkey population on the mainland is higher than it used to be, as people are now more fearful of eating monkeys following the Ebola outbreak. This has, however, had a negative impact on the cocoa harvest as there are now more monkeys to spoil and eat the crop.
Tiwai Island is also known for its pygmy hippos. Native to this region, pygmy hippos are particularly difficult to see as they're solitary, nocturnal, small and live in the water. Signs of where they were recently, and will be again at some point in the future, proved to be much easier to find than the actual animals themself!
Below, Pooley and Spencer enjoying a morning boat trip looking for wildlife around Tiwai.
Below, Jase headed out with a fisherman who cast his nets in the river in the evening before collecting them the following morning. The catch was small but worthwhile as fish provides most of the protein in the diet of the local villagers.
Kambama is the closest village to Tiwai Island, and home to a tremendously welcoming community who were very pleased to see tourism returning after a difficult couple of years. We found their water pump had broken which was forcing them to drink the dirty river water. As they were unable to afford to repair the pump with so little income in the village we made a donation from our trip budget to enable it to be repaired.
Above and below are students from the village school who came to perform for us. They are practicing for a performance they are putting on in a few weeks time to the surrounding villages.
Moving on from Kambama we spent Friday night in Bo, Sierra Leone's second largest city and well-known for its nightlife. The locals love a party, as we discovered when the tennis courts we were camped on became the dance floor for the evening!
From Bo we drove west to the Freetown peninsula for a night on Bureh Beach, a magical spot to relax before we finished the trip in Freetown itself. The mountains of the Freetown peninsula come right down to the coast which is almost unknown in the rest of West Africa. Bureh is becoming increasingly famous for its surfing and even has a surf school, though it was very calm when we visited.
From the beach we drove into Freetown for the end of the trip where we sadly said goodbye to Steve, Spencer, Jess, Emilia and Pooley.
At the same time we said hello to Deborah, 2 Mikes, Melissa, Alice, Chris, Mandy and Steve who joined us for the start of our Freetown to Dakar trip, and who are now travelling with us through Guinea. The beauty of the Fouta Djalon highlands awaits us!
Many thanks to Lexi for many of the photos in this post.
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