Liberia

*Heading into the mountainous area of Liberia*

*Crossing the bridge over the Mano River, which forms the border between Sierra Leone and Liberia*

Liberia’s history is tightly intertwined with the United States– all the people we talked to felt a connection to the US. They were saddened that it was not easier to visit and wished for more international support. Another country which had been through a devastating war in our recent memory, it felt like Liberia was also coming into its own power.

Liberia was founded in 1822 as a destination for freed slaves returning from the Americas. The first African republic to claim independence, it achieved sovereignty in 1847 with the help of the American Colonization Society (a private organization based in the United States). But its founding was not trouble free– of the initial emigration of freed slaves, only about 40% survived due to disease, most commonly malaria. The incoming immigrants who took control (Americo-Liberians) also had a troubled history, only granting indigenous ethnic groups the right to vote in 1963.

Our route through Liberia. We had to cross from Liberia into Côte d'Ivoire by a certain date because of our visa. We didn’t make it to southern Liberia where there were no suitable border crossings for us into Côte d'Ivoire (small boat or on-foot crossings only).

The people we met in Liberia were outgoing and welcoming. The men taught Andy the Liberian handshake which he did his best to master and repeat, bringing a lot of smiles on both sides (involves several steps ending in a finger snap). I hold it fit that we shake hands and part

*Stellar view from the camper door at Robertsport*

Our first stop in Liberia was Robertsport, with its famous beaches. We bumped our way out along a 40 km dirt road and ended up in the town of 4,000 people at a surf club bar and restaurant with two beachside camping spots. It was a pleasure talking to the young entrepreneurs running the place, fresh out of hospitality school with vision and enthusiasm to grow the business.

*Night photo, bringing in the fishing nets*

*Some of the cleanest beaches we have seen*

*Except for this . . .somehow hauntingly beautiful though*

*Enjoyed swapping stories with No Fear Reizen, a Dutch couple inhabiting the other camping spot, also on a long journey south.*

After two restful days, some long walks on the beach and excellent fresh fish, we got back on the road, slowly working our way back to the main road in a cloud of red dirt.

Then, another major African city, Monrovia. Urban centers are not our favorite, so once again we limited our time in the city to food shopping, finding some cash and some brief tourism.

*Main road into town, a tuk tuk scrum through a heavily trafficked and populated market street*

*And in a wonderful moment of market randomness, we spotted a bridge-side stand with two items we wanted to buy: peanut butter and pasta*

Camping options were very limited in the Monrovia area. The city is not in super shape, the number one tourist attraction is a derelict hotel on a hilltop which is slowly crumbling into the ground after its heyday in the 1970’s. We drove up to check it out but after being besieged by would-be tour guides and people asking for money, we went on our way. We know others who found the charm there, so quite possibly we were just tired, hungry and hot and so unable to experience it.

Our camping spot in Monrovia. A bit of a let down after being on the beach, but a safe walled compound where our host Joe welcomed us, showed us the bathroom and gave us a wifi code. He runs an NGO placing orphaned children in homes.

We thought we might possibly be done with Liberia, with our visa beginning Côte d'Ivoire the next day. For overland travelers who had recently driven the western route, Côte d'Ivoire was one of the most difficult countries to access. Technically, land borders had been closed since COVID, with an extra closure put in place in January of 2023 (we are not sure why). In order to drive a vehicle through, you had to obtain a Laissez Passer for your vehicle (basically a temporary import permit) which had been increasingly difficult to obtain in the last month.

Our West Africa Whatsapp group was alive with information and resources, but fixers and contacts frequently used in the past to obtain the permit were being shut down. The best way to obtain a permit seemed to be to have a traveler ahead of you go and apply for you in person in Abidjan, then email you the permit. We were part of a consecutive train of travelers that was set up to do this. We were still nervous so pursued a second option, emailing a contact at the Ministry of the Interior in Abidjan who had secured a permit for another traveler. We set up communication with him, transferred him $80 through Moneygram and received a piece of paper that we knew may or may not work. We decided to head to the border and try with the permit we received via email two days before our contact through the overlander group was set to go to Abidjan and secure our permit. It did not work out the way we wanted at first but we ended up with a great outcome.

*Road approaching the Liberia/Côte d'Ivoire border at Danane*

We are grateful to the supportive officers on the Liberian side who told us they didn’t want to stamp us out until we were sure we would be able to enter Côte d'Ivoire. They told us to walk across the border to check our paperwork. We passed the health check - no fevers, they OK’d our yellow fever and COVID vaccine records and our visas. BUT, they declined the Laissez Passer - LP - that we had obtained for $80 from the contact at the Ministry of the Interior. It was a bizarre dance. Various officials on the Côte d'Ivoire side shunted us back and forth between each other and at one point told us (in French which a nice young man on a motorbike translated for us) “ go find the military man in the back with the key to the gate so you can bring your truck through and we can check it.” We thought that was a hopeful sign. Until we approached the military man in the back who yelled at us and told us the borders were closed and we were stupid because we could not speak French (basically). Dang. So we u-turned back to the truck on the Liberian side to re-group.

We decided our best strategy was to hang out and wait for our overlander contact to go to the Ministry of the Interior and hopefully get us what we needed to cross the border.

This is where things went right. We looked on the map to figure out where to go (the previous night we had camped in a dirt pit for road construction and it was not an experience that we wanted to repeat) and drove an hour to what ended up being our favorite camping spot in Liberia - the Nimba Nature Reserve.

We made our way to the gate and a helpful security guard called the rangers who came to meet us. They thought it best if we paid $50 and were accompanied by a ranger who spent the night with us. Luckily we managed to convince them that we were OK on our own and in an optimistic move gave them the last of our Liberian currency, about $15 (on the assumption we would be able to leave eventually) and they accepted.

*Driving by abandoned mining buildings from the past*

*Camped by Blue Lake (tiny truck in the photo, on the bluff to the right)*

An abandoned iron ore mine, Nimba Mountain and Blue Lake were stunning. It was heartening to see the site being slowly renovated into a nature reserve and tourism site. When we were there they were beginning to build an entrance gate and visitor center and a hotel and restaurant. But honestly, we were glad to be there at a time with no new development when we could just wander the trails on our own.

*Connecting with an American professor, Dr. Gregg Mitman and his graduate students*

We met with a group of graduate students who were touring the site and had the opportunity to hear about each of their research. They were all in various studies in Environmental Humanitarianism which blended medicine, industrialism, anthropology, tourism and and primate studies. Wow, there was some combined brilliance on that bluff and besides being a fascinating conversation, we left feeling inspired. They were on their way to interview some of the past employees of the mine to learn more about the history.

*Even when it is challenging, happy to be on this journey together with our trusty home on wheels*

*Our last view in Liberia, pulled over by the side of the road waiting for someone to email us a form so we could cross the border to Côte d'Ivoire. Loved watching the kids play with tires and sticks.*

The morning of February 15 we were back close to the border waiting for our contact to let us know if he’d been able to secure the paperwork for us. We were hanging out close to the village where we knew there was a small business willing to print a piece of paper for us when we were ready.

Then, the universe worked its magic and the Whatsapp group chat became alive with the news that at midnight the night before, Côte d'Ivoire had opened its land borders. No more special paperwork needed. What!!!

So we made our way back to the border and this time made it across. We did have to spend six hours waiting for news from consecutive “big bosses” as the customs officials worked their way up the seniority chain for approval for us to drive on, but eventually common sense won out as they recognized we were not driving our truck camper into the country with the intention of selling an inferior vehicle to some unsuspecting citizen. We were the first tourists at that border crossing since the opening so there was some residual confusion.

But second time round, so much better and we were grateful for our extra time in Liberia. We are learning that, when traveling in West Africa, you make plans and try to adhere to them, but sometimes they fall apart and something better is waiting around the corner.

More on Côte d'Ivoire soon. Thank you for reading!

Côte d'Ivoire

Sierra Leone