HELP LIBERIA FOUNDATION

AFRICAN PEPPER Part I

Posted by Help Liberia Foundation on February 20, 2011

During the first journey to African continent we are constantly curious; we wonder what will happen, what kind of people we will meet, what kind of new tastes and smells we will experience and whether it pays to travel so far.

A Pessimist in Africa

Being exposed to African mosquitoes wasn’t my greatest fear. I was mainly afraid of high temperature I had read about in so many books about Africa, written by different travelers. I remembered the stories about boiling African weather, so when the door of my airplane opened, I my greatest fear came again to my mind. “Will I die because of heat?” – I asked myself. It turned out that the heat isn’t so bad as they say. I felt a breath of warm, pleasant air. “It is even possible to breathe here.” – I thought,.

Liberia has hot and humid climate. Evenings and mornings are rather cool. There are really very hot days, when you don’t fell like going out at all. However, very often the sky is covered with clouds – then one doesn’t feel the heat so much. An ocean – breeze coming form the Atlantic brings some relief.

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I was enjoyably surprised with the Corina Hotel in Monrovia (the capital of Liberia) where I spent my first days in Africa. It turned out that the hotel was popular with the guests from Europe and USA. It was a very friendly place. My room was modest but cozy; the air-condition worked, there was running water, and electricity 24 hours a day. The service was very nice and helpful. There wasn’t a variety of dishes for breakfasts, but the food was good and fresh.
I was very surprised seeing grills in all the windows. Together with mosquito nets they gave a feeling of safety. But they also created a strange feeling that one can experience when it isn’t possible to have a window wide open. Well, so many countries, so many customs.

Transportation

The streets of Monrovia are wide. You can walk easily. However during the rush hour there are traffic jams, similar to the Europeans ones. There are no traffic signs but drivers drive very well and collisions can rarely be seen. One can see new cars on the roads. But there are also very old and devastated ones, too. Yellow taxies are the main mean of transportation. They are often crammed full. Four people seat at the back, what in Liberian climate is rather tiring and uncomfortable. Sometimes, during the rush hour, two or even two people seat next to the driver, at the front (but also at short distance “lines”). Why is it like that? The reason is simple: there are too few taxis comparing to the number of people living in Monrovia and its vicinity.
In Liberia you can also use a motorbike or a scooter, that is very popular there. Clever drivers will take you to any place. The journey is less tring that the one in a taxi, and you can feel wind in your hair.
Transportation has improved a lot after the war but you can still notice serious problems. People waiting in the streets for any mean of transportation to get home after a hard day are a common view. All you can do is to feel sorry for extremely patient Liberians.

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Outside Monrovia most of the roads are under construction. That’s why getting somewhere is difficult, especially after heavy rains that aren’t rare in Liberia. Distances between small towns are rather big.

The Corina Hotel

A street in Buchanan

A road under construction

A policeman in Monrovia

A view on the Atlantic Ocean

By Justyna Maciuszek.