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It is bordered by Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone. The name of the country – Liberia – means “land of freedom”. It was founded for liberated slaves in 1821.
The capital was named Monrovia, in honor of former U.S. President James Monroe, who was a supporter of the abolition of slavery.
A little later, in 1847, the country declared independence – and became the very first African state to do so. The Liberian flag is almost the same as the United States, reflecting the historical ties between the two countries.
To this day, the country’s constitution states that the country’s citizens can only be dark-skinned. Because of the difficult slavery of the past, people fear white domination.
An interesting fact is that the current president of the country, George Weah, who is quite popular among the locals, was a professional footballer who has played for teams such as AC Milan, Chelsea, Manchester City and others.
What is left of one of the most luxurious hotels in the world
My first stop is the capital, Monrovia. There is a lot of dirt and abandoned buildings here. Whole quarters of ghost houses. On the hill, in a prominent position, stands the former first international-class hotel in Africa, the Ducor Intercontinental.
At the time of construction in 1960. it was considered one of the most luxurious 5-star hotels in the world, and the architecture surpassed the era. It was built because there was a desire to attract more foreign visitors to the country. There were 100 rooms, tennis courts, a swimming pool and several restaurants staffed by the best chefs from around the world. Not only business tycoons, richer tourists, but also leaders of the Black Continent visited it.
It was hastily closed in 1989 due to concerns about a possible internal conflict. An uprising soon ensued that led Liberia into a civil war. A little later, the hotel began to be looted, and people from the slums of Monrovia settled in the empty rooms.
Photo by Dan Pankevičius / Former luxury hotel “Ducor” opened
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Currently, all illegal residents have been expelled, the area is protected by security guards. It wasn’t easy to get there because people living at the foot of the mountain demanded to pay for being in their territory. After a small conflict, the hotel was able to break into free of charge. I refused to pay them categorically.
Young people gathered by the pool on the hotel grounds, smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol and playing loud music. A security guard who saw me stated that it was forbidden to visit here. And after a few minutes, he offered to travel around the area for a small fee. I agreed with his proposal. I saw everything that was left inside the Ducor Hotel, just the concrete walls and the plants growing inside.
Terrible conditions in the slum
The hotel’s terrace overlooks one of the city’s poorest and most densely populated slums, West Point. This area was occupied illegally by fishermen 70 years ago. Twenty years later, the authorities forcibly evicted them, but they returned again.
So far, the conditions here are appalling. The population is very large, but there are only a few free public toilets in the whole area. They are equipped and paid for, but the vast majority of people cannot use them because they are “out of pocket.” So they do natural things on the beach, polluting not only the water they consume, but also the fish they catch and use for food.
Following the outbreak of Ebola in 2013, the slum was closed for quarantine following cases of the disease. No one could leave or enter the area. After 10 days, however, the quarantine was lifted due to strong pressure from health experts and human rights activists. Authorities ordered the removal of the barbed wire fence surrounding the slum.
During the Ebola epidemic, 11,000 people died in Liberia and neighboring countries. people. Outbreaks of tuberculosis also occur regularly in West Point. It is better not to get sick in this country because medical services are very limited. There are about 300 doctors in Liberia today. According to statistics, 1 doctor per 15 thousand. population. Before the Ebola epidemic, the situation was even worse. There were only 50 doctors in the country and a population of 4.3 million. 1 doctor – 86 thousand. people.
The largest snails in the world are eaten
Locals advised me not to visit the West Point area due to high crime rates. Cheap drug dealers, car battery thieves, robbers live here. But I didn’t want to miss the market there. People who live nearby shop there every day.
One of the most popular products attracted attention – giant snails, which can grow up to 30 centimeters long. As far as I know, it is the largest in the world. Here they are sold alive or already pulled out of the shell. It boils, boils. Valued as a source of protein. In some parts of the world, snails of this species are considered domestic animals. They live for 5-10 years.
The market sells vegetables and meat, but seafood dominates. People usually eat rice, cassava and its leaves, plantains, sweet potatoes. Very popular dish – fufu. It is a fermented dough made from the same cassava plant. It is eaten with a variety of meat and fish stews.
Soups are also popular here, especially goat meat. Unfortunately, the meat of wild animals is also very popular here, but I didn’t find it at the market that time. People eat elephants, hippos, chimpanzees and other monkeys, leopards. And these are not isolated cases, but a mass phenomenon.
Photo by Dan Pankevičius / Monrovia Market
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The market also sells coal used for cooking and bundles of natural rubber for lighting fires. There is no shortage of natural rubber in Liberia, which also has the largest plantation of rubber trees in the world. It is owned by Firestone, which has been operating here since 1926. Its subsidiary Bridgestone is a world-renowned tire manufacturer.
Monkeys undergoing biochemical experiments by U.S. researchers
I leave the capital and travel to Monkey Island. The distance is quite short, only 90 km, but you have to spend over 2.5 hours on the road. Another 20 minutes by wooden boat from the nearest village to the island. It houses 66 chimpanzees that have suffered from a wide variety of biochemical and other experiments by U.S. scientists for decades.
They have been infected with the hepatitis B virus, a parasite that causes eye diseases, and blood purification tests are being performed. It is said that they were caught by poachers at an early age and sold to an American research institute around 1970. Finally, a few decades later, they moved from the laboratories to the island.
They would not even be able to find food on their own because they do not have the necessary skills to do so. Without human help, food would be lost to them, and food would be brought to the shore every day. The monkeys, hearing the sound of a motorboat engine, fled from the depths of the island, hoping for a treat.
This island is definitely not a tourist attraction, no tourists come here. One can only agree with the fishermen to sail to the island and observe the primates from a distance. It is strictly forbidden to feed them, so I did not transport anything for them. Slowly turning on the beach, the chimpanzees moved back to the center of the island 10 minutes later. They are protected from any direct contact with humans. They are not allowed to set foot on the island.
Problems faced by fishermen in other countries
I continue my boat to the fishing village of Marshall. Most people here are fishing, which is the main way to eat in this poor area. Catches go out in wooden boats every morning and return in the afternoon. The waters are quite fishy, many different fish, crabs and lobsters are caught. The catch is sold fresh, part of it is smoked in special large barrels. The settlement is especially poor, the houses are dilapidated, most of them are made of tin.
After spending only one day here, I travel to the surfer paradise of Robertsport. The roads are very poor. There are not even modern gas stations here. I only see people standing on the roadside with glass bottles held in their hands and filled with fuel. We pour a few bottles into the car tank and drive on.
Getting to the area is a bit disappointing. Now is not the season, no one is surfing. But here are the most beautiful beaches in the country, I inspect them. And here on the coast, many fishing boats are a common sight in coastal settlements. The fishermen have already returned from the sea and are preparing for the next day. Manages the boat, prepares the bait by bathing it on plenty of fishing hooks.
The Robertsport area is home to 33,000 fishermen. They face a major problem with foreign fishing trailers. They fish illegally, disrupting local fishing at night and pulling their nets. And networks aren’t cheap: they can cost between $ 150 and $ 1,500, depending on size. The catch is estimated to be small, so it becomes very difficult to buy a new net. Fishermen chill the fish they catch and transport it to the capitals of the Monrovia fish market.
Although Africa is my favorite continent, I have not stayed in Liberia for long. I can’t find any more interesting places to visit. But I am not yet leaving the continent itself, flying to war-torn Libya. It is difficult to enter the country because tourist visas have been suspended for more than 10 years since the fall of Gaddafi. I will visit not only the war-torn places, but also the impressive ancient Roman cities. They alone are worth coming here for.
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Read all the texts of “Expedition: Undiscovered World” and watch the show here.
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