Encounter with a Gabon Viper on the way back

Epicenter of the chaos

After a week in Maryland, it was time to head back to Harbel but we had to get through the grueling (for the vehicle and the driver) and exciting (for me) drive back. As was the norm, we wanted to travel during the day and make as much ground as possible. The key was getting from Pleebo to the border of River Gee County. A little over an hour into the journey, we came to a halt in a location where a pickup was stuck in mud. The problem was not as much as the pickup but the traffic that was backed up. To top it all off, one driver was not cooperative at all. His was a pickup and when it came time for him to cross there was another big truck filled with women on the other side both trying to make the pass first.

Bikes are the most convenient rides in this part of the world

The side from which the big truck was coming was pretty bad and it seemed like backing up for him would be a touch difficult as he would be backing straight into the mud pool where there was another pickup stuck. The small pickup on the other side of the pass firm land behind it and it made sense for him to backup and let the truck pass first. The driver however refused to back down, leading to a scene of massive chaos.

In one sub plot to the scene was the poor pickup that was stuck in mud deep enough that the tires were barely visible. The driver and some of his companions where busy trying to dig and push the pickup out of the mud pool. There were other bystanders, some of whom where helping to push the car and some just looking on.

This was the ditch that we had crossed a week ago. In a week, a side track was formed so not probs getting back

A second sub-plot was the confrontation between the pick-up and the big truck both of whom were at the pass but refusing to backup for obvious reasons. Crammed in the truck was a group of about 20-30 women heading to the market and who were getting desperate to reach the market on time so as not to loose their most productive time to sell their wares, I leave it for you to imagine the ruckus a group of 20-30 women can create when they are agitated. Add to this other vehicles waiting for their turn to pass and motorcycles trying to squeeze through this chaos. Then suddenly, the driver of the truck got out and headed straight to the pickup pulling out the driver and abruptly there was a fight with punches and kicks flying around. Soon common sense prevailed and the pickup backed down and the traffic got decongested and we were able to pass through albeit after a little bit of drama and loosing valuable travel time.

These kids hitched a ride with us

Around lunchtime as we approached Fishtown, we had passed through the worst part of the road but the engine was overheating. We suspected that this was caused due to the mud being splashed all over the engine and this had clogged the cooling mechanism. This meant that we had to stop ever half and hour to find a stream so we could splash some water over the engine to cool it down. We gave the pickup some serious splash down in Fishtown and that helped as we did not have serious overheating for the rest of the return journey.



Taking a detour




Another truck...this one was there 3 days...and counting
















 All the passengers in the pickup had their own favorite part of the road. Some liked the paved road for obvious reasons, some were eagerly looking to the region between Nimba and Grand Gedeh where they could buy plantain and other food items at a fraction of the cost in Harbel and some other liked the region around Ganta because it was a little more urban. My favorite part of the journey was between Fishtown and Zwedru because we passed through the densest part of the jungle.

Random hamlet

For the whole ride I had my head sticking out of the window soaking in the wonders of this region. On one such instance while I had my head stuck out and the rest of the crew busy driving or dozing off I noticed something like a piece of wood on the road. I must have been 100 meter from it but as soon as my eyes caught the image in the distance I knew it a Gabon viper as it is a fairly slow moving snake. Between the time it took my brain to confirm that and react the pickup had just passed the snake barely missing crushing it. I remember saying something like…hold on …hold on….hold on….slapping on the door of the car. The driver thought that I had dropped my camera so he screeched to a halt at which point I jumped out of the car muttering “Cassava Snake!!!”

Fishing in the river

No sooner had I pass the pickup I heard a couple logs being thrown out from the back of the vehicle. I soon realized what was happening so I put my hand up and clearly shouted “No one is going to kill this snake”.

Got stuck in a quicksand

Varied expressions

Most Liberians utterly detest snakes and would kill them at first sight. There are probably two reasons for this. One being that they are terrified of snakes especially the Gabon Viper (which the locals call as Cassava Snake) which is deadly venomous and is commonly found in the bush and usually strikes fatally any unsuspecting person who happens to step on it. The second reason is that most Liberians love snake meat and they frequently refer to snake meat as "Sweet".

Stopped by for some bananas

While I understand their reason for killing the snake since most of the locals walk barefoot and are vulnerable to getting bitten plus anti-venom is not handy to most so bites are often fatal, I am not totally sold on that reasoning. I know people in India get bitten by venomous snakes and often die especially in rural areas and even though there are cases of vengeful behavior by some, by and large most Indians treat snakes with reverence rather than hatred. There may be some other factors that make people in Liberia kill snakes at first sight but I personally find it very unfortunate.

My favourite part of the ride

The snake itself was beautiful and it was a thrilling sight to see it just cross the road and then disappear into the undergrowth unharmed and untouched. Normally if anyone else would have noticed it, I would have been helpless in saving it but in this case I noticed the snake first and I was the “Boss man” in the vehicle so I had enough leverage to save it. I suspect that there were a few wishful thoughts of snake dinner for about 30mins in the vehicle but I for one had an unabashed smile on my face.

Gabon viper

That night we stayed at Zwedru and unwound. The next day we set off again and the initial plan was to get back to Harbel by night fall but when we got to Ganta, we only had a few hours of daylight left so we decided to stay the night there.

Buying some plantain...150-125 Liberian dollars

Wanting to do the most with the daylight available that day, I decided to check around to see if there were any places to hike around Ganta. At worst I thought that I can go to Saniquellie which was about 45min away. In one medical shop we learnt of a waterfall some place in the bush about 40min away. I checked with our crew and none had heard of this place so I felt “If we have not seen it till now, then let’s see it today”. With that we set off on a dusty road heading north parallel to a railroad which AncelorMittal (a mining company) is trying to resurrect so they can ship iron ore from Nimba to a port further south.

Last stranded truck

Path through sugarcane field...leading to the waterfalls

We sought direction to this place like I remember doing when in India…just asking someone on the road every 10 minutes until we were asked to take a detour away from the main road. At the next place we asked for direction, one guy in charge of road maintenance assigned one of his employee to be our guide and suggested that it would be nigh impossible to go there without a local’s knowledge.

This is where we had to park the pickup

30 minutes of driving through a path that looked more suited for walking and surrounded by sugar plantation and we came across a bridge with logs. Our pickup at this time was packed with plantain and other stuff picked on the way by the crew to take home to their families. With the weight of the pickup we decided to park the it and hike to the waterfall. Abu, our driver volunteered to stay back at the bridge probably because he was more worried that someone might steal his plantain.

Crossing a stream

At the waterfall...with our guide

After hiking through a mixed patch of bush and cultivated land for about half an hour we came across a log over a stream at which another of our crew member dropped out at the pretext of having acrophobia. The remaining three of us walked a further 5 minutes to reach the waterfall that was seemingly in the middle of nowhere and pretty untouched. The only other human in the vicinity was a lone fisherman in his dugout canoe. I spent 30 more minutes soaking in the waterfall and chasing neon butterflies on the salt laden banks before returning back to the pickup.

Main street Ganta

This unexpected final piece of adventure bought a perfect end to the journey into the interiors of Liberia. The work for which I took this trip was a refreshing change to what I normally do and I feel richer for the experience as I have more of an appreciation for the hardship our rubber purchase team goes through to secure the raw material that my company needs.

Along the way, I got to interact a lot with the local Liberians and see some really isolated interior regions of Liberia both of which have enriched me as a person.