Journey to the Eastern region of Liberia

The red line is the route we took...we had to go north and then south east. There is no direct route going east

Just a few weeks ago I made my first foray in the eastern region of Liberia. We have a small operation in a city called Pleebo which is about 30mins from the border of Ivory Coast and I had to go there for business reasons.

Getting out of the Concession area of the company

Pleebo is located in the Maryland County to the south east of Liberia and it is named after the State of Maryland in the United States. My guess for this specific name is that the settlers who came here around the 1830’s must have either lived or departed for West Africa from the port of Baltimore which is in the US state of Maryland.

Busy city of Kakata

Evidently Maryland County has a very interesting history. It was first a colony of a society that was called Maryland State Colonization Society and then gained its independence from them in 1854 to form an independent state in Africa. Only three years later did this state merge with the Republic of Liberia after the Liberian military assisted the Americo-Liberian’s in Maryland to subdue the local Grebo and Kru indigenous people.

Bong County

The most convenient way of getting to Pleebo is to take a small plane that leaves from Monrovia a few times a week and lands in the city of Harper which is the administrative capital of Maryland taking 30-40 minutes of flying time. From Harper, Pleebo is a one hour drive inland. The problem with the timing of my visit to Maryland was that it was just after the rainy season and the unpaved runway at the Harper airport was badly damaged in the incessant rain that afflicts this region. The only air travel that was possible during that time was a UN helicopter which I would not be able to take as the UN flights are strictly for humanitarian purposes.

One of the best universities in Liberia

Sacred Catfish

The only option that was left was that we had to take a road trip. In the past one year that I have been here, I had heard a lot of stories of the deplorable condition of the roads to the eastern region of the country and the fact that the journey was extremely uncomfortable and difficult but personally I was really hoping to travel via road since if it was comfort that I was after, I would never have decided to come to Liberia in the first place.

Ganta city

Our ride and place where we had lunch

Fortunately for me we decided to take the road. The journey was going to take us 2 full days with an over night stop over in the city of Zwedru which is the administrative capital of the county of Grand Gedeh. Our team was made of five people including Abu, who was a seasoned driver having first hand knowledge of the condition of the road and an expert in off-road terrain driving. We packed a few clothes, essential food items, lots of fuel and water and left at dawn.

Waiting for the Guinea border to open

During the first day of the journey we were supposed to pass through the counties of Margibi (where Harbel is located) and then pass through Bong and Nimba County and reach Zwedru which lies in the Grand Gedeh county.

Most of the morning was spend in traversing through the Bong County which is considered as the rubber corridor of Liberia as historically this is the place having the highest production of rubber in Liberia. The road was paved though not in the best of condition but almost all through this county I could see private rubber farms lining the road. It was interesting to note that most of the rubber farms I encountered here had very mature rubber trees with just a handful of places where there were new and immature rubber plantations.

Left of the bridge is Guinea

This was a clear indication of the fact that even though the farms here are producing rubber now, their production of rubber is decreasing year over year and the lack of new plantings suggests that the rubber crop will diminish in the next few years. Even if the private farmers and the government take actions now, it will not bear fruits for at least the next 7 years when the trees can be tapped for rubber. I have noticed this trend at work but it was interesting to get a first hand account of this problem of diminishing rubber production by small holders and private farmers.

Random Signpost

After passing through the towns of Kakata, Totota, Gbarnga (spelt as Banga) Palala, Kpein we reached the city of Ganta. The city is the business hub of the region even though Saniquellie and not Ganta is the administrative capital. We got there around lunchtime and the main road that pretty much defines the entire city was all hustle and bustle with all kinds of economic activity. While having lunch I learnt that we were at the northern border of the country with Guinea and that was one of the reasons for the high business activity in this city. Since I am fascinated with borders between countries I was not going to let this opportunity pass, so right after lunch I suggested we take a detour and visit the border.

One of our station for buying rubber from Private farmers

The road to the border was about 20-30 minutes and the day that we got there the border was closed for crossing due to some unrest in Guinea. After speaking to one of the local officials we were allowed to get closer to the border region than anyone else in the vicinity. The countries were separated by a river and a metal bridge bridging the two countries together. A few minutes of yearning at the border and we turned around with the desire to visit Guinea someday pushed to the backburner.

Center of Tapeta

Soon after we crossed past Ganta, the tar road turned into a dusty unpaved road frequented by motorcycles, local taxis and the occasional truck which all contributed to kicking up more dust.

The fun begins...!

The whole afternoon was spent passing through this dusty section where along the way we stopped by a stream harboring sacred catfish. Most Liberians are non- discerning with their meat but these specific catfish were for some reason considered sacred with a popular tale being that during the civil war some of the rebels who were not from this region eat these catfishes and promptly died. Along the way we passed through the towns of Saglepea and Tapita.

An hour or so before sunset, we arrived at the Zwedru city checkpoint where I was asked to handover my passport. The officer at the checkpoint asked me to get out of the car and accompany her to the nearby office where I was quizzed on where I intended to go and my purpose of travel. Later, I was asked for my immigration papers and upon handing them over I was asked for a receipt of payment for my immigration documents with the officer’s argument being that my immigration booklet could be fake and the only way to ascertain than I had legally obtained it was to see the receipt of the payment.

At that point it was pretty obvious that the officers were looking for some kickback since they had seen the company name on the car. My travel experiences held me in good stead since I was able to interact with them calmly and friendly without being intimidated. At one point it was suggested to me directly than I can pay up and make the process easier for all but here I was not only representing myself but also my company and there was no ambiguity in the fact that it was totally unacceptable to entertain or promote a culture of corruption.

Entering Zwedru

Zwedru center

I just politely told them than my company policy mandates me inform about the situation to my company. A few phone calls later and my passport and immigration documents were retuned and we proceeded to enter the city. I can understand that some if not all of the officials are not paid the best pay and they try to supplement their salaries with kickbacks but its probably detrimental to the whole nation in the long run.

Selling fuel

The entrance to the city was actually pretty impressive since the two-lane road was paved with street lights (at least the structure) separating the lanes. I was informed that the reason for the city having moderately good infrastructure compared to anything we had seen for the whole day was because it was the project that was passionately supported by the first indigenous president of Liberia, Samuel Kanyon Doe. (here is more info about him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Doe) who hailed from this county.

We quickly checked into a hotel in the city center and most of the evening was spent relaxing and walking around the city.