I told you;the best beaches.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/01/11/liberia.surfing/index.html

Conclusion

This post pretty much means the end of this blog (which was actually meant as a photoalbum ), but I have quite enjoyed doing it and I think I'm starting to get a grip on the whole blog thing.
Although this was intended for you, my brothers and sisters from the LAMCO era, Liberia of course is so much more. I spent a month and a few days there this time, out of which one week in Buchanan and out of that only a day in the old LAMCO area. All in all during the month I took almost 900 photos so there are still some unpublished.

Thank you for the attention.

Hej då

Like I said; bestest beaches in the world.

I ended up at Furtemarks, which in the 80's had really bad undertow and was not completely safe to swim in. It was fine to do it now, though. We really tried to find our way down to Silver Beach but couldn't. It seems the road passes a lot further inland nowadays.

View south

North

Still fast

and fit

Cheers!

Best beaches in the world.

There are three "organized" beaches in the Furtemark beach area. In weekends beer and things are sold here. 

Recognize?

Road to the Beach

New bridge!

Crocs live here

Coconut Plantation; most trees are old now, it doesn't look like new ones are being planted.

Wouldn't you like to go to the beach? Buchanan has the best beaches in the world. If you disagree, you haven't been there. Beach road is not too bad up to Furtemarks; there is a new bridge too. Past Furtemarks it gets a little worse. I had a good driver and a 4WD jeep (which is what you need everywhere except Monrovia) and went almost as far as New Cess. Came back muddy.

The Beach Houses

 Road to the beach. Pond on left hand side.

 Beach House # 1

 View towards the harbour from House # 2 ( I think it was here, approximately )

 Looking the other way from the same spot. The sea has created a lagoon all the way so there is no direct access to the waves now.

This would have been  the third house, then.

I wanted to check out the beach houses, where the big bosses lived. I think there used to be three of them. Suppose they were not too badly damaged? What a nice piece of real estate to be renovating! I found out that project is a little out of my league though..

A Request from the President

http://www.liberia77.com/photo-repatriation-project/

If you have some old photos from Liberia, please click on the link above.

Flour Mill

Walking home in the sunset.

Flour Mill. No longer in use.

A nice long walk to flourmill. Ministry of Education new building on the right.

Blend In

 As an investigating visitor, it is important to blend in with the local population, says Closeau.

Don't be afraid to try the local drinks, for example.

Harbour Traffic

Enjoy, all you Swedes! Uncle Mac still remembers some Swedish phrases. When Charles Taylors' rebels attacked Buchanan, he loaded his tugboat with 350 (!) women and children and took it to Monrovia. I met a whole bunch of old LAMCO-employees, all of them missing the good old days.

Harbour, continued

There is no longer a car road to enter the port from the southern side.

Supposedly, the Guinean ore is to be shipped raw.

The Harbour

 Outside the fence on the comercial harbour side

 BRE woodchips waiting to be shipped

 BRE area

 Raffik's old warehouse

Forgotten logs? 

Sadly, I was not able to enter the port area. I really wanted to see Nautical Club. I was told it's not being used at present. From outside the fence, I could see the top of a shipwreck somewhere in front of the Club's beach area. Several vessels running guns to Charles Taylor were sunk in the harbour by ECOMOG jetfighters. A big one by the comercial key is being cut up and removed by BRE. One of the tugboats were sunk at the LAMCO side, it is also being removed.

Tubman Street

 Louisa Hotel, once the Hilton of Buchanan

 Tubman Street is the center of commerce nowadays

 There are a couple of supermarkets and three banks

and a few videoclubs

It's a gas,gas,gas.

Brand New Gas Station! On Tubman Street. An almost surreal sight. Inaugurated by the President herself. Total Gas have units like these on several locations in the country. You get a receipt too!

Of course there are still numerous small-time fuel entrepreneurs.

Who take pride in serving their customers themselves.

New Troubles

UNHCR to set up refugee camp in Liberia as Ivorians continue to flee

News Stories, 31 December 2010

© UNHCR/J.Katunda

Refugees from Côte d'Ivoire after fleeing to Liberia. They are about to be transferred from the border region to a transit centre.

MONROVIA, Liberia, December 31 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said on Friday that it will establish a camp in Liberia to shelter the more than 18,000 refugees who have fled from neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire over the past few weeks.

A camp site planner arrived in Liberia on Thursday, along with a health expert, to beef up UNHCR's emergency response team in Liberia. Work on the new camp is expected to begin next week.

More staff are expected to arrive in the coming days and they will play a key role in establishing the camp in the north-east Liberian border town of Saclepea. The camp is needed because the growing number of arrivals is straining the resources of the local communities that are hosting the refugees in border areas.

More than 18,000 Ivorians are known to have crossed the border into Liberia to escape uncertainty, chaos and the fear of violence since late November's presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire. UNHCR staff estimated that 400-500 Ivorians are arriving in Liberia every day, with about 55 per cent of them women and 62 per cent of all arrivals aged under 18.

© UNHCR

Map of Liberia. Source: UNHCR Global Appeal 2011 Update

"Our teams in Liberia continue to distribute emergency aid across villages where refugees are sheltered. Once registered, refugees receive plastic sheeting, blankets, jerry cans, sleeping mats, kerosene, lamps, buckets, soap, mosquito nets and other basic household items," said a statement issued by UNHCR.

It added that UNHCR had pre-positioned aid in the region to assist 30,000 refugees from Côte d'Ivoire and had spent some US$3 million to provide relief to the refugees from its emergency reserves. "We will need donor support to keep continuing our aid efforts in Liberia," the statement said.