Monrovia

Monrovia is a small city and unlike many other African cities does not feel polluted.  It is situated on a peninsular so the sea surrounds the city.

View from Second Chance office
on Broad St

The centre is made up of a grid of streets, the heart of which is the junction of Broad Street (the main street) and Randall Street.  There are taxis, motorbikes, street hawkers and lots of people.

So much of life happens out on the street, from hawkers and stallholders selling anything from phone credit to, clothes, food; fake DVDs…..the list goes on.  You can get your shoes cleaned and shined whenever you want from the many men offering this service.

People walk the streets with large containers on their heads selling doughnuts, wheelbarrows with French bread, iceboxes of water in plastic sachets, whatever you want.

I even saw a man with a wheelbarrow piled high with bras for sale today.

  The street the office is on is lined with people with photocopiers and laminating machines, so when I need something copied I just pop down to my regular photocopier stall under a parasol umbrella.  I asked one of my colleagues where they get the power from……simple they hook up to the buildings electricity supply!! 

The other side of the road is where you go for your smart men’s shoes and a suit, all second hand sent form the West.

A random sight, 2 anteaters off to
become someones dinner!

To get around there are two options for those without a 4x4!  There are the share taxis or motorbike taxi.  The main roads are full of yellow taxis, you tell them the general direction you are going in and they pick up people along the way, squashing in as many people as possible, usually 4 in the back not matter what size those people are.  Or you jump into one on route to where you are going.  You can then get out anywhere along that route.  These are pretty cheap, but you have to be prepared to suffer a dead leg and get very close to sweaty strangers.  The other option is a motorbike, these are useful because they will take you to exactly where you want to go, they can however be a tad dangerous as they weave in out of the traffic!!  You have to keep a keen eye out for these bikes when crossing the road!!

There’s one thing you cannot fail to notice here is the number of UN 4x4’s driving around.  The UN occupy a massive building, and their presence is everywhere……not really sure what they are doing these days, predominantly development work, don’t worry its mainly not a military presence, although you do occasionally see a blue helmet.

View of the City, Broad Street

View of West Point, a ghetto area

Mamba point is the diplomatic enclave.  Walking through the streets here (theres not many its not big) you will see Save the Children, The Carter Centre, UNSESCO, American Aid, World Food Programme, etc etc.  There is also a massive American embassy surrounded with enough security to ward off most.  Apart from us…..a word of warning, never think just because you come from America you can take a photo of their embassy!! The other volunteer, Chelsea, tried this and before we knew it a police man was there questioning us about what we were doing.  There was no convincing him that she could just delete it, he would only be satisfied with a quick trip to the embassy police station to see his boss!!

The derelict Ducor Hotel

View from top of hotel

The now derelict Ducor Hotel is a large building on a hill on Mamba point, it was Liberia's number one 5* hotel, it is now a shell.  It is visible from around Monrovia, it was a gift from Ghadafi…..a great friend to Liberia!!! 

He was in the process of beginning to refurbish it before his departure from power!

I haven't taken that many photos yet and these don't show really what it is like, I will work on getting some better shots!