Monrovia to Cote de Ivoire border

Waking at 5.00am the cooling fan starts with the generator, just what I needed!

I ready myself and get out of the Convent by 6.00am. It’s a long walk to the taxi pick up and the city is already starting to wake.

I manage to get a ride to the transport stop at Ganta Parking and find a suitable car for the journey. Then comes the wait, nothing moves until it’s full in Africa and there’s no exceptions here. I pay for two seats so I can have the one front seat to myself. The car is an ageing Nissan with 215,000 on the clock, it’s a shed.

Finally we start the direct, no stop, journey and 500mtrs down the road we stop for new spark plugs.

Ok so now we’re on the road heading out of town. Prince is texting me about every 3 minutes trying to link up and finally I get him to call the driver and we arrange to meet. 

Five miles later we are in a garage for a replacement and well worn tyre and they discover other problems with the brakes so now they are fixing that problem too. 

It’s kind of inevitable that problems will occur with the terribly worn out cars and very challenging road conditions here, I’m not bothered but it’s a little frustrating.

Prince is on the phone again, he’s now coming to meet me at the garage, with a bit of luck he will arrive before the work is done?

Well the work continues on the car and Prince arrived, he’s not confident that we will make the border tonight as he doesn’t think the car will manage the roads!

Anyway they rebuild the CV joint and it’s time to move on, I say my goodbyes and we’re off again. 

The car doesn’t sound great but hey, what’s the worse that could happen?

The driver is not hanging around and he throws the car around on the good road making good time and not taking too many risks, I’m not worried about his driving but the car is a total nail. 

We continue to make good time but I do think that the delays have been too long, it’s going to be tight!

The last section of this trip passes through the jungle, my favourite kind of roads out here. For a while it’s pretty good going and the mud road could almost be made of rough tar, it’s actually polished in some places and the driver doesn’t let up on the speed. We have a stop in a village and soon we are back on the jungle track. 

From this point the road seriously deteriorated and within a couple of miles there’s a huge mud hole. The driver attacks it with vigour and the CV joint blows apart. I was actually filming at the time and I’m sure the event will be captured on video. 

We are stuck in the middle of this glutinous mud hole and the car is going nowhere today, that’s for sure. The driver flags down a pick up who drags us out of the hole and then drives off. There is much beratement from the other passengers whilst I keep calm and think what to do next. We are 40km from the border, in the middle of the jungle, the car is going nowhere and it’s starting to get dark, brilliant!

A little while later a Ford Ranger pulls up and there’s discussion going on. He toes the car a little way to get it off the track and then there’s an offer on the table. 

He is fully loaded with passengers and goods but agrees to take the five of us and all the cargo for 1,000 Liberian Dollars each, that’s about £5.00. I suggest that the original driver should cover the cost as I paid quite a sum for the journey already but as usual he’s got no money!!

I can’t stay here so I agree and with much argument and reluctance, so do all the other passengers.

There’s an old lady in our car and it takes a bit of pushing and heaving to get her into the pickup and she’s sat on a bucket, nothing like a bit of luxury but I’m pleased that she will not be left in the jungle.

I’m sat on the roof of the pick up hanging on for dear life to some motorbike tyres.

The journey begins. I am having an absolute ball, this is about the best outcome I could have wished for, the jungle trail to the border is muddy, wet, rocky and everything else in between. Up on the roof I have a fantastic view of the road ahead and I’m loving it. I try a few shots but soon the light is gone and I’m just hanging on. 

One section was so challenging that we all had to get out of the pickup as it was too dangerous climbing up a deeply rutted and rocky slope. Next on the list was deep wet muddy slopes, the truck was sliding sideways and struggling for grip at one point there was a lorry coming the other way and we had to wait as it slowly made progress up the hill slithering dangerously close to our pickup. What more could a man want this is fab!

The 40km journey took a good few hours it was so tough! Towards the end my body stayed to ache a little bit I wasn’t complaining, I wondered what the old lady was thinking being bounced up and down like this, I bet she wasn’t enjoying it as much as me! Finally we arrived at the border town, there’s no point going to the border now as it’s closed for the night so we unload the truck and I’m left wondering what to do next.

Everyone is busting themselves with their own stuff so I wander off and try to find somewhere to stay. Bingo, there’s a local ‘Motel’, I will say that loosely as it’s a bit of a dump but there’s a bed for the night and it has power so I can charge my phone.

I ask the price and the chap wants $15, it’s pretty expensive here for a bed but I don’t really have much choice so I take it.

The room has a mosquito net which is a bonus. Whilst settling in another chap asks me if I know the price, I say ‘no’ and he asks me for $10! I pay him, I expect the other chap was doing what everyone else does here and jacks the price when they see white skin, it’s shameful but totally normal here.

So I have room, power, a broken fan and a mosquito net, despite the difficulties I have had yet another brilliant and memorable day that I will never forget.

I’m still in Liberia but the border is very close and I will cross into Cote de Ivoire, the Ivory Coast, my last country for this trip, tomorrow. 

Who knows what the new day will bring??

I finally meet the man, Prince is a good friend of my Mate Bob, lovely chaps (both of them)

The troublesome car finally gives up the ghost!

My new ride for the last 40km. This truck was seriously loaded, seven in the cab plus a baby and seven on top of a full load on the back with me sat on the roof! This should be fun!

Sat on the roof of a 4X4 riding through the jungle at night! It couldn’t get much better than this. I’m in heaven!!

The jungle road was surprisingly busy with many local motorcycles and this truck, slithering through the glutinous mud, EPIC!