Likes & Dislikes

Opinions

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Liberia - coloful fabrics

Liberia - Monrovia - d.c. photo

Practicals

Transport

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Liberia - Monrovia - car rickshaw, called kekeh

Liberia - road scene - t.i. photo

Food

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Liberia - fried banana - d.c. photo

Shopping

All prices are indicated in US dollars, and you can everywhere pay in US dollars.

Liberia - local arts and crafts - d.c. photo

Liberia - Monrovia - Decent fashion - t.i. photo

Public safety

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Liberia -police car - d.c. photo

Liberia - beach warning - d.c. photo

Liberia - security service board with white security guard arresting black??? - d.c. photo

Health

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Liberia - free health care? - t.i. photo

Background

Liberia - national flag

Destination in brief

Liberia in brief
 
Liberia is a country in West Africa. Neighbors: Sierra Leone and Guinea (north), Ivory Coast (east), The country’s western part has a coastline along the Atlantic Ocean.
 
Liberia was never colonized by Europeans! The land was declared an independent state in 1847, after about 10,000 free African Americans, and some black Caribbean former slaves migrated here. The first president was a freed slave from America.
 
Size: 111,369 km² (43,000 mi²)
 
Capital city: Monrovia – It is strikingly clean compared to other African cities. - The town was named in honor of U.S. President James Monroe, a prominent supporter of the colonization of Liberia by Black Americans.
 
Population: 5 million (2020) – only about 5% of the population are direct descendants of the African American founders of the state.
 
The average age of its citizens is 18 years. (By way of comparison, a typical resident of Germany is 47 years old.)
 
Rice is so central to Liberians’ diet that the locals will say of someone who has not eaten rice that day that he/she didn’t eat anything, even if the person has in fact eaten some other food like bread, fruit, or pasta.
 
A troubling fact: endangered species are hunted (poached) for human consumption in Liberia. Species hunted for food include elephants, pygmy hippopotamus, monkeys and leopards.
 
Oprah Winfrey, the world-famous U.S. talk-show hostess, traced her ancestors back to Liberia and made efforts to find donors to help poverty-stricken Liberian women and children.
 
Languages: English is the official language – over 20 local languages are spoken
 
Religions: 85% Christian, 12% Muslim
 
Political & economic situation (April 2020) - a republic (the oldest one in Africa)
 
 
A coup in 1980 ended 133 years of government by the descendants of freed slaves and has started - not incidentally – a 25 years-long period of political instability, including two bloody civil wars (1989-2003). Liberia has been relatively peaceful since 2005.
 
The current government, led by George Weah, a former international football star, is highly incompetent. Although corruption is widespread, people do appreciate that at least there is peace.
 
According to a 2020 list of the World Population Review, Liberia is the poorest country in the world.
 
Liberia is one of the biggest exporters of iron ore in Africa.
 
Currency: Liberian dollar (LRD)
 
The average net monthly salary of employees: 340 USD (2020)
 
Most common surname: Kollie
 
Customary law allows Liberian men to have up to four wives.
 
Safety (May, 2020):
 
Crimes of opportunity, or armed robbery (typically using a knife or machete) have affected foreigners and are more common at night. Crime is common in both urban and rural areas. The local police forces do not seem to have sufficient and efficient capacity to respond to crime cases.
 
Liberia is “blessed” with many venomous snakes, among them the fearsome green mamba (OMG!)
 
When to visit? November-April
 
There are very few tourists (many of those who do visit are African Americans searching for their roots). The tourist infrastructure is underdeveloped. 
 
Top tourist attractions:
 
Providence Island, Waterside market in Monrovia, Cece Beach, Sapo National Park (with the pygmy hippopotamus native to Liberia), excellent surfing beaches, Silver Beach, sport fishing, Firestone Rubber Plantation


Geography

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Liberia - do not kill these - d.c. photo

Climate

Liberia's climate is hot and humid, with two main seasons, the rainy and dry. The heavens open from May to October, bringing as much as 200mm of rainfall annually to the coast. The inland areas are comparatively drier, with about 70 mm of annual rainfall. The winter from November to April is dry, with little variation in temperature. December-March shows a definite decline in humidity. The average night temperature is 15º C, daytime 35º C. "Harmattan," a dry and dusty wind blows from the Sahara.

History

,, Liberia survived the colonial partition, the Scramble for Africa (1884-1885) because it was formerly a quasi US colony. Officially it was not an American colony, but the American Colonization Society set up the land as a place to move African-American slaves to if slavery ever fell apart (which it eventually did), and it declared its independence in the 1840's. It was only recognized by the US during the Civil War. By the time of the Scramble for Africa, Liberia was already established as an independent nation, and since it was still somewhat in the US sphere of influence, the European powers were hesitant to try to take it over, although they did annex border territories. However, they never took over the entire country, which is why to this day, Liberia is the oldest surviving republic in Africa, and one of only 2 nations (the other being Ethiopia) that survived European colonialism.".(J. C-G., 2019)

Nowadays

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Liberia - Monrovia - t.i. photo

Liberia - Monrovia - Broad street - t.e. photo

People

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Liberia - kids - t.s. photo

Liberia - village people - t.j. photo

Liberia - woman selling rambutan - d.c. photo

Tourist etiquette

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Liberia - market woman unhappy with the photographer - better ask a permission first - d.c. photo

Gastronomy

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Liberia - food

Attractions

Monrovia

Population (in 2020): 1.5 million

Liberia - Monrovia - t.i. photo

Monkey Island

Liberia - chimps on the Monkey Island - t.i. photo

Liberia - Monkey Island - Oh, they're staring at us again! - t.i. photo

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