Africa

[Visited: March 2016]

Getting from Monrovia to Bomi turned out quite easy: it involved a ride on a shared taxi, with only a few checkpoints on the way. Once we arrive in town, two motorbikes are quickly arranged, and we are on our way towards the northwest. As soon as we leave the last houses behind us, the road turns out to be beautiful: tall trees on both sides, many of them mango trees full of the delicious fruit, with views of the rolling green landscape in between. My rider steers the bike up the slopes of a mountain, and then, on my left, I suddenly see our destination of the day below me: the Blue Lake. We drive down the lakeside of the mountain, and reach a small beach at the bottom. A few guys are sitting next to their UN vehicle: Jordanese peacekeeper forces on a relaxed afternoon at the end of their mission in Liberia.
On a knoll next to the beach, we see dilapidated pavilions, which in better times was a place where you could have a drink with a good view of the lake. We also find a white flight of stairs, which supposedly once led up to a house, but now just end up in space. The lake is deep, and my guide tells me stories about the legend of a big boa living in the waters. There is no outlet in the lake: it gets filled by rain, and evaporates. Two good reasons not to go for a swim: stagnant water and a merciless snake. Too bad, as the water looks very tempting, so calm it is a perfect mirror of the surrounding mountains. On the steep slopes of the mountains, there are fresh marks of landslides: erosion is slowly eating away at them.
We resist the temptation to have a chat and drink with our Jordanian friends, as we are running out of time and still have a long way to go towards the west. We ride up the hill again, to a plateau where once a water plant was located. It used to filter and bottle the water from the lake, but it has disappeared, just like the mining activities that were once carried out here, and that have largely shaped the mountains surrounding Blue Lake. We ride further up, to several viewpoints, and then all the way to the telecommunication mast, which involves a steeper, trickier rocky trail. A short hike up takes us to the highest spot with sweeping views over the lake below, and the green landscape beyond that. Behind us, the town of Bomi, which is where we are heading next. We say goodbye to the caretakers of the telecom towers, and head down again. Too bad the mangoes are not ripe yet...

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Blue Lake Bomi (Liberia)

Blue Lake Bomi > Liberia > Africa

[Visited: March 2016]

Around the World in 80 Clicks