This wasn't a strange place; it was a new one. - Paolo Coehlo

3 December 2019, Ganta to Gbarnga, 66.9km
Ebony Guest House 2,000L$ (R154)

Liberians use both Liberian and US dollars. The ATM dispenses $100 bills for which NO-ONE has change. Anything bought on the street is in Liberian dollars, except MTN airtime. Hotels and some restaurants quote in US. The exchange either way costs us. You need huge wads of Liberian to buy anything.
The road between Ganta and Gbarnga was perfectly smooth tar with a shoulder and mild ups and downs nicely graded, making it manageable for Charl who is down to one mid-range gear.
Before departing Ganta, we shopped again at the Ganta bakery and restaurant, this time for cinnamon buns to take away for a roadside breakfast. We stopped to eat them where a barrier edging the road provided a seat and there discovered that they were stale. Such a disappointment. I don’t think people realise just how easy it is to ruin a good reputation. We enjoyed much more the Ceres pineapple juice we bought at a Total garage – a fresh taste from home.
On the outskirts of Ganta, Charl charmed the police at a roadblock who were supposed to note down our passport details, persuading them not to delay us. And thereafter we travelled through mildy hilly terrain, very green – much of the green was “natural” but also included haphazard farming; we saw people picking chillies from a patch in the woods, for example.
We’re in Firestone* country, with rubber trees evident everywhere. On a roadside board we saw this disclaimer board: “NOTICE TO ALL. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT NO EMPLOYEE OF FIRESTONE LIBERIA IS EVER ALLOWED TO DEMAND OR ACCEPT MONEY OR A BRIBE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR DUTIES. IF AN EMPLOYEE ASKS FOR OR DEMANDS COMPENSATION OF ANY KIND, PLEASE CALL THE FIRESTONE LIBERIA ETHICS HOTLINE IMMEDIATELY AT 07 777 85 542 AND PROVIDE THE NAME, DESCRIPTION AND LOCATION OF THE EMPLOYEE AND A REPORT OF THE ACTIVITY. YOU WILL NOT BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE YOUR NAME AND ALL COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE KEPT STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. MANAGEMENT, FIRESTONE, LIBERIA.”
The villages through which we passed are poor, with little on offer in their shops, and especially little that is cold to drink. But we managed nonetheless to keep hydrated on tepid water and sodas.
At one shop-restaurant, empty largely except for tables and chairs awaiting customers and a substantial supply of bottled water wrapped in plastic, manned by a woman in a shed-like structure, I asked to use the loo. The proprietor took a key off a hook and led me 50m away to an enclosed sit down toilet. The place was clean and odour-free, with a large drum of water and a small bucket for “flushing” from it. In a corner was a box filled with paper, not toilet paper, but sheets torn from old newspapers and magazines (much prefer my portable bidet, packed at the top of my left-hand back pannier for easy access when a loo calls!). Nice to find a clean “public” loo.
At another shop stop, a shopkeeper told us things under Ellen Johnson Sirleaf were "100 times better" than under the incumbent (President George Weah), arguing that “hardship and crime” have increased. And a judge encountered in the same shop told us he had not been paid for five months and could not afford his kids’ school fees. He added a tad ambiguously: "If a $15,000 case comes before me and I am offered $1,000, you think I won't take it?"
The begging along this stretch of road is more a demand than a request: “I want money”; “give me money”; “I want a drink”. Once, more heart-wrenching, a group of boys called out, “Mother we are hungry”.
I love that the artist added his name and number to his hand-painted roadsign warning of cows crossing (see photo below) – his cow looks like a dangerous predator.
Shortly after entering Gbarnga, we stopped for lunch at Geeta’s Bar & Restaurant, pleased with the great service, and tasty fish, rice, banana and sauces we were served.
While lunching, we were greeted by an elderly African-American couple on a visit from Georgia to their son and daughter-in law. All four were Jehova’s Witnesses, the younger couple having been assigned to Liberia 13 years ago. The son had been in Johannesburg at a JW event at FNB stadium that drew 56,000 delegates.
We enquired about a bed at Passion Hotel 2 but baulked at their USD87 price tag. The step risers taking us from ground level to reception on the first floor were uneven, each a different and random height, but the reception staff were extremely friendly and helpful, even after we said we could not stay. They willingly recommended a cheaper option a little further west along the main road, which is how we found ourselves shortly thereafter outside the locked Ebony Guest House. We were let into the Ebony by the carpenter next door; let into a basic but adequate room with a small window opening into the room next door’s bathroom! Presumably to allow light into it… Our bathroom was missing a basin, there was no electricity until after dinner, and between the carpenter on one side, the welder on the other, and the bar across the road, the neighbours were somewhat noisy. BUT yet again we had a bed and we were grateful. (Liberian hotel prices are pretty outrageous – assume they are catering to the foreign aiders. And accommodation at our budget is pretty rough.)
We had dinner at a place called Paulma’s which we found on Google Maps. The food was perfectly edible, tasty in fact, but the service shocking. Two women sat glued to a loud and really ham-acted TV soapie. When we asked about dinner, one yelled from her lounging position to a person out of sight, receiving no answer. She left it at that and I had to ask a second time some time later whether or not we could order dinner.
On our walk home we found no shops selling liquid refreshment, so stopped in at the incredibly noisy bar across the road from our accommodation where we managed to purchase water and energy drinks, the usual soft drinks either very popular and therefore sold out, or not in the least popular and therefore never in stock. Either way, we ended imbibing energy drinks shortly before bed.
Yay, Africa!
Google Maps Quick Facts: “Gbarnga is the capital city of Bong County, Liberia, lying north east of Monrovia. During the First Liberian Civil War, it was the base for Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia.”
*Firestone paints itself as the good guy (https://www.firestonenaturalrubber.com/about-us/background/); Wikipedia considerably less so (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_Natural_Rubber_Company). Without an in-depth study, I cannot take a position, but suspect both are somewhat biased.

For today's route see below photos
For overview route, click on ROUTE tab above…