Liberia, Africa's oldest republic, offers visitors mountains to climb, cities to explore, wide sandy beaches and national parks inhabited by some of the continent's most enigmatic animals. You can also surf, swim and trek in this country, or simply relax in a hammock on the edge of the rainforest. Yet none of your friends have been here before.
Liberia's beautiful beaches encapsulate much of the country's tourism potential © Bethany Fank / Getty Images
Welcome to one of Africa's last frontiers. Created to provide a homeland for American slaves who gained their freedom, this surprising and unknown country is slowly recovering after years of internal conflict, but so far only very few travellers have discovered it. And now that it is opening up to the world, it may be the perfect time to visit, provided you are willing to step away from the beaten track to experience a challenging adventure.
But where on earth is Liberia?
When the American Colonisation Society searched for a homeland for the freed American slaves in 1822, it chose a patch of West Africa that had been ignored by the outside world ever since the European powers established (and later abandoned) their trading outposts in the 17th century. The history of this territory prior to the founding of Liberia is largely unknown, but the newcomers began to forge a homeland that retained something of America along with a bit of West Africa, and which would develop into something unlike anything else in the world.
Wedged between Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia today boasts a long coastline on the Atlantic and a hinterland of dense forests that is still one of the least explored areas of West Africa. The Liberian government has just signed an agreement with Norway to cease logging in the country's untouched rainforests in exchange for development aid, but tourism infrastructure in these territories is limited so getting into their lush wilderness requires some planning.
Monrovia, the capital city by the sea, is the starting point for almost all itineraries in Liberia © jbdodane / Getty Images
How do you get to Liberia?
With a little planning! The only international airport - Roberts, 35 km south-east of the capital Monrovia - is served by very few airlines, so reaching the country requires a stopover in Brussels, Accra, Lagos, Nairobi or Casablanca. Obtaining a visa, on the other hand, is fairly simple; Liberian diplomatic representations abroad encourage tourism, but a yellow fever vaccination certificate and a passport with at least six months' residual validity are required to visit the country.
Reaching Monrovia is only the beginning of the adventure, as you will need a car with a driver and a guide to explore the coast and inland forests; alternatively, you can travel for days on end on rough and uneven roads in minibuses or collective brousse taxis. All this logistical planning required to travel inland means that many visitors actually opt for the simplest solution, namely a tour organised by an agency specialising in adventure travel in Africa.
Five interesting facts about Liberia:
Liberia became Africa's first independent republic in 1847 .
12% of ships around the world fly the Liberian flag .
President George Weah was a footballer for Manchester City and Chelsea .
Liberia's pollution levels are lower than those of the US and UK.
Ethiopia and Liberia are the only two African nations that have never been colonised by European powers.
Beaches offer a picturesque insight into the daily lives of Liberia's inhabitants © Fabian Plock / Getty Images
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What can you visit in Liberia?
Before the civil war, tourism in Liberia focused on the beautiful beaches of golden sand, lapped by the rushing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. The beaches are still there: magnificent stretches fringed by palm trees that plunge into the sea north and south of Monrovia. The tourism potential of the Atlantic coast is considerable, but there are still very few resorts in Liberia, scattered around the capital and in the quiet surfing resort called Robertsport, further north. Near Monrovia, the Libassa Ecolodge stretches from forest to beach, and has a swimming pool that meanders like a lazy river through the whole complex.
Liberia also has a substantial architectural heritage, which blends African themes with pre-war elements of the American South, but due to the nation's political problems, much of it is falling into disrepair. The government has grand ambitions to restore the dilapidated villas and public buildings, but for now exploring them is a fascinating and sometimes disturbing experience for those who love abandoned places.
In the remote town of Harper, on the border with Côte d'Ivoire, are the once imposing residences of William V.S. Tubman, Liberia's longest-serving president, inspired by the sumptuous plantation mansions of the American South. Harper's dilapidated Star Masonic Lodge has a tall colonnade façade in the style of Pinewood's Millford Plantation in South Carolina, while the William Tubman Mansion is reminiscent of an art deco cinema.
The dilapidated Ducor Hotel and its swimming pool, where Idi Amin swam with gun in hand © Edwin Remsberg / Getty Images
The capital, Monrovia, also has its share of majestic ruins. TheDucor Hotel - a derelict silhouette on Broad Street, with crumbling staircases and a swimming pool full of rainwater and seaweed - was the most prestigious hotel along the Atlantic coast, frequented by West Africa's leading figures. Idi Amin swam in the pool with gun in hand, and the South African singer Miriam Makeba entertained heads of state in the bar. A few steps further on Benson Street, the still-occupied Monrovia Masonic Temple is a kind of post-apocalyptic White House, with a neoclassical façade with peeling paint.
The waves on Robertsport beach are popular with surfers © John Seaton Callahan / Getty Images
What can you do while on holiday in Liberia?
Enjoy the magnificent beaches. Winds blowing from the Atlantic create perfect surfing conditions from May to October, with the biggest waves forming in April, May and August. Many professionals in the sport regard Liberia's left point breaks as the best in the whole of Africa, and the seaside resort of Robertsport, 80 km north-west of Monrovia, has become a popular destination for surfers, thanks to some specially equipped resorts and a number of excellent breaks along the coast (according to locals, the best are Cassava and Cotton Tree). As for hotels, we recommend Nana's Lodge with its colourful beach huts, or the recently opened Hippo Resort Liberia, which offers thatched huts, a lively atmosphere and good pizzas, cooked in a real wood-fired oven.
A pygmy hippo, one of the many species of wildlife living in the Guinean forest of Sapo National Park © Manoj Shah / Getty Images
Liberia's other great attraction lies inland. Accessible by rough dirt roads from the rural town of Zwedru or from Greenville, on the coast south of Monrovia, Sapo National Park protects the largest part of what remains of the Upper Guinean Forest, which once stretched uninterrupted from Guinea to Togo. The easiest way to visit the park is with an organised tour departing from Monrovia, during which you can stay overnight in a tent at the park's headquarters and then visit the dense forest on foot in search of chimpanzees, wild elephants, leopards and the fascinating pygmy hippo, a diminutive version of its more famous cousin that could comfortably fit in the boot of a station wagon. Birdwatchers will be able to spot hornbills, eagles and the brightly-coloured greater blue turacos.
Is Liberia safe?
Although the devastation caused by the two civil wars (1989-1997 and 1999-2003) is still evident, Liberia is safer to visit today than it has been in recent years. Stability has returned to Monrovia and the coastline and infrastructure are slowly being restored, but the roads are still largely unpaved, making overland travel difficult during the rainy season (May-November). The Ebola virus appeared in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in 2014, but in 2015 the World Health Organisation declared that the region was no longer at risk of an epidemic.
