French version here

Liberia, Hello!

Yes, nothing really original here, this is the way we say hello, here in Liberia. so here i am finally arrived into the ebola ex-country because yes, i am arriving after the war due to the fact that Liberia just been declared “Ebola Free” since more than one week (declaring a country free from a disease is corresponding twice the incubation period, in this case, 21 days without identified cases).

Visa

EASY DUDE! When i used to ask for a Thai visa to the embassy a few years ago, it used to piss me off a bit. Here, for Liberian one, it is fast and easy. When you make a call to the embassy; a voice of a pleasantly sweet sweetness is answering all your questions. With a 300$ cost for a one year visa, maybe, in addition of the situation of the country, people are not really rushing to go to Liberia. I just send the folder with UPS and i receive it back signed a few days after. Liberian style dude!

The journey

Departure from Begles close to Bordeaux, as usual, Traway to the train station where i’ll travel with Jerome till Paris to take my plane that will arrive a few hours after, with, as usual, late. One stop to Casablanca where my plane is waiting for me me to go to Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. gates are opening and we arrive on the Tarmac where a bus is waiting to drive us to our plane. I can’t wait to sleep and as usual, i get little. After 4 hours flying, the speaker split a message saying that will go down to land. The weird thing is that there is not one single light showing there is a city through the porthole. I will understand after it is because the main airport in Monrovia is in renovation so we are far from a 1h30 distance by car to town.

I get down from plane, take the bus to join the arrivals. Because of Ebola, hands washing outside and temperature taking to show clean hands. My corresponding, Cyrus, is waiting for me. We get up into the pick-up and lead on the unique road that drive to town. It 4am, Liberian time, and the raod is full of cars. Cyrus explain me that it’s always full during the day. Monrovia town is low light and when i arrive to my house, a big building that hosting all the staff, an electricity generator is doing a noise from hell to bear the almost daily electricity cut.  I will get sleep only when day light is allready here and the generator turned off.