Faded opulence

Monday was another holiday. As my taxi driver, who's from Guinea, told me, "A lot of holidays here". It was the third in the little over a month that I've been here.

This time, the holiday was J. J. Roberts Day - after the first president of Liberia, Joseph Jenkins Roberts. I have a fantastic poster in my flat with a map of Liberia and pictures of all the presidents. It starts with J.J. Roberts, and finishes with the "Iron Lady" Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.









A statue of J. J. Roberts sits at the foot of a hill along the west coast of the city. On top of the hill is the Ducor Hotel, once the most luxurious hotel in Monrovia. As a field trip on our day off, we went to visit the Ducor. It was the first hotel in Monrovia, and one of the few five-star hotels in Africa. It's where all the people who could afford it stayed when they came to visit. There were about 8 floors of rooms with views over the city and the Atlantic, a swimming pool, tennis courts.

Now, it's just a shell of a building. The swimming pool is still there, but there's no water, just kids playing and sliding along the bottom. Debris is scattered throughout the building; the staircase is still there but crumbling. In the rooms, you can imagine what it might have looked like, with the balcony views of the city, but everything's gone. Even the faucets and sinks from the bathrooms have been looted. The views from the rooftop, however, are still wonderful. And the breeze is lovely. But the only thing up there are cell towers.

The hotel closed in the 80s during the conflict. It was subsequently taken over by squatters. Just a couple of years ago, the squatters were evicted by the government. I heard the hotel had been sold to Libyans. I also heard that the Americans weren't too happy about it, as you can see the embassy from the hotel. One of the guys guarding the hotel said that construction was supposed to take place in September. I think it's been in train for awhile, but nothing's happened so far. I think they're keeping the structure, and renovating, rather than tearing it all down and rebuilding. It'll be interesting to see its transformation to its former glory. I didn't have my digital camera with me, so no photos to upload I'm afraid. However, Chris has also been there, and here are some of his pictures.