On Saturday morning I hopped in a land rover with my fellow galley team for a trip up country to the Bong Mine. We drove just down the street in the rain to the train yard. When we arrived, we drove up a dirt ramp onto a flat bed rail car. We pulled the parking brake, hopped out, and were ready for our ride. The train was scheduled to depart at 7am so we arrived at 7:30am. We departed at 8:30am. Schedules are a little different here.
Our train consisted of a small locomotive, an empty passenger car, our flatbed car, and three empty cars for hauling gravel. As we chugged out of Monrovia, we stood on the flat bed car, sat in our 4x4, and sat on top of our Land Rover. It was a beautiful view out of the city.
Because we were on the railroad, we saw a different side of Liberia than before. Everything builds up around roads. In contrast, the train tracks cut straight through everything. We went straight through villages, markets, fields, hills, and the rainforest.
At the end of the tracks were the remnants of the Bong Mines. In 1991 the place was destroyed by war. I didn't have to look too far to see the bullet holes that dot this country. It used to be a massive iron ore operation with strip mines, heavy machinery, processing facilities, a railroad to the port in Monrovia, and a power plant. The surrounding area used to have an infrastructure. Now, all that remains are the shells of the buildings that used to house this industry, the rusted remains of what was not harvested for scrap metal during the war, and the railroad track.
We ventured down the rough roads around the mine, through the puddles, to the tops of some of the hills, and to the bottom where there was a lake. I went for a little swim in the fresh water lake. It was a beautiful area. On one hand, the vegetation had reclaimed some of the earth making it gorgeous and I wished that it could stay that way. On the other hand, I desired for the mine to be restarted so that the people could be employed again and so that the country could begin to rebuild more quickly.
Our train consisted of a small locomotive, an empty passenger car, our flatbed car, and three empty cars for hauling gravel. As we chugged out of Monrovia, we stood on the flat bed car, sat in our 4x4, and sat on top of our Land Rover. It was a beautiful view out of the city.Because we were on the railroad, we saw a different side of Liberia than before. Everything builds up around roads. In contrast, the train tracks cut straight through everything. We went straight through villages, markets, fields, hills, and the rainforest.
At the end of the tracks were the remnants of the Bong Mines. In 1991 the place was destroyed by war. I didn't have to look too far to see the bullet holes that dot this country. It used to be a massive iron ore operation with strip mines, heavy machinery, processing facilities, a railroad to the port in Monrovia, and a power plant. The surrounding area used to have an infrastructure. Now, all that remains are the shells of the buildings that used to house this industry, the rusted remains of what was not harvested for scrap metal during the war, and the railroad track.
We ventured down the rough roads around the mine, through the puddles, to the tops of some of the hills, and to the bottom where there was a lake. I went for a little swim in the fresh water lake. It was a beautiful area. On one hand, the vegetation had reclaimed some of the earth making it gorgeous and I wished that it could stay that way. On the other hand, I desired for the mine to be restarted so that the people could be employed again and so that the country could begin to rebuild more quickly.
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