Monrovia Liberia
Liberia West Africa is a quiet wet wonder land of friendly people. I don't know that I've experienced rain as I have in Monrovia Liberia. It is humid, muggy, thick with luscious green, plants burst with life every where. Fruit is cheap, delicious, and abundant. During our two year stint here, I discovered their beaches. The surf is surprisingly rough, wild, but wonderfully cool, with few tourists, and lots of clear water spear fishing. I learned how to boogie board and discovered some great body surfing, too. The best barracuda steaks I've ever tasted were from a fisherman's beach shack -- catch of the day and fresh from the sea. Due to the favorable exchange rate at the time, it's the only country where my wife and I could afford to eat grilled lobster on special nights out in town.
One of the delights for me as an American was to discover that there are other kinds of English in the world, and some of these variants I had to work hard to understand. Our landlord at the time introduced us to his guard assuring us that he spoke English. The guard and I tried our best that first week, but both came away convinced that the other spoke a strange foreign language!
The traffic police in Monrovia were famously energetic in directing rush hour traffic. One officer in particular was a wonder to watch as he danced, waved, and smiled us on our way to work.
Taxi cab drivers were fond of saying that the most important piece of equipment on a car was not brakes, lights, or a working engine, but the horn -- because you need to let people know where you are. I have to agree that the horn is vital and must-have. They also had a traffic rule that any driver who splashed a pedestrian must pay for their clothes to be cleaned. That's taking care of the citizenry.
The Liberian people were amazing friendly to us, fun loving, optimistic about life, and incredibly patient and gracious with us. We were there just before the unfortunate and awful decades long civil war, but we made great life long friendships there. If you get a chance to visit, it's worth a shot. Thank you, Liberia.