Moses goes at full throttle as we cross the savannah until we reach the perimeter of the forest. As we enter the jungle, the paths get narrower and narrower and I sometimes have to reach out in front and push away stray vegetation that would otherwise smack Moses in the face. He wears clear goggles underneath his beanie that reads ‘COOL’ in large letters.
We need to disembark a couple of times so that he can cross a plank across a stream or duck under a fallen tree trunk. At one point we are freewheeling down a steep and uneven gravel hill and almost tumble into a hedge. I ask Moses if we should get off, and he replies with ‘Yes. Prevention is better than cure’.
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Sound on for jungle soundscapes
Full story on: milesfromanywhere.exposure.co (link in bio / stories) x
Lisco, Lofa County - North-West Liberia
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The alarm goes off at 5am and we snooze for a little longer, reluctant to let go of dreamworld and step into the darkness of the morning. The distant hum of Moses’ motorbike grows louder as he approaches and forces us to do so. He is early, as always. This time Mama Sata rides with him. She has prepared some food for us to take on our long hike.
We plan to go as deep into the jungle as we can today and therefore won’t be returning to the village at lunchtime. It is colder than usual and still dark as we set off in position with Mama’s food strapped tightly to the back.
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Full story on: milesfromanywhere.exposure.co (link in bio / stories) x
Finally developed some rolls from last year's trip through Liberia & Ghana with Axel Wild.
I followed Axel on part of his Sounds Across Continents journey - tracing the routes of migrating birds, recording their songs and discovering the stories of communities living among the planet’s most diverse wildlife.
In these photos:
1. Selfie on the road to the Wologizi mountains, Liberia
2. A red throated bee-eater at dusk
3. Axel & his parabolic mic
4. A pause to record during a day’s trekking into the jungles of Lofa County, North Liberia
5. Moses, friend, motorbike driver, jungle pathfinder
6. A curious wild elephant gets a bit too close
7. The trusty Toyota Hilux, our bedroom & kitchen
POV you meet someone in a techno tent at 4am at @shambalafest and the next time you meet you’re travelling through West Africa together on an epic two month road trip following the route of migrating birds to record their songs and discover the stories of communities living among the planet’s most diverse wildlife 🦜🐘🛖🌳🌞
À bientôt maestro X
The ancient mud mosque of Larabanga, built in 1421 by an Islamic trader named Ayuba at the height of the trans-Saharan trade. Legend says Ayuba had a dream near a mystic stone which instructed him to build a mosque. When he awoke, he found that the foundations were already in place, and he proceeded to construct the mosque by hand.
The baobab tree that stands beside the mosque was planted on his grave and has been preserved from generation to generation. The people of Larabanga use the leaves and stem of this baobab tree for healing rituals. They also apply new layers of mud to the mosque every six months or so.
The village of Larabanga lies at the entrance to Mole National Park - Ghana’s largest protected wildlife area, and home to over 600 wild elephants.
One evening while we’re camping in Mole and hanging out at our favourite shady spot, I watch the elephants hang out by the watering hole. They move slowly, majestically, silently. They feel as if they are left behind from an ancient time.
In the distance, the sunset prayer rings out from the ancient mosque of Larabanga: “Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar”, as if to say, “These gods are greater indeed”.
#ghana #traveldocumentary #fujixseries #documentaryphotography #larabanga #mosques #realafrica
In the mid-afternoon as Axel is still out in the field recording the nightingales, officers from the FDA return from the fire scene in full ranger uniform and I chat with a couple of them. They say they have dispatched 30 or so men from the village to clear a large area from dry leaves, which they hope will stop the fire from spreading. Walker returns with a green fruit in his hands, one I have never seen before. It looks like a bright green spiky corn kernel. He says it is good for the eyes - you squeeze it in your eyes to clear out the smoke. As we discuss this, a large group of kids and teenagers are lighting up their own fire - setting the football field alight. I ask Walker what they are doing and he says they are clearing the football field to play on. I guiltily hope they are not doing this because of us. It is remarkable to watch the young kids control the fire by using machetes to hack away at the surrounding vegetation and keep it under control.
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After dinner I’m sat on the bench writing in my journal with a bright orange moon rising above the village. We are waiting for the noise of the village to settle as we plan to record Kpoto this evening. When it’s a bit more quiet, we head out of the village in the darkness and choose a spot to sit and speak with him under the moonlight. The chief recites folk stories about the birds in their surroundings - ‘minister bird’, a black bird with a white chest that looks like a minister dressed in a suit, ‘pepper bird’ which eats peppers & spreads the seeds around the area, ‘blue wing’ - the legendary Great Blue Turaco which we are lucky to have seen, and ‘security bird’ - which reminds you to lock up your house after leaving and asks if everything is alright. Axel recognises this last one one as the Common Bulbul - a bird whose song we have listened to lots while being here.
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Kpoto tells us that the villagers are very impressed that we like to eat their food. It makes the king-rat stew a bit more digestible and makes me appreciate the welcomeness we have received from the village folk.
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You can read more, & listen to the 6 minute documentary, in the link in bio (liberia II) x
Eventually the forest is so dense that we can not carry on with the bike any further, so we leave it behind, strap our belongings to our backs and set off on foot into the dense unknown. An African Emerald Cuckoo calls out from the tree tops towering above. It is impossible to see but its call rings out loudly below. In the distance, a Great Blue Turaco makes its presence felt. This one I can now make out thanks to its distinctive screech. Axel already has his recording equipment out and excitedly stares at the treetops above, pointing his parabolic mic towards them.
We hike deeper into the lush rainforest, following Moses who somehow finds a path through despite the overgrown vegetation. Every now and then we climb over or duck under a fallen tree and cross streams on stepping stones (and when there aren’t any stepping stones, we create a path across by dropping some large stones in). The soundscape is incredible and we stop many times for Axel to record, as Moses and I stand in silence and bewilderment beside. I now realise why we spent the first few days outside the forest, as it is impossible to spot anything through the thickness of the dense vegetation. We do, however, get lucky a couple of times. A large owl takes flight overhead, mobbed by screeching smaller birds who chase it away. Axel says this is how smaller birds protect their nests from birds of prey. Another time, a couple of Yellow-casqued hornbills fly noisily above, making an ambulance-like siren sound.
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Part 2 now out on milesfromanywhere.exposure.co (link in bio / stories) x
Lisco village, Lofa County, Liberia
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As we’re having an afternoon breather and I take the chance to catch up on my writing, Walker and the usual suspects sit on the bench near me. Mr. Justice walks past on the path out of the village and towards his courtroom. I ask if he also lives in the village and they nod. It makes me reflect on the African way of life, where everyone is out and about on the street pretty much all the time. There are no fences and no gates and barely any doors. No perimeters are marked, ‘private property’ signs do not exist. In a few days of being here, I’ve met and been introduced to more people than I have in two years of living in a village in Portugal.
I learn that Lisco is home to more than 15 tribes, each with their own language. Since it was a mining area, families from many different tribes settled here and now all live in peace in this wonderfully kept village. The town chief, chief justice, shopkeepers, motorbike drivers, farmers, hunters, teachers, students, children of all ages - a cross-generational community that seems to live like one big extended family.
It makes me reflect on the way our western societies have gone, with the majority of people locked up behind walls for most of the day, with barely any connection to their communities. And then no wonder there is so much loneliness in our cities.
In these photos:
1. William the self-appointed village security guard
2. Mr. Justice on the long walk back to his courtroom
3. Mama Sata and her sisters, mother & grandson
4. Walker's house
5. The smiles that greeted us upon arrival. By the end of the stay we would get to know these previously unfamiliar faces pretty well
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Full story on:
milesfromanywhere.exposure.co/liberia
(link in bio) x
Moses.
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At some point as we’re walking between places on a gravel path, a motorbike with three passengers holding large long rifles comes tumbling towards us. Any sense of threat is quickly dissipated with a double beep of the horn and a ‘my friend’ as they whizz past with a smile. Hunters. I ask Moses what they would be hunting for in these parts. ‘Anything they find’. ‘Ground hogs, squirrels, porcupines, king rats, deer…even primates - monkeys / chimps.’ Of course it is illegal to hunt the latter in this protected nature reserve. I ask Moses if he has ever eaten monkey to which he nods. I ask if he likes the taste of it, to which he shrugs unknowingly and seems confused. It makes me aware of my western conditioning again. Here, you eat what you can, whatever is provided, rather than what you like the taste of. There is no luxury of choice. That’s the only way these remote communities survive and it is actually a way more sustainable method of eating than our destructive farming systems in the west.
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In fact I haven’t noticed any farm animals in the village save for the chickens who roam about freely. I ask Moses why and he says they used to have goats but they were too destructive. There are no fences around - fencing costs money, I guess.
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Full story (and higher-res photos) on:
milesfromanywhere.exposure.co/liberia
(link in bio) x
