Kpatawee

As Finley, Andrew and I were drinking beers (Finley and mine were alcoholic, Andrew’s was not) that first night in Gbarnga, Finely said, “Andrew, what’s the name of those waterfalls near here?”  At the mention of waterfalls my ears perked right up.  “Kpatawee” Andrew replied.  “How long would it take to go see it?”  “About an hour.”  I then interjected, “Well my vote is to go!”  So we decided to check out Kpatawee the next day before heading to Voinjama.  

The next morning after the incident with the fender was resolved, Finely asked, “Do we still have time?”  Andrew made a face, and I said, “Ah, come on . . .” and he replied, “Ok, but we shouldn’t stay too long.”  So off we went.  

This is Kpatawee:

It’s the end of the dry season so the flow is low, but it was beautiful!  The air was cool with that refreshing moisture that fast running water gives to the air, and the sound of falls that I love so much.  

I don’t know how anyone gets around in Liberia.  There are no road signs, no directions, even to major cities.  People like Andrew just know where to turn to get somewhere.  Lucky for us he knew how to get here.  It took three turns off the main hardball road to get to the road that led to Kpatawee.  Each road narrower than the first and less used.  After about half an hour we approached a clearing that had a sign “Kpatawee - Ecotourism Site” in the middle of it.  You could see some open thatched structures in disrepair at the end of the road in the distance.  No one was manning the entrance to the site so we drove in.  

It’s a very intimate, charming place.  Finley said he was once there during the wet season and it was roaring - you couldn’t see any of the rocks.  I like the rocks so I’m glad we came when we did.   As you can see from this photo, the government has built a diversion canal to water the rice crops set up in the open field we crossed to get here.  Other than the fact we’ve been warned about swimming in fresh water areas in country (you don’t want to know the things you can get), I can imagine taking a dip in any number of the pools  at the falls here.
 

As I was busy photographing, Finley and Andrew kept warning me to watch my step.  I told them they were not my mother and that I’ve been doing this since they were in diapers!  As I put it, this is what I do!  They laughed, but stopped harassing me as they watched me rock hop back and forth across the stream.  I guess they realized I’m not too old of a geezer.

This is Finley.  He’s our Rule of Law Specialist.  He’s an attorney and seems to know almost every lawyer we meet.  Then again, it’s a pretty small legal community here, not to mention country.  We were at a meeting once when Finely and the person we met started asking each questions about where they were from, who they knew and were related too - well, they were second cousins.  As Fin put it - everyone is related to everyone else in Liberia by 2-3 steps.  

As I’ve mentioned, Andrew was our driver.  To say he was our driver is to short-change him.  He fixed us up whenever there was an issue and was the go-to guy to figure out how to do stuff.  And does he know how to drive!  I can’t imagine that anyone could have moved us along the road at speed and miss the bumps he missed.  Well, he did hit a couple of them, but really, he did an incredible job.  I wonder if I can ask for him to be my driver the next time I go up country.
 

As the first day went on, we bonded as a team and really got to know each other’s sense of humor.  A few of the photos that will come out later are due entirely to Andrew’s keen vision in pointing things out to me.  He fully understood my photographer’s mentality as well as not-so-subtle sense of humor.  He was always willing to go wherever I wanted in search of a shot.  We all got along great.

I wish I could have spent a lot more time at Kpatawee - I could have spent the whole day - but we had gotten a late start and our rules about how long we can be on the road (the clock starts ticking the moment we get in the car and start moving first thing in the morning) are pretty stringent.  So I scampered up to get a view from the top before making a quick exit.
 

I imagine that I’ll try and get back here some time again, and really take my time here.  For now, it was a good quick trip and a great way to start the day!