Blue Lake

On the way to Mount Bomi there is a fork in the road. One way is to the top of the mount and the other way is to the Blue Lake. When we went to the top a few weeks ago we were able to look down onto the lake, but I have never actually gone there yet. Well, today Rachel, Jackie, and I decided to go.

It is well over an hour walk, so to make the trek worth it we packet food and activities so we could spend some time there and not get bored. On the way we also recruited two other guys who passed and decided to join us.

After we got there and ate we played a rousing game of Uno. Then I spotted a diving board (literally a board sticking out of a rock) so I thought I’d go sit on the end and have some good reflection time. But of course, according to Murphy’s Law, if anything could go wrong it probably will. So I was sitting on the board no more than 20 seconds when I suddenly heard a "blop." When I looked down I saw my phone drifting to the bottom.

I never intended to go into the lake. Give me the ocean any day, but lakes creep me out. All that still water festering with bacteria. Not to mention that this is also African waters. And in this particular lake there is a story of a giant anaconda that lives at the center. We were told, however, that this was a myth made a long time ago by miners in order to keep the Liberians from coming to the area.

Nevertheless, there was my phone sinking to the bottom. At this point it was inevitable, so I sucked it up (gave Jackie my camera to film) and dove in. The water was actually refreshing. I retrieved my phone, and by this time one of the other guys got in as well. And later on Rachel and Jackie got onto a canoe made from four logs tied together and a shovel as an oar.

The experiences in Liberia never stop. But they definitely make life interesting. And overall I’m glad the phone fell in so that in turn we all got in. And phones here are cheap. I’ve been told, and now observed, that even the poorest of the poor have cell phones here.

All in all, it was a nice trip to the lake.

-Dan
written 07/09/11