LIBERIA, January 2014, a trip arranged by Mike  Williams and Safi to find the Giant African Swallowtail in the Nimba Hills ahead of a major mining project to be undertaken by Arcelor Mittal

 

Wednesday 22 January

Collected Alan at 7.30 on a cool, damp morning and thence to David's en route to T5 at Heathrow. Our BA flight left on time at 11.45 arriving in Freetown, Sierra Leone, half an hour early at 6pm. Most of the passengers alighted here but we had to remain on board until departing at 7.30 for the short hop to Robert's airport (originally an emergency landing strip for the US Space Shuttle), Monrovia. Arriving at 8.20pm our bags soon appeared on the carousel, there being no other flights arriving at this small airport. Immigration was smooth enough. Outside in the balmy darkness we located our drivers, Emmanuel and Prince, and around 10pm we rolled-up at Moko's B & B where baguettes and beers awaited us. The noisy air con in my room had to be turned-off.

 

Thursday 23 January

The first mozzi of the trip buzzed in my ear at 5.40am but left me alone after that. We breakfasted at 7.30 and hung around until 9.15 whilst one of the Toyotas got fixed. It took at least an hour to forge our way through the outskirts of Monrovia until we hit the main road north towards Yekepa and Nimba County. Our first stop, at noon, was at the Coo-coo Nest roadside café only to find it closed down but we ate our baguettes and spent 45 minutes getting our butterfly 'eyes' in. From here the road became largely unmetalled and riddled with pot holes with vehicles slaloming in both directions throwing up clouds of red dust. We passed through a vast area of cleared lowland forest, a rubber plantation of immature trees, owned by Firestone, guaranteeing tyres for the future. Following a soft drink stop at a garage somewhere we then passed into Bong County, and through another superficial checkpoint into Nimba. As we were making good time, Mike decided to make a short stop around 4pm but little was happening at the dusty roadside, so we pressed on.

 

After 9 hours travelling, 7½ of them in a state of motorised massage, we eventually arrived at Alvino's Hotel at 6pm, and the awaiting Safi. Club beers went down a treat! Emmanuel had driven superbly, reading the rough road surfaces expertly. Our rooms had no running water and I lent my mosquito net to Steve Meredith. We were joined by Steve Collins, the impressive founder of ABRI in Nairobi, and his close friend Steve Giorgiadis and partner. Dinner was fish and rice though I wasn't particularly hungry. Got to the room around 9.30pm and squashed two cockroaches, taking a quick rinse in the cool water left in a bucket outside the room before climbing under the mozzi net an hour later. The air con was quiet enough and set at 22°, a good temperature. Safi had emphasised the need to be vigilant over the security of our personal belongings, advising us to keep our rooms locked, always. This was a bit problematic for me as I had great difficulty in locking my door, but eventually the latch slid into place. As another door led onto a small patio at the other end of the room I decided I'd use this one in the morning.

 

Friday 24 January

Low misty cloud hung over the mountains but was soon shifted as the sun came through. A cold omelette for breakfast was something of a turn-off. The plan today was to visit three hill-topping sites along the old mining road and not too far from the hotel. We spent all day visiting them, but without any trace of our principal target, the Giant African Swallowtail, Papilio antimachus. Site # 1 was an old recreation ground, largely devoid of trees but fringed by them; # 2 sported some radio masts and had been adopted by a fine male Charaxes castor that chased everything, including birds, that had the temerity to pass by. Site # 3 was where the old mine re-watered the steam locos that transported the iron ore and was also endowed with a tall radio mast. Lunch was taken back at site # 1, a wrap and biscuits. For the last part of the day we wandered the old road along another hilltop/ridge location though fully camouflaged by trees and shrubs. A tatty, but typically boisterous, Charaxes zingha, occupied a favourite perch, and hopefully a better specimen will turn up sometime. By 4pm the sun had gone and distant thunder was heard, so by 4.45 it was beer-time again. The wind picked up and with it came the rain but both were relatively short-lived. I declined to accompany Safi, Mike and David to visit a local Chief who would issue permits for us to enter Community Forests over the next few days.

 

Dinner was spaghetti bolognese and very enjoyable! After a hot and mostly sunny day I was ready to hit the sack by 9.45 having left a voicemail for Willy. I'd also managed to sort-out my door - the lock mechanism required me to push the handle down whilst turning the key - simple really! But poor old Mike had to change rooms as water poured out of his shower pipes, completely uncontrollable until the plumber arrived in the morning.

 

Saturday 25 January

Slept well, more than 10 hours despite the early morning noises outside - a cockerel, vehicle reversing, voices etc. Took a cold shower pre-breakfast. Left my cold omelette, again, but ate the cold buttered toast spread with plum jelly. Today we would drive into the Community Forest, not too far away to the north-east. The forest track was single-file, a bit of a bind (at least for me) because human blockages cramped my style from time to time. It was also very hot and sweaty, the sun cream I'd plastered on my forehead now streaming unpleasantly into my eyes. The lush, deep forest was excellent and I could have happily spent all day there but around 11.30 we returned to our hilltop surveillance. Our target failed to appear at sites 1 and 2 so we continued along the road stopping in the shade for lunch. Safi and some helpers had created glades and paths through the vegetation clothing another hilltop and we spent a good part of the afternoon here. Butterflies were excellent, the pick of the bunch being the rare, and beautiful blue Euriphene lomaensis.

 

Our final stop took us beyond the water tower to where the land dropped away down a wet slope, occupied by a small Ypthima and Safi caught a stunning female Iolaus maesa. With thunder rumbling again we got back to Alvino's for 5pm and beers all round. Prince Howard, the hotel's owner, turned up and chatted to us for a while. After a cold shower, and a shave, we dined at 7.15 struggling to hear ourselves over the noisy, boozy, loud voices amassed in the patio area getting ready for the party to which we'd also been invited. Only Mike amongst us expressed any interest in going along.

 

Sunday 26 January

A hot omelette cheered a slightly earlier breakfast than usual as we set-off at 8am for the 90-minute drive to the East Nimba Protected Area. Having signed-in at the lodge we then had a further 20-25 minute drive down the narrow and heavily vegetated track, pausing whilst Joseph cut through the 8" trunk of a fallen tree with his cutlass (machete, but the locals don't use this word) with amazing effect. Our walk into the forest started close to the Chimpanzee Sanctuary run by Sorrel, a 26-year-old Brit living on her own under canvas, but she was away on this particular day, apparently on a regular visit to another sanctuary, a mere four days walk away.

 

Initially the track was good, through forest, but then passed through grassland accompanied by our guard until entering the forest proper. Our first major stop was at Cold Water where a stream crosses the track and where there were some puddling papilios, charaxes, and a Salamis, a genus remembered from Ghana six years ago. The rest of the morning was passed promenading up and down the track stopping at several damp areas for the puddlers. This was lovely habitat with some lovely butterflies. Lunch was taken back at Cold Water around 12.30pm after which I walked back along the track to the north with the sun fully on my back. Wonder what the weather's doing back home just now?! At 3pm the call came to make it back to the vehicles to start the return trip which would be broken by a beer stop at a comfortable home with lawns leading down to the river. The owner, a middle-aged lady named Rachel, had certainly trained her young children very well in the basics of customer service, a real contrast from the sulky madam at Alvino's Hotel! Back at Alvino's around 5.30 we all felt the need for another beer, or maybe it was just habit, and after a cold shower met up again with the two Steves and partner (should really have caught her name) who had just returned from a couple of nights under canvas on the distant range. After dinner we were joined by John Howell, chief environment officer with Arcelor Mittal whose job it is to assess the impact of the planned mining operation - despite his dull delivery and praise for his employer, he came across as being earnest and well-intentioned . To room at 10pm.

 

Monday 27 January

The bucket of hot water outside my room was a surprise as I went to breakfast as I'd already washed in cold! Luke warm omelettes under cling-film appeared at 7.15 and I struggled to eat mine. The mountains were obscured by mist so we passed time doing some communal id'ing and the sun still hadn't forced its way through by the time we left to visit hilltop # 1, the recreation ground, so we traipsed the wooded 'intermediate' hilltop along the road whilst Emmanuel was despatched to the main hilltop. The sun appeared at 11.30 by which time I'd photographed a small Iolaus closely matching agnes, but Safi thought it might be sappirus, not illustrated in Torben's book. Word then came through that antimachus was at # 1 so those nearest to Prince's vehicle bundled in and sped to the scene leaving three to wait for Emmanuel. Being in Prince's car I was fortunate enough to glimpse the butterfly at a height of c20' or so, some 25 metres away completing half a clockwise rotation before it flew away. The others arrived soon after but had missed the sighting. The insect appeared to be as large as the swallows, if not bigger! The rest of the morning was idled away here, hoping for a re-visit, but in vain.

 

The afternoon was spent back along the intermediate stretch where activity was 'steady' although a fresh Charaxes zingha was pleasing. Corvey had patrolled hilltop # 2 on his motorbike but had seen nothing. Later in the afternoon we dropped further down the road to a lower altitude and enjoyed a productive end to the day. Returning to the hotel around 4.30 for beers I was pleased to note that my room had been tidied and clean sheets fitted plus a fresh towel. After a rice and chewy beef dinner I got to the room by 9pm and decided not to bother with the mozzi net as none of us had seen any since our arrival.

 

Tuesday 28 January

Another misty start to the day so once again we delayed our departure for a while. Omelettes came out at 7.10 so I knocked on all doors only to find they were already cold! Our first stop was on the intermediate hilltop in the absence of much sun, and even low cloud rolled in at one point. Around 10.30 we went to the recreation ground and hung around there until noon, had lunch, then returned to the morning's location for a while. Safi then took us past the loco water tower, taking a right to follow the crest of the ridge doubling back on ourselves to the south. The view was stunning from the top with seemingly endless forest stretching away below to the east in the Côte d'Ivoire with Guinea lying to the north. Very few butterflies flew in this mainly grassland habitat so we returned through Yekepa to visit the site of the old mine, not part of the new Arcelor Mittal concession. The terracing where once a mountain had been led down to a large lake, the scale of exploitation being quite breathtaking. The lake has already become an important dragonfly site and plants were clearly recolonizing the hillsides. Old bits of rusting machinery added to the atmosphere.

 

The evening followed the usual pattern except tonight we finished the meal (boney fish, ok chips and rice) with some of Safi's apricot polenka. Two hookers - built like second row forwards - and their pimp failed to catch our attention!

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Wednesday 29 January

Our last full day in the field. Though slightly less misty than the past couple of days the sun was not through when we set off for our final visit to the recreation ground, stopping for a couple of hours en route where we'd stopped late on Monday. Butterflying was slow in the absence of any sun.

 

At 11am we went up to the recreation ground and were greeted almost at once by antimachus!! All of us took sky shots in the hope of catching it in flight, and Neil did pretty well. Eventually it settled on a young tree some 12 to 15 feet off the ground and hung around for the next hour. Brilliant! Then with great dexterity Safi used his extended net to actually catch the insect and revealed at close quarters its stunning colouration. And just as he let it go, a female came into view way below, flying over the forest canopy but we didn't witness any courtship.

 

The afternoon was spent at the East Nimba Nature Reserve where we stopped to savour our wraps quite close to where someone had left ‘a deposit’, covering the evidence with leaves - attractive to four species of charaxes though, and a palla. Spent the afternoon wandering up and down the forest track, getting back to the hotel around 4.30 for a beer before starting to pack. Last cold shower for a while! Safi produced two bottles of South African red wine followed by a bottle of Remy Martin, courtesy of Steve Collins, to go with our spicy chicken and rice. Alan was distracted by Chelsea v West Ham on the TV in the thumping disco and I watched the last 25 minutes of a 0 - 0 draw with him.

 

Thursday 30 January

Off at 7am for Monrovia, stopping after 3½ hours at the Kpatawee Wetlands and waterfalls, a 'Ramsar site of international importance' now dedicated to rice production! We spent maybe 45 minutes here chasing a few butterflies. Back down the bumpy and dusty road we went, passing the vast Firestone rubber plantation and palm oil forests stopping at 1.10pm at the Coo-coo Nest again for a short time to consume our wraps. A small bunch of lively kids appeared to see what this strange group of blokes were doing. Moko's B & B was reached at 4pm on the dot and we all took the same rooms we'd had before. Nice to have a warm shower. At 5pm the cars took us to the Golden Beach Bar just along the coast, an unexpected gem of a bar-restaurant. We sat on chairs under the palm trees on the sand watching the sun go down over the Atlantic whose waves crashed on the beach. Emmanuel and Prince joined us and I ate grilled pork chops in a whisky sauce: later, David read his trip poem to great amusement - he really is a clever wordsmith. Got back quite early to Moko's after a long transit day and ahead of the trek tomorrow.

 

Friday 31 January

Up at 3.50am and away at 4.30 for the airport, grabbing a coffee and some fresh pineapple for an early breakfast/snack. The roads were deserted so we got to the airport in 45 minutes, through a pretty tight security process and left on time for Freetown. Heathrow was reached at 4.10pm, some 10 minutes late, but by 5pm I was driving the three of us out of T5 on a soaking wet, cold and windy evening. The M25 was solid so we came back through Slough and after dropping off David and Alan I received my hug and a cuppa at 6.45.

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