Mount Coffee

I posted a couple weeks ago about the team that came out from the US to help with the power grid here at ELWA. The first weekend they were here we took a trip up to Mount Coffee to tour the old hydroelectric dam. Before the war the Mount Coffee facility powered Monrovia and much of Liberia. During the war the staff had to flee the area as the fighting reached the dam and water breached the earthen dam around the spillway and destroyed it. In the subsequent 20 years much of the facility has been looted.

We started off the trip Sunday morning and stopped on the way at an SIM affiliated church in the Todee area. Here are a few pictures of the church service.

Jamie and Blessing attracting a crowd as usual.

Then it was onto the dam. The pastor actually served as our navigator to reach the dam, when we got to the front gate we picked up a local friend of his to give us the tour. Here we are approaching the building that used to house the turbines.

Inside the building. There were 4 turbines that used to fill the large holes in the floor.
Underneath the main floor are 3+ basements full of stairways and passageways.
Dr. Sacra checking out one of the turbine holes.
Plenty bats in the basement levels too.
Here's a good shot of the edge of the hydroelectric side, post washout.
Looking back at the building that housed the turbines. They said the large overhead bridge crane was still in the building until 2005, when rogues came and stole it. They cut it and let it drop from overhead, leaving a large impact spot on the floor below.
After looking at that facility we headed out on an almost 2 mile hike to the other dam that controlled the river level. It was a hot day...
More hiking.
And we finally reached it. The large gates controlled the water level behind the dam.
With parts from Wisconsin.
Everyone relaxing after we made it back to the car. Did I mention it was HOT.
And one picture I couldn't resist on the way back home. We're still trying to figure out what "Open Free Defecation Town" really means?