Liberia, an aerial view.

 Christopher and I were given an opportunity to take a flight in the SP helicopter today.  There were two pick-ups that needed to be made in the northwest portion of Liberia which left a couple empty seats.  Here is Christopher ready to go.

The roads in Liberia during rainy season range from difficult to impossible.

SP has three field offices in Liberia, Foya, Fish Town and Bopolu.  The drives to Foya and Fish Town can take over 10 hours, and sometimes they are unreachable.  The helicopter turns the trips into less than 2 hours.  The Bopolu flight that we took today is less than 30 minutes.

One of the many villages we passed over.  This one with road access.

Many are more isolated with no road access.

Closer to Monrovia there are many areas that have been cleared and planted with a variety of crops.  Fields typically have a small structure for storage and cover.

Then it is just forest...

 Many areas show the scars of Liberia's 14 year civil war.

The Mount Coffee hydroelectric facility turbine building that we visited in 2010

  Here a farmer is burning wood to make charcoal.

Arriving back in Monrovia you see the houses pushing out into the swampy area of the Montserrado River.  Not a good place to live in a country with malaria.

Downtown Monrovia from the east.