My pitch to the Lonely Planet Guide....

So it is time to confess- the real reason I came to Liberia was to travel around and write about the next hot spot on the backpacker trail. I would get picked up by Lonely Planet as a travel writer and spend the next few years wondering from deserted beach to untouched rainforest.

So before the rainy season really kicked in we planned a trip out to Robertsport. The three hour journey was pretty smooth as we were following in the footsteps of the President who had recently held a Cabinet retreat there. It was great to get out of the city and see some of the rural areas.

Robertsport, the capital of Grand Cape Mount County, is a small town of around 4,000 people. We stayed in luxurious tents on the beach with a captivating view of the ocean. They had beds, lights and even a mini fridge! My days in the Ministry of Finance had been keeping me very busy so I welcomed the chance to kick back and relax for a couple of days.

While the respite from the bustle of Monrovia was welcome, it was difficult to ignore the impact of the war. Our tents backed onto the shell of building which once used to be a luxurious hotel and, other than our lodgings, there seemed to be little reconstruction activity. It was like a ghost town which had literally stopped.

We took the opportunity to visit the lady charged with jump-starting the local economy- the Superintendent of the County. She was a formidable lady who returned to Liberia from the US to help rebuild the country. It was the first time I heard such a personal story which described life in Liberia before and during the war. Families with a reasonable level of wealth and education left in their droves and anything left behind was looted. She emphasised the important role that Liberians abroad had to play in the reconstruction effort- but it was difficult to attract them to rural areas with few amenities. Tents on the beach- as luxurious as they may be- are not quite sufficient.