March 4-5: After Bureh, we headed toward Liberia, but there was one more place we wanted to stop at before the border: Tiwai Island. Tiwai is a small national park located on an island, home to many birds and monkeys – including chimpanzees. Unfortunately, spending the night on the island is quite expensive, so we opted for an alternative solution: the village of Ghiuba, from where the boats depart to Tiwai, has set up a campsite where we could sleep in our car for just 5 euros for the two of us.

They took us on a boat tour, where unfortunately we didn’t see any monkeys (they’re more active in the morning), but we did see a lot of birds. The landscape was incredibly beautiful at sunset, as we watched the rainforest and the many small islands (Tiwai is the largest, but there are many others on the river), and the adults and children washing and bathing in the river. We even walked onto one of the islands, where Eszti managed to fall into a small stream, which is why there are a few white spots on some of the photos—her camera got wet (luckily it dried out afterward).

After the boat tour, the women in the village welcomed us with dinner: okra sauce, fish, and rice were served.