nimba county, part IV

driving out of monrovia brought me directly into the pages of a national geographic magazine. the cinderblock homes with tin roofs dissolved into dense jungle only to be broken up by small villages dotting the lanscape here and there. these villages invariably had at least (if not all) homes made from clay bricks and thatched roofs. at first i had to blink my eyes to assure myself that was seeing was not a mirage but a reality.
there would be at least one thatched roof building, where the palm fronds would reach about a foot shy of the ground. but the ends would be open and the smoke from the fire and the cooking food would come streaming out.
and the homes, simple as they were, were much more creatively decorated from the outside than our own. instead of monochromatic or dichromatic exterior with little design, many of the homes were decorated with dimple designs which gave the home personality. think of an adobe wall from the southwest united states with white hand prints repeated over and over again on a wall. or a geometric design.