"Sliding Liberia" and Robertsport

Thanks to Rich Folsom (see comment in in the Surf Africans post) for news about this wonderful-looking film about surfing and survival in Liberia, which somehow grabs the imagination in a way that a lot of worthy, important works don't. The marketing site takes a while to open, but it's worth the wait, beautifully constructed by Joyce Yu, and fabulous music too.

I was obviously quite wrong about the lack of big waves in West Africa. . . and in fact Rich's comment sent me back to the first edition of the Rough Guide to West Africa (1990), in which we had a complete Liberia chapter, researched just before Charles Taylor's murderous army invaded the country. Here, in all its yellowing glory, is the page about Robertsport, which was clearly about to become a little resort. Judging from Google Earth (which is pretty hi-res over the town), our map might not have been the most accurate thing ever created. . .But you can see those big old waves out at Sembuhun beach on the west side of the peninsula.

Nearly twenty years on, let's hope the town can make something of "Sliding Liberia" – not yet screened in the UK and still not on general release anywhere as far as I know.