Road trip to Marshall

Hi! What is the best thing to do with a free Saturday??? Take a road trip! So yesterday, the Sacra clan (along with Naomi Olson, our missionary nurse and family friend) drove about an hour down the road to Marshall, on the coast, not far from the airport.... It's a fishing town, populated by Fanti people (originally from Ghana) who are famous for colorful painting on their canoes, and Bassa folk who are Liberian natives... Here is Jared being eaten by one of the big cotton trees in Marshall... we were joking about "where is Tom Bombadil when you need him?"...


Here is Isaac, one of the young fisherman, repairing his nets, and one of the freshly painted dugout canoes.



Imagine my surprise at this one... "No one is perfect No 1" seemed to make sense and was African enough, but to see the Tommy Hilfiger logo (complete with the registered trademark symbol painted there, too small to see in this view!) was a bit surprising... I guess modern culture has reached Africa!

We thought it would be a waste not to buy fish in Marshall... so I went and exchanged some US dollars at a local shop, and when we asked around for fish we got to meet the fish drying family... They have a "factory" with two large smokers for drying "bony", the small shad that is the staple protein for many Liberians. Deb bought about 15 of the small dry fish for about $2.50. We enjoyed seeing this rather professional outfit with their fish on the dryers in layer upon layer carefully laid out. The drying process takes 24 - 48 hours. Drying the fish allows your typical Liberian, who doesn't have an icebox, to buy their fish in advance and keep it a few days without going bad.

In all, we enjoyed Marshall, and will think about taking you there when you come to visit! Love, Rick for all of us.