Gbarnga
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Gbarnga

Gbarnga

Central Liberian market city in Bong County, surrounded by Kpelle villages, farms, and green hills.

Africa > Liberia > Gbarnga

Gbarnga is the capital of Bong County and the main inland city of Liberia — a busy market and transit town roughly 180 km northeast of Monrovia along one of the better roads in the country. It sits in the rolling green hill country of the central highlands, surrounded by Kpelle villages, rubber plantations and small-scale farms.

For travelers, Gbarnga is mostly a stop on the way to somewhere else — north into Nimba County and on towards Guinea, or as the jumping-off point for the spectacular Kpatawee Waterfall, a triple-cascade falls hidden in the forest about 50 km west of town. But the city has its own quiet character: a long main road lined with shops and shared-taxi stands, a sizeable market that swells on weekly market days, and the looming Holy Spirit Cathedral which serves as the seat of the local Catholic diocese.

Gbarnga was at the centre of some of the heaviest fighting during the first Liberian civil war — Charles Taylor used it as his de facto capital for several years in the early 1990s, and the Gbarnga Central Prison and other landmarks from that period are still visible. Today the town is rebuilding steadily; Cuttington University, the oldest private university in West Africa, sits a few kilometres east and brings a steady student population to the area.

Don't come to Gbarnga expecting tourist infrastructure — it is a working Liberian town. But for travelers wanting to see the country away from the coast, it is an easy day's journey from Monrovia and an honest introduction to the central highlands.

Guide

Getting There

Gbarnga is about 180 km northeast of Monrovia along Liberia's main north-south road. The first stretch through Kakata is paved and in reasonable shape; the road from Kakata onwards is being progressively rehabilitated. Shared taxis and minibuses leave Red Light junction in Monrovia throughout the morning and the trip takes around three to four hours.

From Gbarnga, the road continues north towards Sanniquellie, Yekepa and the Guinean border. This stretch is less reliable, especially in the rainy season. There is no scheduled air service to Gbarnga.

Guide

Things to Do

The main draw in the Gbarnga area is the Kpatawee Waterfall, a beautiful three-tier cascade about 50 km west of town. In Gbarnga itself, the Holy Spirit Cathedral is the most prominent landmark, and the central Gbarnga Market is the busiest in the central highlands. A few kilometres east, Cuttington University has a small museum of Liberian ethnography that is worth a visit when open.

For those interested in recent history, the town's central prison and the few visible remnants from its years as Charles Taylor's wartime headquarters give a sobering counterpoint to the bustle of the modern market.