[After landing in Liberia] we had a security guard approach Rich and convinced him we should follow him. We [11 of us] were lead outside, loaded into a pickup truck, one of those people-carrier trucks which you see blown up on bridges in action films. Since all the luggage did not fit in the back of the pickup (despite 2 of the locals having to ride on top just to keep it from falling out) we loaded half of our bags into the other truck and piled in as we waved goodbye to our friendly guard, (who strangely wasn't going with us).

After about a hour I realized several facts: 1) either our "friend" was real or we were in big trouble 2) if anything should happen there was no way we would be able to find the US Embassy 3) maybe I wouldn't have to wait long to be kidnapped and tortured 4) each "bumpy" part of the road was followed by a far more "bumpy" part.

None the less our vehicle came to a stop where all we could hear was the sound of children singing...

We had arrived.