Uploads from gbaku, tagged afrika, with geodata

BP Gas Station in West Africa, 1967

nobody@flickr.com (gbaku) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 19:02:46 -0700

gbaku posted a photo:

British Petroleum station in Pendembu, Sierra Leone. That's me facing the camera right next to my VW bus in this photo taken by my old friend Barry Isaac in December, 1967, who writes: "The BP station opened ca. 1965. The franchisee was a prosperous local produce dealer (coffee, cocoa, palm kernels) and commercial lorry owner. The pumps were powered by the station’s own electric generator; the lights shown in this picture were added during 1967. The generator was noisy for a town used to preindustrial tranquility; it was turned off promptly at 10 PM each day to comply with a local ordinance. No other business or residence in Pendembu had electric power during my residence (December 6, 1966 to February 15, 1968).
BP’s competitors in 1967 were Mobil and, for three months only, Agip (Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli). Agip closed in early May 1967 and had not yet reopened when I left town in early 1968. All of the franchisees were African citizens of Sierra Leone; non-citizens were ineligible for petrol franchises under the Retail Trade Act of 1965-67. The local Texaco station had remained closed since 1965, when the Lebanese franchisee became ineligible under the Act; he hoped to re-open it during 1968, though, following the Act’s repeal in October 1967.
In December 1967, when this photo was taken, “regular”-grade petrol cost Le 0.63 to Le 0.65 per gallon in Pendembu. That price was equivalent to U.S. 75 to 85 cents per gallon @ Le l.00 = U.S. $1.20 (post-devaluation rate)."

For many more pictures of Pendembu at this time and much more information not available anywhere else, go to: www.flickr.com/photos/51733472@N07/

One drove on the left hand side of the road in Sierra Leone so the driver's side was on the right.

Remains of a stone-walled house at the deserted hilltop defensive site of Yagala, Sierra Leone (West Africa)

nobody@flickr.com (gbaku) — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 08:02:28 -0800

gbaku posted a photo:

Photograph taken in 1967 or 1968. Stone and mud were used instead of wood and mud for the walls of the houses at this site because of the rocky surface, which didn't allow stakes to be planted. The town was built on a hilltop for defense purposes and was gradually deserted for more accessible places during the first part of the twentieth century.

Remains of a stone-walled house at the deserted hilltop defensive site of Yagala, Sierra Leone (West Africa)

nobody@flickr.com (gbaku) — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 08:52:36 -0800

gbaku posted a photo: