Abandoned places

One of West Africa's fanciest hotels when it was completed in 1959. As such, the Ducor fared poorly in Liberia's two civil wars. Looted numerous times, captured by rebels and all but destroyed only the hotel's concrete skeleton has been left standing. The former hotel, however, still holds a prime spot on Monrovia's highest point. A privileged it only shares with a monument to Liberia's first president and a few canons. On sunny day's the view of Monrovia and the ocean is unbeatable from what used to be the rooftop bar. Today the hotel is inhabited by squatters, but a five dollar tip to one of the security guards on duty will buy a guided tour of the rather sad landmark.

Four-fifths of Nauru's land area is apparently covered in phosphate deposits. Those were once very valued, so in 1907 the mining started. Over time it created a big business, which is still evident today. In the outskirts of Boe lies a huge dilapidated phosphate factory. Though it was abandoned many years ago, the entrance is still (lightly) guarded.

At Maraco Beach lies this abandoned resort. For more than a decade ago it was in competition with Bombom resort, but there is no doubt about who won. All bungalows stand either semi-demolished or burned and the swimming pool with a sit-in-bar is today a swamp. Macaco Beach and Boi Beach share the same dirt road half of the way. It's a bumpy ride with can get seriously muddy when it rains.

For fans of abandoned places, southern Senegal offers a pleasant surprise. Dwarfing the nearby village Djoromait the huge Complexe Hotelier Djiromait is a five-star hotel and resort that has been left to the whim of nature. Built in 1983 it has never seen a single guest. The reasons why the complex has been abandoned varies. Some claim that it was so far out of the way that the intended VIP's couldn't be bothered to visit. Others tell that it was built without the required government permits and that the authorities still claim that they "do not know of any hotel in the area" – despite having built a brand new road out to the place. Regardless the reason, to this day, the complex offer a bit of urban exploration in the Senegalese bush, though it might be necessary to pay the guardsman a small fee for the privilege.

The site for the 1986 nuclear disaster is a rather dark place, both historical and to visit. It is possible to get as close as 200 metres from the melted reactor as well as visiting the ghost town of Pripyat. A city that used to house the plant's workers and their families, a total of 50,000 inhabitants. Between the ghost town's structures are a school, an amusement park, high rising apartment blocks and an indoor swimming pool.
Chernobyl and Pripyat can not be visited independently, but plenty of companies arrange day trips from Kyiv to the site. It is not cheap, but it is a must-see site for anyone with an interest in dark tourism or Soviet history.

When speaking of environmental disasters, things like Chernobyl or the Exxon Valdez might immediately spring to mind. But what is arguably the single greatest man-made environmental catastrophe lies on the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The Aral Sea was once one of the four largest lakes in the world. However, an aggressive irrigation project during the Soviet era saw the lakes main tributaries block, leaving the Aral Sea with no lifeline. Over the years, it began to shrink. Fishing villages once on the seashore found themselves further and further from their former fishing grounds. Contaminant and salt seeped into the ground. The list goes on and on. Possibly the best place to try to understand the magnitude is in the Uzbek village of Moynaq. A ship graveyard now lies in the former harbour. There is something beyond surreal about the sight of huge fishing boats rotting away in the middle of a desert.