-Anatole France-
This morning we were up at 5.15am for a 5.30am start to
the rain forest walk. Apparently it is
better that early in the morning to be able to spot animals, particularly
monkeys, so right on the dot the 6 of us (Elle was now out of action) we headed
off. We still needed our head torches
and it gave me an idea on what last night would have been like and I am still
glad that I didn’t go. It’s not really
my scene. After climbing around 120
steps we were introduced to the plant life of the forest. There were trees that were up to 400 years
old and they were massive around the base of their trunk and some reached so
high we couldn’t see their tops. I was
fascinated by these very old trees, they were older than Australia, standing
there tall and proud! It was
impressive. We were told that all trees
of the forest were medicine for the locals.
There were plants that cured tuberculosis, malaria, trees for glue,
trees for paint, trees used for building, trees used at rulers and measurement
and it really makes the mind boggle on how the locals stumbled on the remedies
for ailments from each plant and some still rely on them today, just not in
this particular forest as it is now protected and has been for the last 27
years. Kakum is Ghana's first protected
area which has received major support for visitor facilities. The visitor center
opened on Earth Day 1997 and the park received the Global
Tourism for Tomorrow Award the following year.
Tourism numbers have increased over the years: 2,000 in 1992; 27,000 in
1996; over 70,000 tourists in 1999; and it attracted 135,870 visitors during
2009.
Kakum National Park, located in the coastal environs
of the Central Region of Ghana, covers an area of
375 square kilometers and was established in 1931 as a reserve, it was gazetted
as a national park only in 1992 after an
initial survey of avifauna was conducted. The area is covered with tropical rainforest and the uniqueness of this
park lies in the fact that it was established at the initiative of the local
people and not by the State Department of wildlife who are responsible for
wildlife preservation in Ghana. It is also the only park in Africa with
a canopy walkway, which is 350 meters long and
connects seven tree tops which provides access to the forest. The most notable endangered species of fauna
in the park are Diana monkey, giant bongo
antelope, yellow-backed duiker and African
elephant. It is also an Important Bird Area recognized by
the Bird Life International with the bird
area fully overlapping the park area. The bird inventory confirmed 266 species
in the park, including eight species of global conservation concern. It is very
rich in butterflies as well, and a new species was discovered in 1993. As of
2012, the densest population of forest elephants in Ghana is located in Kakum. The Museums and Monuments Board of the
Republic of Ghana has proposed that UNESCO declare
the park a natural World Heritage Site with the submission
made in 2000 it is now listed under the tentative List of World Heritage Sites.
After just over an hour of walking on designated trails
and unlucky not to see a single animal, not even a bird, we were then walked
through to the start of the canopy walk after a small break. The park has a long series of hanging bridges
known as the Kakum Canopy Walkway at the forest canopy level to provide access
to the forest, which is a unique feature in the entire African continent. At
40 m height, we approached the limits and view plants and animals from a
vantage point that would otherwise be inaccessible to people. The canopy
walkway passes over 7 bridges and runs over a length of 330 m and some of
the tree canopies are more than 50 meters in height. Built with wire rope, aluminum
ladders and wooden planks, it is secured by a series of netting for safety purposes.
An additional viewing platform that will allow visitors to climb into the
canopy without braving the canopy walkway is currently under construction. The Canopy Walkway was built by two Canadian
engineers from Vancouver and has been in operation for 19 years. I am not known for being scared of heights,
but after stepping onto the ‘ladders’ that had a wooden plank laid on the top,
it was a little scary I have to say. The
nets were also reassuring but I think it is just the initial fear of something
going wrong that goes through everyone’s mind.
I did check what the bridges had been tested to and he said 8 tonnes,
which is the equivalent to the weight of 2 elephants and I also checked if
anyone had died or fallen in the 19 years and the answer was no. That was good enough for me and we then spent
the next 45 minutes walking the bridges and enjoying the fabulous view from the
connecting platforms. The platforms were
connected to existing trees, no additional iron or construction was around,
keeping it more environmentally friendly.
The trees that the platforms were constructed around were 250-400 years
old and you couldn’t even wrap your arms around them-still mind boggling to me!!!
We all made it back after the canopy walk just after
7.35am and it was time to muck in for the breakfast, get the tents packed up
and on the road. The tents needed some
airing after our last camp on the last section from the bush camp that we did. It hadn’t rained but the condensation was so
thick that the tents were pretty wet when we packed them away and then we just
never camped again, even though we were supposed to, like 5 more time after
that, and we just never did. We were on
the road at 8.55am and our destination today was Kumasi. As we didn’t think we had a very big day
ahead of us in terms of travelling we had seen the other day as we were coming
in a Monkey Forest, where we assumed there were monkeys that we could take a
look at as we hadn’t seen any this morning on our forest walk. The Monkey Forest was just a 10 minute drive
from the entrance to the national park and once we had parked and Zoe and Sam
had investigated, we were able to take a look inside for the cost of 12GHS
(6AUD) each. The compound was started 10
years ago by a Dutchman called Denis and his wife Erica, who were sick of
living in Holland and their government and packed up everything and moved to
Ghana. Here they established the Monkey
Forest where everything has been made by hand and by Denis himself over that
period of time. He certainly was a
character as he showed us around his small complex. There were some groovy looking monkeys but we
weren’t allowed to take pictures of them as Denis was getting mad that people
were selling pictures of his monkeys on the internet. So after meeting Dr. Spock, Blue Balls, a
Ghanaian taipan, some crocodiles and a few other animals, walking to the top of
steps that had been carved by Denis and staff for a view of where he hopes to
open a small café, we had a quick drink, a meeting of another monkey that was
let out of the house and then we were on our way again at 10.30am. They were an interesting couple and
everything they are doing are for the local animals of their area, from feeding
them, having them sleep in their beds and most of them they have hand reared
with the ultimate goal to release the animals back into the wild when they are
ready (the animals) and it goes to show that 2 people can make a small
difference to the part of the world that they live in.
As the weeks go on I am finding it harder and harder to
not have a nap on the truck. I have
never been a napper when I am on the road as I don’t want to miss anything and
I would feel bad if someone waved and I didn’t wave back because I was
sleeping. But with such an early start
this morning once we were back on the road I just couldn’t keep my peepers open
another second and even when we stopped to fill up at a gas station, I opened
my eyes for a second and then closed them again as we filled up and people got
off for a bathroom stop. I was SO tired. But needless to say when we stopped for lunch
at 1pm, that didn’t take much to wake me up and I am happy to report that the
‘newbies’ are quick learners and we had to explain that not all truck lunches
are going to be this extravagant. As we
had only left Accra yesterday and the fridge was working, we had some fresh
posh ham, posh cheese and rolls to boot AND we could open the mayo as we could
now also put that in the fridge. Wash
all that down with a cold coke that Elle and Rich bought for us all we were
back on the road again for the afternoon.
One thing that they do have a lot of in Ghana especially
(Togo and Benin as well) is police checks.
I am not really sure of the point of some of the checks that they make
us stop for as 85% of the police do not ask to see any paper work or license at
all. They pretty much ask where we are
going, where we have come from and then we are waved on our way. I think most of the time they are just being
nosy and want to check us out and especially when they see Zoe (a female
driver) behind the wheel, it is apparently an unusual sight in West
Africa. We normally take it all on the
chin and if anything it just takes up 5-10 minutes of our time, but some days
we would be stopped up to 5-8 times, which adds on your driving time. Today was no different and we got pulled up
with Sam behind the wheel and the police office opens Sam’s door and told him
he was driving an illegal vehicle in Ghana.
Madge is a right hand drive in a country where their vehicles are left
hand drive. So the conversation went
back and forth between Sam and the officer, and Sam’s very good point was that
if it was illegal that the truck would not have been permitted to enter Ghana
if that was the case and he stuck to his guns.
This went back and forth for another 10 minutes when the officer cracked,
I think realizing that Sam was not going to back down or pay any money,
introduced himself as Albert, shook Sam’s hand and said next time we come back,
to bring a wife for him and with that we were permitted to leave. Hilarious.
Passing through the small villages that dot along the
road and the bigger towns when we pass, you can’t help but have a laugh at some
of the shop names and businesses. This
happens a lot all over Africa, but here in Ghana for some reason I have taken a
particular notice. I may not have
noticed as much in Togo and Benin as their signs would be in French and my
French is non-existent, but today I decided to write down the funnier ones that
I saw and it turned out to be a whole page in my notebook, so I have decided to
devote a whole entry to the Ghanaian business names that will follow this
entry. You just can’t help but smile
when you read some of them and I have noticed passing through the
towns/villages that some of the names pop up twice and there obviously doesn’t
seem to be any issues with people having the same business name.
Another thing I have noticed in this part of Ghana is
funeral signs. Along the side of the
road there are literally posters of people who have died, and it is like a
memorial poster-with a picture (maybe 2) of the deceased, a quote of some sort,
the years of the birth and death and then their age in a colored circle on the
poster. To me it seems a sign of respect
and possibly an important member of the community that we are driving through. Most of them seem recent, as they are in good
condition, but you do pass some where they are ripped or faded and just like
the person passed, their posters slowly deterioate and are long forgotten. It was interesting to see the ages of the
people and most were on their 70s-80’s but the oldest one I saw was a lady had
dies when she was 115 years old!!!!
After talking to Elle, she said she saw one that said 121!!!!! And then it started to make us think if the
ages were actually believable-I mean how old is the oldest living person? 121 must be giving that title a push for
sure!!!
We arrived on the outskirts of Kumasi just after
4pm. It took us 45 minutes to maneuver
our way into the city and then a further 20 minutes to find our accommodation
for the next 2 nights. Sam and Zoe had
asked us if we would be interested in staying in Kumasi for 2 nights as there
are quite a few things to see and do in the city and cut a night off in Elmina
as there really is only the castle there and with an unanimous yes, we were
going to be spending 2 nights here. Kumasi is
a city in Ashanti,
South Ghana. Kumasi is located near Lake Bosumtwi,
in a Rain Forest region,
and is the commercial, industrial and cultural capital of Asanteman.
Kumasi is approximately 480 km north of the Equator and
160 km north of the Gulf of
Guinea. Kumasi is alternatively known as "The Garden City"
because of its many beautiful species of flowers and plants. The city rose to prominence in 1695 when it
became capital of the Ashanti Confederacy due to the activities
of its ruler Osei Tutu. The ruler of Kumasi, known as
the Asantehene, also served as ruler of the
Confederacy. With their 1701 victory over Denkyira the Asante confederacy
became the primary state among the Akans. Parts of the city, including the Royal
Palace, were destroyed by British troops in the Third Anglo-Ashanti War of 1874. Kumasi remains a royal city, in 1926 the
Ashanti was restored ceremonial control over Kumasi, and the full role of king
was restored in 1935. The city holds an important place in the history of the
Ashanti people, as legend claims that it was here Okomfo Anokye received
the Golden stool, an embodiment of the soul of
the Ashanti nation. Kumasi has a
population of 2,069,350 and is the largest city in Asanteman. Due to large gold deposits that
have been mined in the area, Kumasi has been among the wealthier cities in
Africa. The city's major exports are gold bars, hardwood and cocoa. Kumasi has 50% of the timber
industry of Ghana and the Guinness Ghana Breweries is based
there and is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
We were staying at the Presbyterian Church Hostel, as the
name suggests we were staying on church grounds. It was a working church, with the massive
accommodation building where we would be staying and then there was a
splattering of other buildings where you could hear people singing, classes in
progress and it was a hive of activity.
There was no church on site as that was located across the road from the
main grounds. We were in rooms and had
share facilities for the showers and toilets, which was super fine and I think
after my 3 week’s slumming it in Togo and Benin, places like this seemed like
heaven. We met at 7pm for dinner and
walked the now deserted streets to a café that had been scoped out before hand
by Zoe and Sam. They had an
international menu (predominately Indian), air-conditioning and the piece de resistance-free
Wi-Fi!!!! Woo Hoo. I had only bought my
IPod with me, so I wasn’t able to load any blogs but you can bet that I will be
back tomorrow at some point to do that and hopefully even load some photos as
they are so far behind as well.
Dinner was delicious and after paying the bill we were
all ready to head home for some sleep as we had been up since 5.15am this morning
and we were all dog tired but looking forward to visiting a museum and the
famous markets tomorrow.
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