The North of Ghana is an absolutely different adventure than what that I have encountered in the south. This trip was mostly about appreciating nature and tradition. It was essentially appealing because I had a chance to drive deeper into Africa instead of staying close to the Atlantic coast. Fauna and Flora was something else, much closer to an evergreen savannah than a palmtree paradise.
We spent four days in the bus, driving cross-country from Kumasi up to Paga village that's basically on the Burkina Faso border. I drove from Cape Coast a day earlier, so I can frankly say that I have covered the whole length of the country by bus. Approximately 800 kilometers. We visited many different places on the route and we stayed overnight in Damongo village and Tamale. Once again, many photos were taken from the bus, because with my childish curiosity I couldn't stop looking out the window with the camera on stand-by lying on my lap - just in case I saw something interesting.
Tanoboase was our first point in the itinerary.
Before I even knew what the place was all about, I really enjoyed the jungle itself.
It is also named Tano Sacred Grove. Hidden deep in the jungle this is a site of marvelous sandstone formations that used to be a place of worship and home of a native tribe for generations. The highest God was believed to live in the source of Tano River within the grove, so this is hot the place became sacred.
The rocks were the home quite literally. Special niches or semi-caves in the rocks were big enough to provide shelter from the rain and give some sense of security. We were even shown some small round holes on the bottom of the niches that were carved to serve as... plates and bowls. It was hard to take a picture there, though. The whole community with strict rules developed in the grove. They had customs for marriage that required a trial of strength of young men who wished to elope. The trials were classic competitions that included a race of climbing a very steep slope of the sandstone formations.
I don't really remember, but the tribe at a certain point was forced to leave the grove and according to our guide - they still feel very remorseful about that and blame Ghanian government for their misfortune.
We were taken for a hike with elements of easy mountain climbing around the site. The mere shape of the rocks is phenomenal. The fact that this formation is standing in the middle of plain land is also incredible, and so was the view from the top.
Soon after leaving Tanoboase we made it to a village called Baobeng, the monkey sanctuary. It was home to at least 2 species of monkeys - Lowe Monas and Colubus. Over 400 individuals are supposed to live within the sanctuary and they move around in troops of 10-15 animals.
The villagers were friendly and a local guide took us into the jungle for a tour.
Even before our guide showed up, a few monkeys from the Mona species, greeted us on the parking lot. They are very sociable and bold, specially if they see you bringing food. They are not afraid to jump on your shoulder and beg, or to simply steal some possesion of yours.
But anyway, we had loads of fun while trying to take pictures with the monkeys. To get their attention we fed them with nuts or bananas.
We spotted a Colubus monkey a few times, but they were shy and wouldn't approach a big group of humans. They did look splendid with their long, silky hair!
Again, I observed life from the window of the bus:
The following day we had our possibly biggest attraction of this trip - a jeep safari in the most famous national park in Ghana - Mole National Park.
In the the territory of the country most of the wildlife was sadly wiped out by hungry or greedy locals even though most species are under strict protection. There was no other solution to prevent poaching, but to protect animals in national parks.
The truth is that fauna in Ghana is not as impressive or stereotypical as in Kenya or South Africa. The experience of a safari is different too, there is no vast yellowish savannah that we all know from National Geographic. I don't think it's worse, though. It's different, I enjoyed the safari anyway. There are many species of animals in the park, the visitors are most likely to encounter elephants, antilopes, monkeys, baboons, warthogs but apparently there are also some leopards or lions but they rarely make any appearences for tourists. We drove through the park after it rained and the plants and grass were so vividly green, we couldn't stop admiring them.
I was very lucky, because I took the front seat of one of the jeeps, and this jeep was the first one to go, so I had the best frontal view of them all!
However, I really regret my lack of thinking with the choice of lenses for the trip. I completely forgot about the safari, and didn't bring anything with adequate focal length for the job. 50mm lens was not enough to take good shots of the animals, but the landscapes were pretty ok.
The next day we drove from Tamale to Paga, a little village right by the border. I just loved the landscape, as we drove further and further baobab trees started to appear...
Paga's greatest attraction is the crocodile pond. Actually, there are a few ponds around Paga with over 300 crocodiles.
This is a very pelucialr thing, this place. The habitants of the village protect the crocodiles, feed them regularily so that they do not attack people. You can approach one, pet it, or even pretend to ride it for a photo (under careful supervision of a local guide). Now it is a tourist attraction of course, but it has been like this for hundreds of years. The legend has it that every villager has his own spiritual crocodile in one of the ponds, and this is why they are not agressive.
We were taken to the Burnina Faso border, just to grab some goodies at the Duty Free. Then we turned back south.
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