Kakum National Park and Ampenyi
Thursday, January 11th, 2007After we left the Hans Cottage Botel, we headed north to Kakum National Park. Much of the park is protected rainforest. It’s famous for its canopy walkway.
Forest elephants and colobus monkeys live in Kakum, but they were hiding during our visit. We heard a loud screech, which we thought came from a monkey, but the guide said it was a bird of prey. The only wildlife we actually saw were butterflies and geckos.
Our (mandatory) guide told us a little bit about the trees. He said that the bark from the dahome tree was used to make clothing in the olden days. The bark is beaten until it is soft, like cotton. An Italian man in our group told us that he saw such cloth in Côte d’Ivoire, and that it was pretty. He didn’t speak any English, but he was fluent in French, so Dan, René and I could communicate with him.
To quench their thirst after the forest walk, René, Emily, and the Italian man bought coconuts from the coconut man, who chopped off the tops of the coconuts, inserted straws, and handed them over to drink.
Next stop, Ko-Sa Guesthouse in Ampenyi, a beach town. It’s a German-run place where the clay huts are topped with thatch, vegetarian options abound on the menu, and the sea water rushes into rocky tidal pools just off the beach.
René found barnacles or some such creatures gripping the rocks.
The beach was pleasant for walking and remarkably uncrowded.
The sky really was that color, due to Harmattan, a dry wind that blows sand and dust from the Sahara toward the Gulf of Guinea (the body of water that Ghana borders). The locals don’t like it, but we’re really enjoying the less humid air and cooler temperatures it’s bringing. They say it’s particularly severe this year.
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