Jungle Excitement
Since we got back to Accra at about 11pm last night after a draining experience, the order of today was relaxation.
Before I arrived in Ghana, Emmanuel had old me about one of the country’s main tourist (ugh) attractions in the city of Cape Coast where he is studying. So Kwame and I took a bus there at around midday. It had no opening windows or air conditioning, the perfect recipe for two hours of sweaty discomfort as the vehicle rattled down half-finished dusty roads.
When we neared the city our conditions became slightly more bearable: the road ran parallel to the coastline, a safe distance away from the risk of flooding but close enough for us to enjoy views of the palm-lined beach. It would have been so nice to dive in and escape from the sweltering ride, but our destination was not the seaside. And at any rate, this was no paradise. Stretches of poor housing lay only metres from the water for long periods, surrounded by accumulated junk and rubbish. What a typical site these days: outstanding natural beauty ruined by hideous man-made construction.
Another, more well-ventilated, bus journey took us from the town centre to Kakum National Park – site of Africa’s only treetop canopy walk. Built in only six months with assistance from Canadian expert climbers, the walk consists of seven shaky rope bridges of the kind you normally see in Indiana Jones films stretching over huge canyon drops. Not everyone’s idea of fun, but I thought the walk was spectacular.
We only just managed to get in, after arriving ten minutes late of the park closing time. It would have been tragic to come all the way from Accra and be turned away at the gates, I’m very glad that didn’t happen. We had a guide to take us along the rote, which involved some steep climbs and nervous moments on the first bridge before I got used to it.
Looking down from any of the raised platforms in between bridges, you could hardly see the ground. Sadly there were no animals around at this time of day – they are moved to another area of the park away from people – but the air was filled with sounds of rainforest insect life.
I was transfixed by the scenery. During our travels around Ghana for the last two weeks I have seen a lot of this kind of thing, but having an aerial view is completely different to being on ground level. The forest is vast. Green treetops of all kinds stretched as far as the eye could see. I wouldn’t want to get lost in there.
That was definitely one of the highlights of my trip to Ghana. I’ll never forget those views, the vast, untouched natural beauty of the rainforest. One of the worst crimes on this planet is cutting down this kind of landscape to make fast-food packaging; at the rate this happens, before long our world will be devoid of all its splendour and we’ll be left with nothing.
Before I arrived in Ghana, Emmanuel had old me about one of the country’s main tourist (ugh) attractions in the city of Cape Coast where he is studying. So Kwame and I took a bus there at around midday. It had no opening windows or air conditioning, the perfect recipe for two hours of sweaty discomfort as the vehicle rattled down half-finished dusty roads.
When we neared the city our conditions became slightly more bearable: the road ran parallel to the coastline, a safe distance away from the risk of flooding but close enough for us to enjoy views of the palm-lined beach. It would have been so nice to dive in and escape from the sweltering ride, but our destination was not the seaside. And at any rate, this was no paradise. Stretches of poor housing lay only metres from the water for long periods, surrounded by accumulated junk and rubbish. What a typical site these days: outstanding natural beauty ruined by hideous man-made construction.
Another, more well-ventilated, bus journey took us from the town centre to Kakum National Park – site of Africa’s only treetop canopy walk. Built in only six months with assistance from Canadian expert climbers, the walk consists of seven shaky rope bridges of the kind you normally see in Indiana Jones films stretching over huge canyon drops. Not everyone’s idea of fun, but I thought the walk was spectacular.
We only just managed to get in, after arriving ten minutes late of the park closing time. It would have been tragic to come all the way from Accra and be turned away at the gates, I’m very glad that didn’t happen. We had a guide to take us along the rote, which involved some steep climbs and nervous moments on the first bridge before I got used to it.
Looking down from any of the raised platforms in between bridges, you could hardly see the ground. Sadly there were no animals around at this time of day – they are moved to another area of the park away from people – but the air was filled with sounds of rainforest insect life.
I was transfixed by the scenery. During our travels around Ghana for the last two weeks I have seen a lot of this kind of thing, but having an aerial view is completely different to being on ground level. The forest is vast. Green treetops of all kinds stretched as far as the eye could see. I wouldn’t want to get lost in there.
That was definitely one of the highlights of my trip to Ghana. I’ll never forget those views, the vast, untouched natural beauty of the rainforest. One of the worst crimes on this planet is cutting down this kind of landscape to make fast-food packaging; at the rate this happens, before long our world will be devoid of all its splendour and we’ll be left with nothing.
posted by Frederick at 03:00
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