Feeding Monkeys

Early Saturday morning we left for our weekend trip. The first stop was at the Akosombo Dam. The dam was inaugurated in 1966 and is actually the most expansive artificial lake in the world, covering about the size of one fifth of Switzerland. After a delicious lunch at Afrikiko Restaurant next to the lake (yummy, that charcoal grilled Tilapia was definitely fresh and tasty, one of the best meals I had in Ghana so far!) we drove on to Mount Gemi, one of the highest mountains in Ghana close to the border of Togo. The walk up the mountain offered spectacular views as far as Lake Volta. It felt good to be moving after one week of sitting.

Next morning we drove to the Wli Falls. The 45 minutes walk to the falls led us through dense rain forest, with lush green trees and bushes; humidity was close to 100 %. Although rain season is only just about to start there was quite an amount of water in the fall. Wli Falls is the highest waterfall in all of West Africa.

 

And, oh yes, I am a “mango lover” – and there are mango trees everywhere (apart from bananas, pineapple, cassava, palm trees and many others). The guide picked and washed one mango for me and in the restaurant I had it cut for me and ate it as a dessert. A small but very sweet mango…Delicious!

The highlight of the weekend was definitely the visit to Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. It was created in 1993 to protect the sacred Mona monkeys that live in the surrounding forests. For many years the monkeys were thought to be the spokesmen for the slower tortoises. The sanctuary is now a community-based ecotourism project. And very obviously it is a fact that the monkeys adore bananas! If you hold a half one out to them they will even jump over, sit on your arm and munch it. Their paws are surprisingly soft, and swiftly they fly and jump all around you. Mind your head though; from time to time banana peel will drop from the sky!

 

More to come, 

Cynthia