Canopy Walking

During the trip to Cape Coast, we also got the opportunity to travel to Kakum National Park. It's a tropical rainforest that was established in 1960 for tourism. The park is home to many animals like elephants, buffalo, leopards, along with birds, reptiles, and amphibians. I didn't get to see many animals while I was there since my group was only interested in the nature walk and the canopy walk.


The canopy walkway is made up of 7 bridges that are 130 feet up in the air suspended between trees. From this vantage point, you can see the top of the forest canopy not visible from the ground. There's also a platform for viewing for those that are too scared to venture out onto the walkway.


The walk itself was a lot of fun! I love heights so naturally I was interested and let me just say the view was incredible! I've never been a nature person but being able to look out over the rainforest floor and see the birds flying around was amazing!! Of course my camera decided to die right as we started the walk so I ended up having to use my iPhone to take pictures but I think they turned out well. I just kept wishing that I had downloaded a panoramic view camera app to actually capture the true view. 

Cheesing extra hard! ;-)

Getting ready to step on

View of the walkway from the side

The walkway itself is strung together with nets and wires and it is very shaky! It bounces to the side as you walk and the planks were very narrow. When we walked up to begin the walk, the tour guide turned to us and said, "Please do not go on the walkway if your weight is that of two elephants!" So everyone kind of gave a nervous laugh and then one of the people says, "so fat people aren't allowed to get on?" and the tour guide responds, "don't be silly! NO ONE weighs the same as two elephants!!" 


I think some people were a little nervous about how strong the supports were and after stepping on it and having it start moving, I admit I was a tad bit scared too! 

We also stopped by Hans Cottage "Botel" during the trip for lunch. The cottage is right next to a lagoon that has crocodiles, turtles, and birds. We sat and ate lunch while overlooking the lagoon and afterwards, got to TOUCH the crocodiles! The woman used a stick with pieces of raw meat to entice the crocodiles to come out of the water so we could get pics. It was definitely one of the more adventurous things I've done but honestly, I just wanted to take the picture and RUN before the croc decided to turn around and snap my hand off! 

This is my nervous smile!! LOL

Hungry crocodile!

So now that you've read about some of my travels and adventures, stay tuned for some updates about Ghanaian food/fashion and of course my research, which is coming along quite nicely!


Mehunu wo akyire!


~J