To the Southlands!

Hey everyone!

My time in Ghana is nearing its end.  I’m definitely excited to see everyone back home, but it is very bittersweet and even sad to be leaving my home for the past 3 months. Ghana is an amazing country, and in my view a very blessed place as well. I felt more connected to God while here than I’ve ever felt in my life, I know for sure that the Lord called me here for some reason or another, and that is a a great feeling to have! I’ve met so many amazing and wonderful people here too that I will NEVER forget. I’m very certain that this will not be my last trip to Ghana either, I’ve fallen in love with the place and it’s amazing  people and wildlife.

For my penultimate blog entry I would like to show off some more pictures, and talk about my adventures in the southern/central region the past week or so, but do expect a final wrap up post in the next couple days before I leave!

Anyways…. On to the South!

Kakum rainforest early in the morning... stunning!

I made the journey to the southern region with my new friend Leslie. We had met through a mutual friend who she had contacted in regards to Sea Turtle work in Ghana. She paid me a visit in the north and got to see my neck of the woods (Damongo, Kulmasa, Mole national park,etc), then we took off to the south to see her study area in Winneba which is very close to Kakum national park rainforest.

We spent a couple days in Kakum and were not disappointed! We saw so many amazing creatures including dwarf bushbabies, a plethora of spider and centipede species, and my favorite a Smyth’s Watersnake which I captured in one of the streams flowing through the forest.

Grayia smythii

We also decided to camp out in a massive tree house within the forest for a night, the sounds of the wildlife all around us gave way to the most calming and restful sleep I’ve had since being in Ghana! It was amazing!

After checking out the rainforest, we headed to a small little animal rehab/sanctuary near bye (Monkey Forest sanctuary). Owned by an old Dutch couple  they collect wounded animals from around Ghana along with unwanted ones and offer them sanctuary and usually eventual release. I didn’t agree with all of the things they did (such as killing the venomous snakes they found on the property  when they could not persuade them to move on), but despite their flaws, it was nice to see someone doing some perceived good for the wild life in Ghana. We were able to get up close and personal with some od the denizens of the sanctuary, including two species of Hingeback tortoise, three species of aquatic turtles, Civet, and Genet cats, Black Dukier antelope, Rock Pythons, Ball Pythons, Nile crocs, and my personal favorites baby Black Cobras, Boomslangs, and Mambas!

Kinixys sp. possibly K.erosa

After leaving Kakum I took a detour to Cape Coast and stayed an evening to see the Slave Castle that made the city famous. I met a huge amount of people there, including native Rastafarians, Australian and Swedish/Swiss volunteer nurses and teachers, and some very good native Ghanian dancers! I also learned how to play a couple of Ghanian instruments while there. Something you’ll have to see when I get home haha!

Cannons at the Cape Coast Slave Castle

After my quick detour to cape coast I returned to Winneba where Leslie and I have been going out on Sea Turtle walks for an active conservation project that has been initiated by the Ghana Wildlife division.  So far we’ve been out almost everynight  I’ve been in Winneba but have not found ANY living nesting turtles or even evidence of nests! Sadly we did come across two dead Green Sea Turtles, one having been nearly bisected by what was likely the propeller of an illegal foreign fishing trawler.  In my last few nights here in Winneba we’ll continue our walks, hopefully I’ll be able to report back on my final blog with news of some turtle sightings/taggings!

Winneba itself is much different than the Northern region, and houses a melting pot of different cultures and languages. It’s quite the task to communicate down here sometimes due to the mixing of the Fanti, Twi, and Ga languages! The North was much easier as Walet and Gonga were the most prominent languages in the areas I lived!

I’ve met some other AMAZING volunteers here in the south as well, an awesome group that has been self-dubbed “The Crazy Obrunis” due to the constant activates they/we partake in! Including climbing mountains, walking beaches, etc.  The group ranges from all over, Including Amanda a volunteer teacher from Michigan, Clint a volunteer at an orphanage from Mississippi , Ben a social worker from Canada/France, Jessie another social worker from Michigan working with the Challenging heights program that seeks to end child slavery, and then myself and Leslie rounding out the crew with our wildlife/conservation work!

Well that’ll about do it guys, be leaving for home in 3 days (!!!!!!!!!!).

Much Love, and God Bless