{"id":137,"date":"2011-07-04T13:22:14","date_gmt":"2011-07-04T13:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/?p=137"},"modified":"2019-06-20T14:15:30","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T18:15:30","slug":"kakum-national-park-draws-in-tourists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/2011\/07\/kakum-national-park-draws-in-tourists\/","title":{"rendered":"Kakum National Park Draws in Tourists"},"content":{"rendered":"

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ABRAFO, Ghana\u2014 A faded green sign welcomes visitors to Kakum National Park, \u201ca unique rainforest\u201d near the town of Abrafo. Nearly 140 square miles of undisturbed tropical rainforest makes up one of Ghana\u2019s most famous national parks, located 20 miles north of Cape Coast.<\/p>\n

The park features exhibits, Afafanto campsite, and Sun bird trails, along with lodges, shops, and a restaurant. But the main attraction is the Canopy Walkway, seven rope bridges perched 130 feet above the ground, offering spectacular bird\u2019s eye views from a vantage point among the treetops.<\/p>\n

Philip Yaw Nartey, a 33-year-old nature enthusiast from Accra, said he had wanted to visit the park ever since his high school years in Cape Coast. Fifteen years later, he finally made the trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe canopy walk is breathtaking,\u201d said Nartey. \u201cIt is something that shows the unlimited aspiration of man, walking mid-air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Established in 1960, Kakum National Park is one of Africa\u2019s most biologically diverse ecosystems. Yet what stands today is only a fraction of forestry that originally spanned from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Cote d\u2019Ivoire, which diminished due to farming, mining, and settlement.<\/p>\n

In the past, the trees were used for logging and foliage for medicinal purposes. Now, the protected park boasts countless varieties of flora, more than 300 bird species, 500 butterfly types, and a vast range of wildlife, including endangered animals like the forest elephant, bongo and Diana monkey.<\/p>\n

The park officially opened for tourism in 1990, but only saw low visitation numbers of about 1,000 annually. After two Canadian and six Ghanaian engineers constructed the Canopy Walkway in 1994 to boost tourism, numbers rose dramatically. Turnout for 2010 reached 140,000, and domestic interest has remained high– over 80 percent of visitors are Ghanaian.<\/p>\n

\u201cTourism was low because many Ghanaians didn\u2019t want to see just a park,\u201d said Samuel Owusu Asante, a tour guide, \u201cbut now it has become a big money maker for Ghana\u2019s tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The park receives some government funding, but also makes its money through tourist attraction fees. The cost for the Canopy Walkway for non-Ghanaian adults is 30 Ghana cedi ($20) and 15GHC for students, while the charge for Ghanaian adults is 12GHC and students 2GHC, in addition to a 1GHC park entrance fee.<\/p>\n

The 1,080-foot-long aerial walkway is reinforced with steel cables and wooden planks that can hold eight tons, and are connected in a horseshoe-like pattern by six observational tree platforms. Each touring group is led up the slopes from ground level by one of the nine guides, who point out interesting flora along the way. Before long, visitors are met with the first bridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe swinging made it feel like I was going to fall into the forest,\u201d said Katy Gorentz, 18, a student from Arma, Kansas, \u201cbut once the adrenaline kicked in I loved every minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Exit sign in Kakum National Park. (Grace West)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For some, nerves and fear get the better of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I could cross but I\u2019m too afraid,\u201d said Doris Kyere, 23, a midwife from Dormaa-Ahenkro.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe one day I\u2019ll be able to walk across.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to giving information, the guides provide the much needed moral support for hesitant visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing on earth that nobody can\u2019t do, move all your fear,\u201d said Asante, while demonstrating there\u2019s no way to fall by throwing his body against the roped sides.<\/p>\n

Asante, 46, who used to visit the forest with his father for medicinal plants, has worked as a tour guide for 11 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love my job so much,\u201d he said. \u201cI want people to understand why we need to protect the forest and see that we can have fun doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABRAFO, Ghana\u2014 A faded green sign welcomes visitors to Kakum National Park, \u201ca unique rainforest\u201d near the town of Abrafo. Nearly 140 square miles of undisturbed tropical rainforest makes up one of Ghana\u2019s most famous national parks, located 20 miles north of Cape Coast. The park features exhibits, Afafanto campsite, and Sun bird trails, along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[25,32,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":995,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137\/revisions\/995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/africadispatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}