The Canopy

Saturday was a very early morning for the team...and earlier even still for those that were out til 4:30 am.  The clubs in Accra are open all night and all local people don't head out on the town until about 11:00 pm...well past my bedtime.  The club here at Kaysen's is open til 5:30 am and is conveniently located just outside the window of my hotel room.  Fortunately for the hum of the air conditioner and some ear plugs, I slept for a solid 6 hrs and was just getting up at 4:45 am when the club was winding down. 

We headed to Kakum National Park which is located west of Accra about 3 hours drive.  The road conditions for most of the way across the north end of the city were pretty bad due to construction but once we got out of city limits, there was no traffic.  The landscape in western Ghana is fairly flat with palm trees (pom trees) and thick vegetation although it's does not grow very high. 

Arriving in Kakum about 9:30 am, we had a short wait before entering the park up to the Canopy Walk.  A beautiful forest with about a 1 km hike up hill through dense forest.  No animals with the exception of some lizards but lots of bird sounds.  Below is a picture of a lizard/gecko.

The Canopy Walk is a series of 7 suspension bridges over the tops of the rain forest...thus you can see the canopy of the jungle.  It's quite beautiful to be on top of the world...even if I was hanging on for dear life!  The bridge was actually built by Canadians back in the 90's and took 6 months to complete.  It's inspected daily for safety and maintenance work done every 6 months...I of coursed, checked it all out before I went. 

 The picture to the right is looking up through the canopy from the ground.  Being very nervous with heights, I was terrified to go on the walk but all other 10 team members were excited about going so I gathered the courage to make the trip...it's good to scare yourself out of your comfort zone once in a while. 

I can't tell you how high we were off the ground but I'm guessing 40+ meters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The platforms between bridges were built around trees (like Robinson Caruso) and I can honestly say I really only enjoyed the experience once I was back on the ground.