Monkey Sanctuary

On the way back from visiting the Kakum National Forest (Canopy Walk) we stopped by a Monkey Sanctuary.  Actually there were more than monkeys in this sanctuary.  It was actually a piece of ground 42 acres in size that a couple from the Netherlands had purchased and they rescue animals that have been injured in some way or orphaned due to hunting.

The couple charged a few CDs to show us their animals and the money is used to buy food for them. The couple has been there for seven years building this sanctuary as they had money. Their home has no electricity or running water because not being Ghanaian they were going to be charged very exorbitant prices to receive public services.  We found this to be the case when entering the Kakum National Forest and the Castles. Foreign adults paid 5 times the price of the adult Ghanaian.

The pictures below show you the Kakum National Forest off in the distance, a village in another direction and this gentleman breaking granite, which is found in abundance on the property, into small pieces to be used in their cement to make their walkways. Imagine walking on granite gravel!  Beautiful.  The lady told us if this doesn’t work out, they can take all the gravel and sell it for a small fortune. They hoped to build a snack bar on the top of their property to bring in more money. It is still in the early stages of construction.

Other animals they had at their sanctuary were small antelope, nocturnal animals that we don’t remember their names, a mongoose, and several reptiles such as snakes and crocodiles. The mongoose has helped control the venomous snakes that live on their property.

The man had questions we cleared up for him about the Church.  The Bordens, the couple we were with, had a book called “Our Search for Happiness” in their car, so we gave it to him.  It gives facts about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We then went to Bebianeha for lunch at the Hans Cottage Botel, (yes, Botel). The restaurant is built on stilts in a lake with crocodiles. Diners can watch them while having their lunch or dinner. While we were waiting for our server to come take our order we were surprised to see this young girl pet this good sized crocodile. I decided to get a closer look myself and got the last picture of them feeding a little smaller one some chicken.

Next week our blog will wrap up our visit to Cape Coast.