Arboretum its not…

Last week we took a morning drive to the Aburi Botanical Gardens about 25 miles northeast of Accra.  The Dallas arboretum it is not! But it had some very interesting trees and plants.  The Aburi Botanical Gardens occupies an area of 64.8 hectares and before the garden was established, it was the site of a sanatorium built in 1875 for Gold Coast government officials. It was opened in March 1890 when a Mr. William Crowther, a student from the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, arrived in the Gold Coast as the first Curator of the Botanic Garden. By 1908, 64.8 hectares of land had been cultivated and plots for selected economic plants, botanical specimens and decorative plants had been established. Snaking through the lush Akwapim hills, these gardens comprise great lawns planted with native and imported trees and plants. Famous people who have visited and planted commemoration trees include Queen Elizabeth in 1961 and Prince Charles in 1977.

 

When we first arrived it was early and there were some low clouds shrouding the gardens.  It was quiet and heaven like. Later in the morning the clouds moved on and we could see better.

 

 

Ceiba Pentandra (Silk Cotton or Kapok Tree)

Don’t miss the little men at the bottom of this tree on the right. I am on the right.

This specimen is the sole survivor of the original forest that once covered the Aburi hills. This species is one of the largest trees in Africa, and is one of the sacred trees of West Africa. The plaque says that it can grow to 200 ft., 6 ft. in diameter, and 25 ft. in girth above the buttresses.  The thorns by my hand below are on the buttresses.  We are standing beside or in  buttresses covered with vines in one picture below. There were two of these trees by each other.  One had vines covering it, one did not.

      

The seed oil is used for rheumatism and the kapok is used for surgical purposes as a substitute for cotton wool. The seeds which contain 22-25% oil are pounded and ground to a meal and used in soup, or eaten after being roasted. The white wood is used for making stools, domestic utensils, wooden figures, drums and coffins.

      

The tree above died sometime ago and instead of removing it someone began carving images of people, birds and animals – giraffe, elephant, etc. It has a royal figure carved at the top of the center trunk. It still has some carvings that are in the back that have not bee completed.

 

The picture on the right (above) by my hand is a cocoa pod. The blossoms on the trunk each will produce a cocoa pod.  Ghana is the second highest producer of cocoa, second only to Cote d’Ivoire its next door neighbor to the west. The fruits (pods) take about 5 months from flowering/fruit-set to ripeness. For more information about the harvesting process click here. 

 

The tree above is most interesting. You will see what appears to be palm fronds coming out of the top of this tree. It is in fact the case. They are two separate trees. One grew in the top of the other! You never know what you will find in a park in Africa.  This helicopter, we think, just dropped here at some point, and nobody took it away.  It has just become part of the park because it happens to have fallen there.  Stranger things, believe me, happen here.

 

The tree below on the left is a Strangler Ficus Tree. If you read the plaque it tells how this tree grew around another tree and eventually strangled the host tree and now stands in its place.

   

The fruit tree above is the Star fruit. The tree grows in many tropical areas and is found in many supermarkets.  The plaque says that some of the interesting properties of this fruit are the juice can be used to remove stains from cloth and polish metals especially brass. The fruit contains an acid that will dissolve trash and rust. It is good in salads and drinks.

One of the walkways has arches along it.  They are the only place that looks groomed except that the lawns are mowed.  There are no flowers except those on a few trees.

On the way home we stopped at some woodcarving shops to pick up a couple items.  Each little shop has a place usually in the back where they carve their figures and masks.  The floors are mostly dirt.

 

The men below were creating bricks from sand.  On the left the machine is packing the sand in to bricks.  The men on the right carry them to a place in the sun for them to dry.

 

The picture below is of some local men who have gathered discussing what the driver should pay them for righting his car that he had rolled when trying to pass (“overtake”) and ended up off the road on its side.  It turns out the driver was a police officer who was drunk and he was trying to pass on the right.  They were really giving him a bad time.  This happened not far from where we had parked our car alongside the road to look at the wood carving shops.  We felt blessed not to be part of the scene!

Until next time …