The Canopy Walk

Ghana has some wonderful virgin rain forests.  Kakum National Park is just such a place.  In order to make the rain forest more accessible here, they have created rope bridges through the tops of these giant trees and call it "The Canopy Walk."  The Canopy Walk is 40 meters above the ground and makes for some great bird and butterfly siting.    

Gregg and I had heard so much about it that we took a day to visit the Canopy Walk and were not disappointed.  Getting to the Canopy Walk is another exciting experience because there are very few road signs in Ghana. We got instructions from those who had been there. This included hot tips like, "when you come to the fork in the road take a left" (we found several forks) and "watch for the turn off sign, there's only one."


It was a public holiday, which may have been a small mistake because many schools used it as a field trip to the Canopy Walk.  So we got to share this beautiful experience with some school children.  But all in all, we really enjoyed it.  We saw some amazing butterflies.  Our guide told us that the day before while leading a Nature Walk he spotted a Black Mamba (for those of you who are not snake aficionados, this is a seriously deadly snake).

You don't even have to climb to get onto the walkway. It starts at ground level, and as you walk along, the land below you slopes into a valley, and you find yourself twelve stories up in the forest canopy. The horseshoe-like pattern of bridges—made of steel cable, netting, and narrow wooden planks—are connected by tree platforms that serve as observation points for viewing the rain forest. You circle back to complete your tour on level ground.

The slight swaying is intimidating, but it's an incredible sensation to walk along it. The experience is pure adrenaline, and is definitely not for people with a fear of heights.