Ghana - Kakum National Forest

On our way to Tarkwa (about a 6 hours outside of Accra) we stopped at Kakum National Forest to do some sight seeing. It's a preserve for wild African jungle animals. I really wanted to see an elephant, but we didn't. However, after we left I made friends with an aligator when we stopped for lunch. Apparently they are very tame when they are full. But how do you know if they are full? That is the question...


The big attraction at Kakum is a canopy walk that they have through the huge trees. It consists of 7 ropes swings that are at least 100 ft above the ground that connect lookout platforms on the trees. It was really high, the pictures do not do it justice.

For those of you who don't know, I'm really scared of heights, but I did really well on the canopy walk! Except for the last platform. A bunch of us were on it and the weight was unbalanced so the platform tilted down about 6 inches on the side we were standing on. I just about freaked. Imagine, you are 100 ft up on a platform and it starts tilting down on one side... not the most confortable feeling. After that I practically ran over the last bridge to get back on solid ground. Here's a picture of our whole group (minus Wendy) on one the platforms. We were supposed to make scared faces. Some of us seem more scared than others.