Ghana

Kakum National Park

WHS Score 0.19 Votes 4 Average 0.25
The Kakum National Park is located in the coastal area of the Central Region of Ghana and covers an area of 350 square kilometres. The predominant type of vegetation is tropical rainforest with trees up to 65 metres high. The forest is also home to some rare animal species including forest elephant, forest buffalo, Diana monkey, and bongo antelope. The park's special feature is a 350-metre-long canopy walkway, 30 metres above the forest floor.
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Full Name
Kakum National Park (ID: 1396)
Country
Ghana
Status
On tentative list 2000 Site history
History of Kakum National Park
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UNESCO
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UNESCO.org

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First published: 28/02/10.

Els Slots

Kakum National Park

Kakum National Park (On tentative list)

Kakum National Park by Els Slots

Kakum National Park is conveniently located about half an hour from Cape Coast, the major centre for tourists along the Ghanaian coast. I arrived at 8.30 a.m. and found about 10 other western tourists plus a school group of ca. 100 pupils waiting. They were all going to take the same tour as I was - tours start on the hour from 8 a.m. onwards and cost 9 cedi (4.5 EUR) for foreign adults.

The park has been entered on the Tentative List because of its rainforest, with a variety in plant species and mammals. It covers no less than 360 square km. All the visitors however had come for something else: the Canopy Walkway. The Ghanaians are very proud of it, it was the first on the African continent and even features heavily in the description submitted by the State Party. It consists of a 350m long bridge that links 7 viewing platforms.

Nowadays there are quite a number of these Canopy Walkways around the world (we even have a Connection for it), but this one was my first experience. The tour starts with a 15 minute uphill walk through the forest. There are rare animals in the park, but they are mostly nocturnal or wisely stay away from the well trodden path to the Canopy Walkway. With 100 kids aged about 8-14 on the path, one can imagine that even the last bird or butterfly will fly away to a more quiet spot.

The guide fortunately let the …

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