Volta Region

We've just returned from several days on tour, the first of which we spent in the Volta Region, which is to the east of Accra. The region is much more rural than the Central and Greater Accra regions and it was nice to get out of the city and see some of the smaller villages. We left very early in the morning, 4:30am, in an attempt to make the 5 hour drive before the monkeys retreated from the mid-day sun. It was a long hot trip, but certainly worthwhile.

We arrived at Tafi Atome around 10am but were lucky to find a family of Mona monkeys who had not gone too far into the forrest. Our guide, Emmanuel, was able to call them to us. The monkeys are traditionally sacred and are well cared for by the villagers of Tafi Atome. The small community has received some assistance from the UN and is becoming an eco-tourism destination. Though we did not see any other tourists, we know that there was a Dutch group that came through a day or so before and lodged in the small guest house which is available. The morning being the best time to see the monkeys, it is reccommended that you stay over night. Emmanuel told us that the monkeys, of which there are 4 resident families, regularly come into the village during the morning for fruit distributed by the community and then head for the shadows the rest of the day.





The family we we encountered was made up of about 15 monkeys, the only "true" Mona monkeys in Ghana (there are several other branches of the species). They were very pretty and ranged in size from a large house cat down to kitten, as their ages varied. They are black, white and gray and disctinguishable from their relatives by white disks on their hips. We were not able to see the male head of the family but could hear him calling just out of site. We had brought bananas and as soon as we offered them out, the monkeys would jump down from the trees and clobber whichever hand held the food. They were very fast but very careful. They watched us closely and ran bck to the trees as soon as they had a good mouthful of fruit. There was one little guy in particular who spent a lot of time with us, sitting on his haunches and looking back and forth between Seth and myself. They have such human faces and seem so friendly, that it's easy to see why some people think they would make good pets. I have to say we jokingly contemplated sneaking one back with us! It may seem like they were quite tame but they were wary and would not let you touch them. That said, they were not shy about taking the food and would take an entire banana if you didn't hold on very tight. They have tiny little fingers that grab onto your hands and peel the bananas lickety split. We fed them two bunches of bananas and I'm sure they were stuffed to the gills by the end.

After Tafi Atome we drove to Lake Volta to see the dam. The dam stems the flow of the Volta River, creating what it currently the largest man-made lake in the world. It's long and skinny and runs most of the length of the country. The power plant attached to the dam supplies the majority of the power to the country, with small supplemental plants further up the river. You could see the lines heading out in all directions; east to Togo, west to Cape Coast and Elmina and further north towards Kumasi and the Northern Region. If you are in the area on the right day there is a ferry that you can take up the lake to a small island and spend the day, complete with a live band and lunch. It would have been very nice to stay along the lakefront and take advantage of this, but there is only so much you can do in one trip!