Kakum National Park - Walking in the Tree Tops

'I survived Canopy Walkway' – this slogan can be found on T-shirts which can be purchased in the souvenir shop of Kakum National Park. For a person without fear of heights and some confidence in Ghanaian architecture maybe a little excessive, but nevertheless a nice hint to the tourist highlight in Kakum – hiking in the tree tops of Ghana's tropical forest. This possibility of a special tour in the national park up to 45 meters above the forest floor is certainly the most important reason why Kakum enjoys such a great popularity. The circular trail runs for a total of 330 meters over seven bridges and corresponding platforms, which are directly attached to the trees. In theory, you can also observe the animals in their habitat in the tree peaks. In practice, however, I have not seen one single animal that went beyond an insect on three visits, which is certainly due to the number of visitors.
There are species in the national park that are rarely found, such as forest buffaloes, civet cats or even forest elephants. In contrast to the wide open landscape, which offers for example Mole National Park, it is of course much harder to see the larger animals in the dense rainforest. In addition, of course, the touristic part of the national park is only a small area of its total area of 350 km².
If you are flexible in time you should think carefully about the day and time you want to visit the park because it is a really popular excursion destination, even for larger tour groups or school classes. With the corresponding number of visitors it is easy to imagine how quickly a soundscape is created here which reminds more of an amusement park than a tropical rainforest. I had this experience twice and only one time had the pleasure of having to share the Canopy Walkway with only a small group and the experience becomes much more intense as a result.
In addition to the way through the peaks the national park also offers the possibility of an overnight stay in the middle of the forest, which is definitely on the to-do list for upcoming stays. Another option are guided walks on the ground with explanations of the growing flora here.