Home of Nature Lovers

Here is another cultural and historical reason to visit Ghana... There's more than one thing that is fascinating about this country's culture and history. It is made up of a pristine and an undisturbed virgin rainforest and it is the most famous national park in Ghana, Kakum National Park is a home of nature lovers. Trained guides are on ground to explain the economic, cultural and medicinal importance of plants and animals found here.

Kakum National Park, located in the coastal environs of the Central Region of Ghana, covers an area of 375 square kilometers (145 sq mi). Established in 1931 as a reserve, it was gazetted as a national park only in 1992 after an initial survey of avifauna ( birds of a particular region) was conducted. The area is covered with tropical rain forest. The uniqueness of this park lies in the fact that it was established at the initiative of the local people and not by the State Department of wildlife who are responsible for wildlife preservation in Ghana. It is also the only park in Africa with a canopy walkway, which is 350 meters (1,150 ft) long and connects seven tree tops which provides access to the forest...

                As of 2012, the densest population of forest elephants in Ghana is located in Kakum.

The Park contains rare animals and the most notable species include the forest elephants, forest buffalo, civets, Demidoff's Galago (Bush baby), Diana Monkeys, Giant Bongo Antelope, Leopard, dwarf crocodiles, monitor lizards, serrated tortoise,squirrels, porcupines, different species of Duikers ( small antelopes) and various types of wildlife animals.

It is also an Important Bird Area (IBA) recognized by Bird Life International with the bird area fully overlapping the park area. The bird inventory confirmed 266 species in the park, including eight species of global conservation concern. It is very rich in butterflies as well, about 550 species of butterflies are found here and a new specie new to science was discovered in 1993. It also contains a large amount of plants which includes 105 species of vascular plants consisting of 57 trees, 19 shrubs, 9 climbers, 17 herbs and 12 grasses are reported from the park.

     Forest Buffalo

          Civets

       Diana Monkey

       Duikers 

      Demidoff's Bush baby

The park has a long series of hanging bridges known as the Kakum Canopy Walkway at the forest canopy level to provide access to the forest, which is a unique feature in the entire African continent. At 40 m (130 ft) height, the visitor can approach the limits and view plants and animals from a vantage point that would otherwise be inaccessible to people. The canopy walkway passes over 7 bridges and runs over a length of 330 m (1,080 ft). Some of the tree canopies are more than 50 metres (160 ft) in height. Built with wire rope, aluminium ladders, wooden planks, it is secured by a series of netting for safety purposes. An additional viewing platform that will allow visitors to climb into the canopy without braving the canopy walkway is currently under construction. The Canopy Walkway was built by two Canadian engineers from Vancouver.

             Kakum Canopy Walkway

Kakum is Ghana's first protected area which has received major support for visitor facilities. The visitor centre opened on Earth Day 1997 and the park received the Global Tourism for Tomorrow Award the following year. There are eateries at the entrance as well as a safe areas for camping.... You don't want to forget your cameras at home during this trip because there are many motions to capture... Lol. It's safe n fun at the same time.. Ure going to Love it!

For more informations and enquirings on this trip; Please contact:

Email: tipventures1@gmail.com

Twitter: @TIPventures

Facebook/tipventures

+2347088786264

+2347059602386

Historical Sites Of Ghana.... So captivating!

As said earlier, TIP ventures presents a 7days cultural and historical tour to Ghana. This trip comes up in d second week of December 2013 and it promises to be an informative, educating and absolutely entertaining journey. You are going to visit some interesting sites, and I am going to be giving you an idea of what it looks like... As an old Naija adage says.. "Seeing is believing" Lol

One of the historic sites of Ghana that you are going to visit is Cape Coast Castle.

Cape Coast Castle

The Cape Coast Castle

This is one of the biggest of the trade and slave castles on the coastline of Ghana. It has one of the country's best-organized museums today. It is a historical museum.

Cape Coast Castle is one of a number of "slave castles", fortifications in Ghana built by Swedish traders, originally for trade in timber and gold, later used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.  They were used to hold slaves before they were loaded onto ships and traded in the Americas and the Caribbean. This “gate of no return” was the last stop before crossing the great Atlantic Ocean.

Cell where slaves were imprisoned

Inside the dungeon of Cape Coast Castle, where hundreds of slaves were held in cramped conditions before being transferred to boats bound for the western hemisphere.

Trade history 

The large quantity of gold dust found in Ghana was what primarily attracted Europe, and many natives of Cape Coast used this to their advantage. In exchange for gold, mahogany, their own people and other local items, the natives received clothing, blankets, spices, sugar, silk and many other items. The castle at Cape Coast was a market where these transactions took place. At the time slaves were a valuable commodity in the Caribbean and the Americas, and slaves became the principal item traded in Cape Coast. Due to this, many changes were made to Cape Coast Castle. One of the alterations was the addition of large underground dungeons that could hold as many as a thousand slaves awaiting export. Many European nations flocked to Cape Coast in order to get a foothold in the slave trade. Business was very competitive and this led to conflict. This is the reason why the castle at Cape Coast changed hands many times during the course of its commercial history.

 Cannons and balls used to secure the Slave house

Recommendations:

For those visiting Ghana there is nothing more powerful than visiting Cape Coast Castle and embarking

on a tour that brings to light the historical atrocities of the slave trade. As you tour the grounds and see

the beauty that surrounds it, understanding the human atrocities that went on in the dungeons below,the castle is emotionally difficult to understand. ~Borderless travels 

An aerial view of the Cape Coast Castle at the shore of the Atlantic .

Even President Barrack Obama fancies the Cape Coast Castle..... Lol

Have a great day :D

For Bookings for the trip... Pls contact tipventures1@gmail.com

Twitter: @TIPventures

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tipventures

You do not want to miss this!

TIP ventures presents a 7-days fascinating historical and cultural tour to Ghana by early December at a pocket friendly price. It is going to be an amazing tour you do not want to miss because we will take you to the best sites of Ghana while having fun all the way.

Keep it locked on this page for more informations. 
For further enquiries: please call +2347088786264, +2347059602386
Follow us on Twitter: @TIPventures
Add us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TIPventures
Email: tipventures1@gmail.com