It has been a stressful week. Lots to do, stress in relationships, and my laptop gave up charging on Sunday. So today I got back my trusty laptop after undergoing some surgery to replace the charging port. I am very behind in posting and curating. I was able to catch up to two days behind on curating today but this will be my first post in about 4 days.
What better ways to escape these stresses of modern day life then to escape into nature. To that effect I have a little slice of beautiful nature cut out today to share with you and I hope we can absorb some of the relaxing factors of nature through our screens together.
Bonsu Arboretum is in the Eastern Region of Ghana about 2 hours from Accra. It is on the edge of the Atewa forest range that feeds the watershed for Accra. And recently large tracks have been given to Chinese Bauxite mining firms, which puts the whole area in danger of being lost to the lust for resources and short term wealth.
This is a public center that provides people another way to get in touch with nature in an educative and fun way. There are about 4 or 5 canopy walk ways in Ghana and one of them is here. It is within 15 minutes drive off the main road of one of the busiest bus and truck stops in the country where everyone gets a break on the journey to Kumasi, Ghana's second city. But I would say only 10 percent of the people making this stop even know that this oasis exists.
Unless you have your eyes peeled for some dusty signs and the row of palm trees at the dirt road entrance it could also be easy to miss as the every thing gets greener and greener as you take this side road. The day we visited it was very quiet and probably remains so except for the rare school visits or dedicated tours. But as many of the natural sites in Ghana we had it basically to ourselves. I made this visit in 2015 when my father last came to visit me in Ghana. He is always a lover of nature and has passed that down to me.
As part of the experience we got a guide that did a lot of interpretation for us. He gave us an introduction to the grounds, the importance of spots like this for conservation, research and introduction of nature to people. He went over the identification of a number of plants and trees on the grounds first. Their medical and common uses and the foods and spices they provide.
I believe he was in a post grad program and did an excellent job. I am sure it cant be easy living here on a day to day basis at his age.
The pod he is holding is called prekese and a popular spice used in a lot of Ghanaian food, and comes from one of the big trees pictured above.
Our journey on the ground took us to the feet of many giants and sentient beings.
Above he is showing us a type of fungus that turns ants basically into zombies and changes their behavior to the point of where they grip onto the bottom of a leaf or stem here and hold fast until they meet death and this Alien type fungus grows strait out of their thorax releasing spores to catch its next victim. How about that for an Alien encounter 
After exploring the forest floor we made our way up into the treetops and started crossing bridges that would remind you of an Ewalk village. We were now in the canopy of the forest and able to observe things form a new perspective.
The trees and scenery are brilliant but the experience of the rope bridge added to the thrill. It is not for people that are afraid of heights or a swaying rope bridge though. It is not every day you get to walk among giants in a tropical rain forest.
It is only when you get to the ground again you realize the true scale of the forest, walkway and the trees.
Shot with Canon Digital Eos Rebel 2015