Communing with the Monkey Gods

I last left off with Janna and I perhaps ill advisedly hiking up to our next accomadation in the Volta region called Mountain Paradise Lodge. We had read that it was 2 km but it ended up being 4 km. Now 4 km is not usually much of a hike for us but we weren't prepared for the walk. Instead of the nice hike to our lodge that we expected we found ourselves enveloped in dust rising from the frequently passing construction vehicles, baking under the sun with no shade in sight, without enough water on us on a road whose grade must surely surpass any suggested steepness requirements for a mountain road. Needless to say, upon finally arriving at the lodge we were delighted to see its beautiful setting, but were even more immediately glad to get some cold drinks. The lodge definately is well situated as it is nestled amongst a surrounding ringe of forested mountains. The mountains in Ghana are not particularly high but they are quite scenic nonetheless. After having been refreshed we decided to retrace our steps back down the road, this time with plenty of water, without a giant pack and most important, we were traveling downhill, gravity is a wonderful thing. We were off to see the protected nature reserve nearby, specifically to see some monkeys.

The monkeys in this area were until relatively recently considered to be sacred. The local peoples emigrated to this area of Ghana a few hundred years ago to escape slave raiding Ashanti warriors. Turtles were sacred to them, being animist conduits to the divine. The monkeys were conduits as well especially between the people and the sacred turtles. For this role the monkeys were protected up until the late 1970s and early 1980s when the strong influence of Christianity in Ghana led to the rejection of these beliefs. Some un the area, in defiance of the previously held taboo against causing harm to the monkeys instead actively hunted them. By the early 1990s this species was almost extirpated. It was only through government and donor efforts that a nature reserve established with the aim to promote ecotourism. This brought tourists to the area and therefore provided an economic incentive to once again protect the monkeys. After walking through the protected forest with our guide for approxiately 15 minutes we all of a sudden found the trees around us full of a troop of monkeys. As befits conduits to the gods we had an offering for them, as has been done for centuries. Not surprisingly, when your sacred conduit is a monkey, they like to be offered bananas. It is not normally wise to feed wuld animals in a protected park but this park is interestingly unique as it is part nature reserve but also part cultural reserve. There has been a symbiotic relationship between the local peoples and these monkeys for centuries, and by continuing it the local forest is preserved, a cultural tradition is remembered and the local community has an additional source of income.