Kakum National Park

A week ago we drove up to Cape Coast for the weekend. Our last retreat before the return of our Area Presidency. We stayed at the Coconut Grove Hotel on the beach. It is beautiful there. We had been their last April and vowed we would return. We had dinner Friday night with President and Sr. Sabey, President of the Ghana Cape Coast Mission and their office couple Elder and Sister Miles. Then on Saturday morning we picked up the Miles and headed for Kakum National Park. It is a 135 square mile remnant of the vast rainforest that once stretched near the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of West Africa from Guinea through Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana. The tropical rain forest is so thick that the light barely breaks through the treetops. Although the park boast of 300 species of birds, unique monkeys and the highly endangered forest elephan, spotting animals in an uncommon joy. As our guide Doris would say, "You will see animals on the Savanna, but not in the Rainforest.

One of the major attraction of this park is the "canopy walk." Constructed in 1994 by Canadians for scientist to study butterfiles and birds, the walkway is a major attraction in Ghana...one of 4 canopy walks in the world. The walkway is suspended 110 feet above the forest floor. the suspension bridge is made of steel piping with a narrow plank of wood covering the top and netting of rope separating you from the abyss. There are 7 bridges connected by landings around tree trunks. For myself who has a fear of heights it was a leap of faith to take that first step - by the time I got on the 5th bridge, however, I was totally enjoying the experience. The bridge sways a bit and creaks underneath your feet, but the view is beautiful and after you get used to it you realize this has been a grand experience of a lifetime.

After the suspension bridge we took a nature tour with our guide Doris. While waiting for our group to gather we had a great conversation with her about "the family" and its eternal nature. We find that whereever we go people have questions for us. They have heard of the church and many want to know more and have a desire to attend our meetings.

The nature walk took us past trees whose bark was often used for medicine. Bark of one tree, when ground up into a politice and wrapped around a broken bone with plantain leaves, changed every 3 days, would heal the bone in 21 days. Berries from one tree were used for pain medication like asprin. One Vine was used to make sponges. It was all very interesting and we realized that the Africans know much more than we do about healing bodies with plants.