The day had finally arrived. We had been trying to plan a trip with the Owusus to visit the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary for weeks. We were so excited that we would be able to see some kind of African wildlife as opposed to goats and chickens. Lucy managed to get a day off work and we cleared our schedules so everything was set. We had to leave Sunyani by 5:00 a.m. in order to arrive in the little village of Fiema by 8:30 a.m., because the monkeys come out of the bush early each morning, then leave and go back into the jungle and return in the late afternoon. We weren't sure exactly how to get there so we wanted to leave early.
The day before we were to leave, the electrician (I use the term loosely) who was working on some of the apartments in our complex, crossed two wires or something, and blew up a transformer box and started a fire. He and David managed to get the fire out but it blew the entire complex. No power. They all think that's OK for us since we do have a back-up generator, but they don't realize you can't leave the generator going 24/7. Of course, no African male can ever admit he messed up, so they tried to blame the explosion on the food plant down the road. The food plant still had power and there were no problems there, so we were all pretty sure what truly happened. Long story short--no power--and it was hotter than blazes! We figured maybe they could get it fixed while we were gone to see the monkeys, so we just sweltered through that night.
About 1 in the morning I woke up to a weird noise. I went into the bathroom and one of the shower faucets in our walk-in shower had burst at the seam and was spewing water all over. Typical Africa. I woke Gary and we went out and turned off the water main to the apartment. No water. We were lucky we had showered and gotten somewhat ready the night before, because we had to leave by 4:30 a.m. to pickup Owusus by 5. We didn't want to wake everyone up at that hour so we just figured we'd go anyway and worry about it when we got back. Typical Africa.
We awoke to a really dense fog over the whole valley. Yaki was on Gatekeeper duty and he can't hear, so we just let ourselves out the gate and inched our way toward the Owusu home. The fog was so thick you could barely see the front of the truck, but we made it. Owusus brought along their grandson Chris, who is 12 and had never seen a monkey, so our adventure began.
We headed north and then had to turn off the main road. It was then over dirt roads and through little villages. Sometimes it was 4 wheel drive trauma and the fog and rain made it quite the ordeal. Owusu would ask at every village (in Twi) if we were headed right and the people directed us from one little town to the next. We would have never found it if Gary and I had tried it alone. We finally arrived at about 8:15 at a makeshift visitors' center. I don't think they really get many visitors. There was a rustic little gazebo and it wasn't time to leave yet, so Lucy pulled out breakfast. The lady is amazing. We had rice porridge, which tastes a lot like Cream-O-Wheat and Lucy pulled mangoes off the trees for us to eat. While we were waiting, we met a group of students from the US who are doing graduate and PhD work and staying at the sanctuary for 3 to 6 months.
A few monkeys began wandering through the center and around the gazebo. The sanctuary has two different kinds of monkeys; the mona monkeys who are usually shy but here they were quite friendly, and the black and white colobus monkeys who are much more timid and stay pretty much in the trees. The monkeys in these two little villages are considered sacred. In fact, it is the death penalty for anyone hurting a monkey. Because they have been so protected they have florished here. We had expected to see only a handful--boy, were we surprised!
After I fed one of the mona monkeys a mango, we were assigned a funny little guide named Edmund and we started our journey into the jungle. It was a narrow trail, through thick foilage, and all of a sudden, Edmund stopped, and pointed up. There were dozens of the most beautiful colobus monkeys in the trees right above our heads. They have the longest feathery white tails and they live in families. We were fortunate to be able to see them this close as Edmund explained that this was one of the largest families and that they usually hang out further in the trees.
The jungle trail was amazing and we passed huge ficus trees, some over 150 years old. We finally arrived in the little village. It was as if time had passed it by. There was so sign of any modern conveniences at all--only mud huts and village people working and monkeys EVERYWHERE! These were the mona monkeys and they scurried about, in and out of the huts, and around us and up trees. It was incredible!
Edmund explained that whenever a monkey (colobus or mona) is about to die, it goes into the village and dies there. The village people regard the monkeys' death like that of humans. They make a little casket, and have a funeral service and bury the monkey in the cemetary with the townsfolk. They even have little headstones. Edmund took us to the cemetary. He told us another strange occurance that takes place in Fiemo. Sometimes, the colobus monkeys come closer to the town and they howl from midnight until 4 every morning for seven days. At the end of the seventh day they quit and a person in the village dies. He says it happens every time someone dies and when the monkeys begin to howl, all the villagers look around and wonder who's going to expire.
Gary bought me a carved wooden rhino and Lucy a wooden beaded necklace and earrings from the only craftsperson in the whole town. I love it and it will always bring memories of this incredible day. The monkeys began going back into the jungle, so we decided to head back. As we were leaving we met a group of students, on the trail--young adults--who were on a retreat to the sanctuary. They immediately began swarming around me asking to have their photo with the obruni. At first I smiled and motioned it was alright. Then it got out of hand. I was literally mobbed! Dozens of young people pushing, shoving, trying to get in the picture. Now I know what J-Lo goes through on a small scale. The only difference is I don't get the big bucks that go along with the celebrity status. I learned that President Thayne was being mobbed as well. We finally were able to break away and retreated back to our truck and the Owusus.
The town of Kintampo was just about 30 minutes further north and they have a beautiful waterfall so we decided as long as we were this far, we ought to visit the falls. The Kintampo Falls are a series of three waterfalls, deep in the center of Ghana. They are really lovely and the third one has 152 steps that lead steeply down to where the water deposits at the bottom. I considered not attempting the descent (due to bad knees and a questionable hip), but I figured we were only going to be here once, so we went for it. It was beautiful and worth the steps, both down and back up. We stopped and ate lunch at some little chop bar. Lucy had fish fufu--what an experience. We made it back to Sunyani in time for a baptism--two young girls, 10 and 13. The electrician had jerry-rigged the power cables, so we have temporary power and we taped the faucet (Africa-style) until it can be replaced next week. All is well in Africa and our trip to the monkey sanctuary will always be fondly remembered and cherished.
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