An Exceptional Haven— Bobiri Forest and Butterfly Sanctuary, Ghana

The light and warmth which is received from the sun when you start entering Bobiri Forest and Butterfly Sanctuary is extraordinarily marvelous. The sun that falls on the thick trees gives it a special beauty. The forest canopy also creates a cool and conducive environment for visitors who walk on the carefully laid path. Expect to feel some sort of happiness, because the variety of butterflies were à gogo with charming colours which obviously, is visually attractive. The sanctuary is 54 square km of the semi-deciduous tropical rainforest and one of the nicest ecotourism centres found in Ghana and West Africa in general. As one of the patronised butterfly gardens in West Africa, Bobiri forest and butterfly sanctuary has well over four-hundred kinds of butterflies. These harmless butterflies are at their best during mid-day since they do not like moisture. Meanwhile, the various trees here are grown for research, educational, and ornamental purposes. Institutions, individuals and students once in a while throng to the Bobiri forest for various research.

Brief History

In 1936, the chief and people of Juaben (a major town of Asante, Ghana) who were majority owners of the lands of Bobiri realised the properties were being encroached by unscrupulous people in the name of farming. The chief immediately placed a ban on the landed properties to scare off these encroachers. And so during the second World War in 1944 Juabenhene, the chief of the town, capitalised on that and pulled down more than seventy four tree trunks of one type of the trees called the Mahogany in the forest. During the period from 1948 to 1960, the Forest Conservation Ghana also intervened by replanting young trees, shrubs and even vines to restore the treescape. This development awakened the pep of the government of the day to create an institute called the Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) in 1963 to conduct a thorough research under the authority of the Forest Commission of Ghana. In 1993, the Forest research institute built a guest house in the reserve to accommodate researchers.

Geographical Summary of Bobiri

Location - Ashanti region, Ghana

Established - 1931

Nearest city - Kubease, Ashanti region

Coordinates - 6.678°N 1.32°W

Area - 54.65 km2 (21.10 sq mi)

Latitude - 60 40 'and 60 44' north of the equator

Longitudes - 10 °15 'and 10 22' west of Greenwich.

Besides the butterflies, Bobiri Forest and Butterfly sanctuary is rich in biodiversity with flora of 80-100 species of plants per acre. The reserve was created in 1939 for a purpose but later turned out to be a tourism sight.

The Journey to the Butterfly Sanctuary?

Bobiri's road which is surfaced with asphalt and concrete and designed to accommodate many vehicles travelling in both directions, is off the main Accra-Kumasi road of Ghana. After three hours drive from the capital Accra, there is a directional sign post at a village, Kubease in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Your next point is to follow the directional sign and take a rough road from the village which is 3.5 km to the visitors centre of Bobiri. It's only 25 minutes away from Kubease. However, if a visitor is coming from Kumasi (the capital of Ashanti), Ejisu should be the lead destination and then continue through Kubease to Bobiri. The amusing part of the journey through to Kubease is the beautiful way at which variety of food stuffs, handicrafts and bush meats on sale are displayed on both edges of the road. To a shocking degree, one can stop over to buy some of these inexpensive food items to your destination. Looking at the freshness and value of these items, you might not believe the prices quoted on them.

Accommodation

Bobiri has a guesthouse that harbors visitors who have the intention of staying over for days. The rooms are uniquely painted with large artworks on the wall of each of the rooms. The beauty of the painting is arguably used to bait people to stay back even if not planned. They are very nice and catchy. Visitors also get to meet this creative local artist who is responsible for these wonderful mural.

Traditional and Recreational Games

What's next after hiking to the sanctuary to see the entertaining butterflies? Well, on getting there, several games are present to add up to the fun. Apart from the board game of Chess, traditional Ghanaian games like Oware and ludo are also common. These games are played by two people with others gathered around to give support to their respective players. It's lovely to see people gathered up the hill playing these games and at the same time enjoying the beats of drums from local drummers. From sources, these insects are very much carried away upon hearing of the beat of a drum. These charming butterflies get along with visitors and also join the fun by hovering around the game players under the sanctuary's oldest and the largest tree. The tree, according to gathered information, is over three-hundred years and takes more than twenty four people to join outstretched arms before encompassing the tree.

The Tour

Most people get spooked by the variety of large trees which also have weird designs of strange animals. On a lighter note, some scream upon seeing the butterflies for the first time but they get over them as they go on the journey through the sanctuary.

From the entrance of the visitors' centre, and with the guidance of a tour master, expect to spend an hour or more to tour the forest.

Suitable Time to Travel

From the month of March to June every year, visitors are always welcome to this deciduous forest and butterfly sanctuary. But in May, it is a month known to be very apparent and active for a visit. Regarded as the peak month, sightseers can pay a visit between the hours of 11am - 16:00 pm (GMT) to enjoy the warm as toast and sunny weather. During hiking times, which is from 6:00 am to 16:00 pm daily, journeyers are advised to put on stiff boots and rainy coats to avoid any distress during monsoon.

Lodging

The guest house of Bobiri forest and the butterfly sanctuary consists of four rooms, that is, of about two double beds each. The self-contained bath with two single units and a double bed each comes with clean sheets, towels and mosquito protection nets. Due to the multitude of people that come here, officials of the sanctuary always make it a point to satisfactorily clean up every department of the guest house for high patronage. Sometimes, it's so nice to see the colourful and brave butterflies comfortably lying on the walls of the house. On hearing the sound of the doors, they scatter by flying back to their base. In some instances, these courageous and beautiful butterflies come so close to visitors and with no hesitation, they quickly take a snapshot with the insects. It's simply wonderful to be awakened by vocalisations made by birds each morning.

Camping is opened to all who aspire to enjoy this delightful butterfly sanctuary. The pleasant information about Bobiri is that, the meals that are prepared by an onsite cook at the guest house are enjoyed with beverages of one's choice. Others also prefer to move out to fooderies or hotels nearby to have their bite before coming back to the sanctuary. These hotels are all stationed close to communities around Bobiri and Ejisu (a busy town) which is about 30km away.

About the Author

Osei Agyemang is a passionate and creative content writer / editor who is an expert in writing interesting and innovative contents. Osei is also an addicted travel enthusiast who likes to visit and tell the stories of interesting places around the world. He is an award winning National Artist who studied Psychology, Journalism and Global English Language at University of Strathclyde and the University of Glasgow respectively.

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