A truly WILD trip to Nzulezo

In hindsight, I should have KNOWN that something wasn’t quite right when the 3am departure time came and went with no sign of the vehicle to take us to Nzulezo. In the end due to poor planning on the trip organizer’s part, I went on the trip without my friends. Visiting Nzulezo - the only stilt village in Ghana - was one of the top things on my list after the Bradt Guide highly recommended going. I was amazed how awake the city was at 4am, with tro-tros and people starting their day. After a couple of hours, we ended up in Cape Coast and our guide took us past the castle and fort and through the boat yard and market place. It was still quite early in the morning and thus the market was very quiet however, the castle was beautiful and I can’t wait to go back to Cape Coast and visit.

Road to Beyin (near Nzulezo)

Once we passed Takoradi in the Western Region, the road rapidly got worse and the bumps and holes became bigger and more frequent. The last hour of the trip was on a dirt road (I’m being generous), that was more bumps than road. Again, all of us on board were realizing that our driver was not taking necessary precautions to ensure the safety of all of us on board. Driving too quickly, making minimal effort to avoid holes and laughing when he hit bumps, this driver was not being careful enough.
Once we arrived at the Ghana Wilderness Society building, the skies opened up and heavy rain began to fall. We were concerned that we would have come all this way to not be able to see the village. Luckily the rain let up once we finished a rather bland and cold lunch of beans and red red and we set off towards the canoes. 

Walking to the canoes

Me looking quite scared on the canoe to
the village of Nzulezo

Unlike the dugout canoes which the villagers use, our canoes were made out of wood planks. The village has an outboard motor which they attach to a canoe in case of emergency as it takes a full hour to paddle from the dock to the village. One website I found about Nzulezo says that they villagers are not allowed to use the motor but this simply isn’t true. We eventually reached the village after being rained on (again) in the canoes. In hindsight - I wish I had brought rain gear!

The loo

As you can imagine, the houses were quite small and clustered closely together. Most of them were plain wood (except for the pink house - my favorite), and simple houses of one room. I can’t imagine living there let alone having children and living there. The walkways often had holes or boards missing leaving gaps big enough for children to fall through or at least get their foot stuck. I would be terrified to let my children go out and play here! The most beautiful building in the whole village was the Pentecostal church in the rear of the village. For such a small village, they had two churches that we saw. The best part was the loo. Can you imagine having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and having to walk to this outhouse? One thing in particular that surprised us was that the villagers were proud to drink the ‘cleanest water’ which they drew from one side of the village while the waste water and all of their garbage was dropped into the water on the other side of the village. The chief was adamant that the water was cleaner than bottled water and that because the water was ‘swift moving’ their waste was carried far from the village. Somehow I doubt that this is the case. I’m sure that over generations people have developed immunity to whatever is in the water but I certainly wouldn’t feel comfortable drinking the same water that people use as a toilet and garbage dump. It really surprised me how much garbage there was in the water and on the walkways. Many walkways were littered with pieces of wood and other things while the water behind the village was littered with plastic and containers.

Garbage. This is the 'waste dump' side of the village
water for drinking is drawn from the other side of the village
maybe a few hundred feet apart

I enjoyed hearing the chief talk about how his people came to settle in Nzulezo which means, not surprisingly, living on water. The original inhabitants were originally from Mali and were chased from their land by Senegalese people. The originally walked to Wenchi in Brong-Ahafo region however they were told to keep moving south, eventually finding the area which is now Nzulezo. They chose this area as the water protected them from their enemies in addition to their deity who protects the village from invaders. Every year, the descendants of the people who sought refuge in Nzulezo perform a ritual sacrifice to appease the deity. It is unique how they are able to maintain their traditional beliefs while most also attend church every sunday. There was a few troubling things at Nzulezo that deserve mentioning. We were told that the village is not hooked up to electricity, however, there was music playing and people on cellphones in the village while we were there. It was frustrating that all of the children persistently asked for either money or a pen. We respected the wishes of our tour guide and did not take pictures of the locals without asking (a huge reason why most of the pictures don’t have people in them other than us), however they really hurried us along and seemed reluctant to let us take pictures. I did enjoy the trip, however I would have liked to know more about the daily lives of the people who live in the village.

View of the Ocean from
Apollonia Fort

After the visit to Nzulezo, we were taken to Fort Apollonia which was nearby. This restored fort is now a museum dedicated to the history of the tribe who live in the area - the Nzuma people. Basically the entire tribe belongs to one of seven clans all of whom play a vital role in local leadership in the area. The Fort was beautifully restored in the last couple years and I got some great pictures of the ocean in the background. I wish I had been more awake because the guide was really trying to inform us however we were all exhausted (we’d been awake for over 16 hours at this point). 

Photo from inside the fort. Front entrance
is the door in the background

The trip back to Accra was a bit hair-raising to say the least. Again, the driver ignored our requests to slow down and there was a few times I almost hit my head off the roof because he was speeding and hitting holes or speed bumps. Eventually after a really stern talking to at a bathroom break stop, he did slow down somewhat between Takoradi and Cape Coast. Between Cape Coast and Accra though, the speeding resumed. Driving here is very dangerous, especially at night where the roads are not lit the way they are in Canada. Speed only adds to the danger. I’ve never had as scary a car ride here in Ghana.

All in all, I did enjoy the trip. Had the trip been better organized and the driver been more responsible and the car actually comfortable, I think I would have come away with a better memory of the trip. The scenery was beautiful and I hope to return to the Western Region for a trip again.