Ghana's stilt village in a lake is the jewel most tourists miss
By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa
2014-02-06
Takoradi, Ghana (dpa) -
Located in the middle of Amansuri Lake, Nzulezu village is one of
western Ghana's main tourist attractions, offering visitors a magical
trip into Africa's breathtaking nature and history.
Only reachable by canoe, the stilt village was built some 600 years ago by refugees who had fled tribal wars in search of peace, a tour guide explains.
Aside from the shouts of around a dozen kids playing, the village is indeed peaceful, barring the music coming from two large speakers placed in the middle of a wooden walkway through the small village.
Its isolation and distance from main roads and the many construction sites in western Ghana is only one part of its unique nature.
With a population of around 500, Nzulezu is located roughly 90 kilometres west of Ghana's oil city of Takoradi. The trip by car however takes longer than one expects, due to the poor condition of roads leading there.
Unless accompanied by someone familiar with the way, the visitor is forced by the lack of road-signs to repeatedly stop and ask for directions.
The character of the trip completely changes when the lake begins. The serenity of the one-hour canoe ride through the middle of the forest serves to disconnect visitors from the rest of the world.
According to a tour guide, refugees from Mali moved from one place to another in Ghana without finding a comfortable place to settle in, until their "snail god and protector" led them to a spot in the lake.
The whole village is built on stilts. When they arrive, visitors walk by a main walkway where there are around two dozen small huts on both sides.
At the end of the walkway lies the village's primary school, with the map of Ghana drawn on one of its sides and the sentence "Reading Leads to Intelligence" on the door. The motto of the school, constructed of bamboo, is written on a yellow board on another side of the building: "Pursue the ultimate always."
In Nzema, one of the local languages in south-western Ghana, Nzulezu means "surface of water."
Thursday is the sacred day of the lake, the one day where no one works or visits Nzulezo, which had just 2,834 tourists come through in 2011. Most of them were Ghanaians, with international visitors only totaling 371, according to government statistics.
Residents believe the lake protects them and prevents natural disasters such as flood or fire.
For some, the journey to get to Nzulezu is more memorable then the village itself, where life is apparently difficult for the residents, who are not always welcoming of visitors walking around their small village. Many of them refuse to be photographed.
On a Sunday afternoon, children were playing and women sitting on the floor chatting, washing clothes or cooking. The children stopped their game when they saw tourists, and started jumping while asking for "money, money, money."
Some men were working on building a restaurant, which is aimed at providing better services to tourists visiting the village. A man making miniature wood canoes calls on visitors to buy some of his work, with more than 20 pieces piled next to him.
"It is very difficult for residents (to earn a living). Some of them are fishermen and others are farmers," said the tour guide.
Other people work cutting wood from the surrounding forest, transporting it by canoe to the nearby cities to sell.
However, they are not totally disconnected from the outside world. The residents always vote. In Ghana's 2012 general elections, candidates came to the village to campaign and a polling station was set up inside Nzulezu to collect their ballots.
However, the village needs a lot of development, said Peter Yankey, a 29-year-old whose family originally lived in the village.
"Nzulezu suffers from numerous health problems, including the vast spread of malaria and many other illnesses," said Yankey, who now works in sales and lives in Takoradi.
"I think a village with a history like Nzulezu must be transformed into a city. There is now oil coming from the area, but there is no development going on there," he added.
Ghana's economy grew by 8 per cent in 2012, and with favorable prospects for oil and gas, the growth is expected to continue, according to the International Monetary Fund. But remote villages tend to be the last places to benefit.
There is no health facility in Nzulezu. Sick and pregnant residents have to take the canoe to Beyin, the nearest town with a road, before taking further transportation to the closest clinic.
Electricity was not extended to Nzulezu until the second half of 2012, after more tourists began heading to the stilt village.
The village was nominated in 2000 as a UNESCO world heritage site, but is still on UNESCO's tentative list.
Far from the hustle and bustle of daily life in the capital Accra, the quiet atmosphere of Nzulezu could be seen as a blessing.
However, change has already arrived, as seen by the chants for money from the village children. The adults wish the new arrivals will at least act as an incentive for better public services on the lake.
Only reachable by canoe, the stilt village was built some 600 years ago by refugees who had fled tribal wars in search of peace, a tour guide explains.
Aside from the shouts of around a dozen kids playing, the village is indeed peaceful, barring the music coming from two large speakers placed in the middle of a wooden walkway through the small village.
Its isolation and distance from main roads and the many construction sites in western Ghana is only one part of its unique nature.
With a population of around 500, Nzulezu is located roughly 90 kilometres west of Ghana's oil city of Takoradi. The trip by car however takes longer than one expects, due to the poor condition of roads leading there.
Unless accompanied by someone familiar with the way, the visitor is forced by the lack of road-signs to repeatedly stop and ask for directions.
The character of the trip completely changes when the lake begins. The serenity of the one-hour canoe ride through the middle of the forest serves to disconnect visitors from the rest of the world.
According to a tour guide, refugees from Mali moved from one place to another in Ghana without finding a comfortable place to settle in, until their "snail god and protector" led them to a spot in the lake.
The whole village is built on stilts. When they arrive, visitors walk by a main walkway where there are around two dozen small huts on both sides.
At the end of the walkway lies the village's primary school, with the map of Ghana drawn on one of its sides and the sentence "Reading Leads to Intelligence" on the door. The motto of the school, constructed of bamboo, is written on a yellow board on another side of the building: "Pursue the ultimate always."
In Nzema, one of the local languages in south-western Ghana, Nzulezu means "surface of water."
Thursday is the sacred day of the lake, the one day where no one works or visits Nzulezo, which had just 2,834 tourists come through in 2011. Most of them were Ghanaians, with international visitors only totaling 371, according to government statistics.
Residents believe the lake protects them and prevents natural disasters such as flood or fire.
For some, the journey to get to Nzulezu is more memorable then the village itself, where life is apparently difficult for the residents, who are not always welcoming of visitors walking around their small village. Many of them refuse to be photographed.
On a Sunday afternoon, children were playing and women sitting on the floor chatting, washing clothes or cooking. The children stopped their game when they saw tourists, and started jumping while asking for "money, money, money."
Some men were working on building a restaurant, which is aimed at providing better services to tourists visiting the village. A man making miniature wood canoes calls on visitors to buy some of his work, with more than 20 pieces piled next to him.
"It is very difficult for residents (to earn a living). Some of them are fishermen and others are farmers," said the tour guide.
Other people work cutting wood from the surrounding forest, transporting it by canoe to the nearby cities to sell.
However, they are not totally disconnected from the outside world. The residents always vote. In Ghana's 2012 general elections, candidates came to the village to campaign and a polling station was set up inside Nzulezu to collect their ballots.
However, the village needs a lot of development, said Peter Yankey, a 29-year-old whose family originally lived in the village.
"Nzulezu suffers from numerous health problems, including the vast spread of malaria and many other illnesses," said Yankey, who now works in sales and lives in Takoradi.
"I think a village with a history like Nzulezu must be transformed into a city. There is now oil coming from the area, but there is no development going on there," he added.
Ghana's economy grew by 8 per cent in 2012, and with favorable prospects for oil and gas, the growth is expected to continue, according to the International Monetary Fund. But remote villages tend to be the last places to benefit.
There is no health facility in Nzulezu. Sick and pregnant residents have to take the canoe to Beyin, the nearest town with a road, before taking further transportation to the closest clinic.
Electricity was not extended to Nzulezu until the second half of 2012, after more tourists began heading to the stilt village.
The village was nominated in 2000 as a UNESCO world heritage site, but is still on UNESCO's tentative list.
Far from the hustle and bustle of daily life in the capital Accra, the quiet atmosphere of Nzulezu could be seen as a blessing.
However, change has already arrived, as seen by the chants for money from the village children. The adults wish the new arrivals will at least act as an incentive for better public services on the lake.
