TOURISM AND NATURAL DISCOVERIES (SHOWBIZ, PAGE 12)

By Rose Hayford Darko

Natural Discoveries form a major component of tourism and has provided many countries with foreign exchange and local earnings contributing to the growth of their economies through the patronage of visitors
Many Ghanaians have enjoyed visiting tourism sites in other countries and have many times expressed the beauty and wonders of these natural fortunes . They have compared them to certain natural discoveries in the country and called on Government to provide same in Ghana to boost tourism in the country .
Ghana abounds in natural discoveries. I remember one ignorant comment passed by a visitor during the Ghana @ 50 celebrations when she said the only great tourism offering for visitors to Ghana was the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum. This cannot be true because Ghana has forest reserves ,hills, landscapes, waterfalls, beaches and parks among others.
My recent visit to Ho, in the the Volta Region, gave me a true picture about how natural discoveries are scattered all over the country and how we may be sitting on untapped fortunes.
One such experience l had was while I was on my way to Adidome from Ho and came across the “Adaklu To” as the mountainous range of the Adaklu mountains is called. One side of this range as viewed from Adidome through the Adaklu towns and villages in the Mafi areas caught me gaping. What steep, strange and wonderful arrangements of rocks! The rocks appeared to stand high up on one side while the other side sloped gradually downward.
There are many more of such exciting tourism offerings in the region including the Volta lake tributaries which have canoes at the banks ready to help visitors to have a feel of the canoe ride to the torgodo (beyond the river) bank villages
Another example is the falls at Wli in the Hohoe District where the highest waterfall in West Africa can be found. The 400-metre high Agumatsa Water Falls is an all-year round waterfall discovered in the year 1888 by a hunter whose name was given as Togui Adika.
The waterfall flows from the top of the Asoglo mountain through two seperate ranges, a lower and upper, which allow the water to virtually pour down the mountain slope in torrents. The name Agumatsa was translated to mean ‘open up and let me pass’, referring to the two ranges between which the water forces its way through .
The Asoglo mountain runs through four communities -Afegame , Agoviefe , Dzogbega and Wlitodzi - which form the Wli township. The path to the falls site was bushy and it took about 45 minutes to walk the 4 kilometre distance to the facility site. Before starting the journey, visitors had to pay entrance fees ranging between two and seven Ghana cedis depending on whether they were Ghanaian, adults or foreigners.
An attendant, Ms Regina Daketsey, told me that that revenue accruing from payments made by visitors was shared on percentage basis between the Hohoe District Assembly, the Wildllife Division of the Forestry Department and the four communities. She said the communities have engaged the services of some energetic young men as guides to ensure the safety of visitors at the waterfalls.
She commented on the behaviuor of some local visitors especially students who sometimes ignored all advice and went to the deep areas to swim at the risk of drowning. She called for a serious look at the falls to ensure clean environment and also called for a good reception facility to make visitors comfortable and secure.
Tourism has a lot to offer the nation and one cannot help echoing the concerns of Ms Daketsey and the other staff I met at the falls that a serious look at this facility will help Ghana’s tourism drive. Suggestions have however been made to the authorities to consider possible areas like privatising it to make it more viable.