Shai Hills Resource Reserve
About Shai Hills
Shai Hills Resource Reserve is about an hour north of Accra bordering the Akosombo road. This makes this location one of the closest wildlife viewing areas to Accra and one of the most easily accessible in Ghana.
The reserve is a fenced area, about 48km2 and made up largely of savanna covered plains, A mosaic of forest covers the 5 separate hills in the reserve, while grassland and low dry forests are found in intervening canyons. To date 31 mammals, 13 reptiles and 175 bird species have been identified in the reserve.
The baboon troop at the front gate can be very amusing, but be warned these are wild animals and they love to snatch your unattended personal belongings!
The best time for wildlife viewing is early in the morning. Besides the aforementioned baboons and birds, a morning visit may include sightings of Kob antelope, bushbuck or monkeys, although the monkeys here are not habituated like at Tafi Atome or Boabeng-Fiema.
You can travel the park in a 4X4 vehicle or on foot with an armed escort from the hours of 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Nearby accommodations are available that are comfortable and convenient for an early morning arrival to the reserve.
In addition to the natural beauty and game viewing potential of the reserve, one could also enjoy the pleasure of visiting Obonu tem and Se yo caves on the Hioweyo and Sayu hills.
The Shai people's ancestral caves, these were used by the Shai king until the end of the 19th century. The primary cave was defendable in times of war due to the abundance of great stone rocks, a tunnel-like openings, and overhangs.
A memorable day can be spent walking through the cool dry evergreen forest to the caves to see relics of old Shai settlements in the reserve. The loud bat colony that resides at the cave is an amazing site as well.
Nearby is the village of Dodowa, where a refreshing forest hike to a fetish shrine and the 250 ft. Tsenku waterfalls is possible. The Dodowa Forest is where the Ashanti warriors were defeated by the British on the 7th of August 1826, marking the end of Ashanti domination of the then Gold Coast, now Ghana.
The Dipo fertility festival is normally performed between March and May and it is an added attraction for visitors to Shai Hills.
About 100 U.S. Soldiers were welcomed to Shai Hills and the Dodowa Forest in July of 2011. The Ghana Armed Forces sponsored this cultural day for U.S. service members who worked with their GAF counterparts in the joint humanitarian assistance exercise known as MEDFLAG 11.
The chief of the Shai people, Nene Teye Kwesi Agyeman, along with tribal elders and traditional healers, greeted the U.S. Soldiers at the historic Dodowa Forest.