March, from the 5th to 7th Independance day ‘s long week-end

On saturday morning, we drove to the Lake Bosomtwe for 4h30. We went through big and large roads , meeting people selling food  and to a long path until we arrived to the “green ranch”located in front of the lake.

You will be charged 10 GHC by person to enter the area to help improve the roads” but roads are terrible so I don’t think the money is used for that 😉

Lake Bosumtwi (or Bosomtwe meaning “God antilope) is the biggest natural fresh water lake in Ghana with 25 km2 !
It is a beautiful and quiet place (45 mn from Kumasi in tro-tros / 40 km South East of Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana.
The lake is surrounded with mountains (which give supernatural sigh), and small typical villages as Abono all around.
The circular crater was made by a meteorite impact !! (and it was a recent geological study which prooved it! Believe it or not l! )
It is deep since it is 70 meters in the middle of the lake. Water inside is warm ( it was for myself even too hot inside to refresh!), and most of all, you can swim in the lake since there is no bilharzia inside.

The lake basin has a unique flora and fauna biodiversity with a combination of a rainforest and a wetland eco-system, making it a perfect habitat for the multitude of resident birds likewise the migrating ones :

You can do many activities there such as canoeing, swimming,birding, fishing, riding horses all around (10 hours to do the circle), hiking around the lake or in the mountain, rowing a traditional boat, cruising on a motorboat, chilling on the tree-lounge, relaxing in the hammock reading a magazine, learning batik dyeing …
We chose horse riding for 2 hours.  It was great to go through villages, to meet people (who were pleased to see horses and sometimes touch them with some fears !) , and along the lake at the end of the day.

The lake history :

Lake Bosumtwi is help sacred by Ashanti traditionalists, sacred water body of the Botsumtwi since it is as round as the sun.
It is called like called “God antilope” because it was before a forest and an antipole was shot by a hunter and run into a puddle before dying. SO the hunter went away without it, and water started to surrounder the forest, and the antipole spirit is still there, according to prayers, and none should cut wood from the lake.
There is a taboo on the use of traditional pirogues on the lake, local fishermen get around by lying on customised tree trunks called padua, and using their hands as paddles.

THE GREEN RANCH : JUST A SERENITY PLACE

We went to sleep to the  The Green Ranch next to Abono village, located up the hill side from Lake Bosomtwe. One of its many advantages is that it overlooks the lake with a 180-degree view of the area (and there are no mosquitoes at all).

The view from its cliff restaurant is unique too : it is spectacular and makes everyone wonder about the origin of this very ancient lake…

Elodie, a french girl, started building her ” Green Ranch ” business in 2010 with a small eco-friendly equestrian leisure destination with her multi-cultural family (her husband is ghanaian and she has 2 nice little boy now) .
Moreover, Elodie takes care of the environment, so she wanted her place here to be water independent with their own well making a 40 meters dug under the ground, she did not want to take water from the lake to prevent from drying up the lake. Materials and local vegetables are used for thatched roof, stable in bamboo, bricks of raw lands.

There are 3 bedrooms (for 2 to 4 people) and also 2 single beds in a hut on piloti outdoor which is very nice ! (next time we ‘d like to sleep outside on it!)

She has 8 horses, and 2 very nice cats also 😉

Concerning food she is providing vegetarien or vegan food from exclusively of Ghanaian products and bio vegetable from gardens. Homemade fresh pineapple or watermelon juices and desserts (chocolate on bananas) are also perfect for gourmand! We are always offered her fresh water from the well ( which she could easily comercialized).

It is a very good food prepared. Really!
To my point of vue, if you come here, it is because you love nature and quiet places : so I really recommand you her place to be in agreement with the environment and you even so.

OUR EXPERIENCE IN LAKE BOTSUMWE :

During or 3 days stay in the green ranch, we met very nice people such as volunteers from Tamale, the director of the french Alliancy is Kumasi, and other expat from Accra.
We all ate together on her cliff terrace restaurant at night.
Great moments shared with Elodie too. SHe has travel from all over the world and has many stories to share !

We did horse riding along the lake at the end of the afternoon. A great moment shared with Elodie volunteer from Austria : Katryn who arrived 2 months ago in the ranch.

The day after we went by foot to “Cocoa Village”, 30 mn walk from “the Green Ranch” which is another place to stay and sleep in the area.

We met children on the road who told us “Obruni, Obruni !!! 1 cent please!!!” (Obruni is called for white people, but it is nice ) and we met also chicken, birds, sheeps, tiny dogs and goats…

Inside Cocoa Village (which is not a village) you can do activities such as Batik, swimmimg, and we decided to rest there and have lunch there too.

It is also a very nice place in front of the lake; if you have childrenthey can do there some activities proposed such as drawing or painting on t shirt, batik, paddle of the lake… and you will be able to eat european food if you prefer to have french fries for dinner !

On the path to go back, we walk all along the lake, seeing lamb, chicken next to the water and fishermen and childre swimming too.

The last day, we decided to to the circle with our car (which is not a 4X4).

We went through many typival villages, and we have seen beautiful points of view from the top of the mountains.
But we did not know before if would succeed without a 4X4…. because of our car to be climbed through small passages or damaged roads of sand/ earth(ground) and pebbles…

But at the end, after 2 hours tour, we found out the road to go back to Accra.

We stopped on the road to buy their local and typical plates and serving dishes made with terra cotta and other earthenware.

To conclude…. 🙂
We were enchanted with our 3 days journey in lake Botsumwe. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
If you do not come to the lake when visiting Ghana or living there, then you will miss one of the most mysterious and energising crater lakes on Earth…