Gems of The Lands 镇乡之宝 EP13 - Mole National Park, Ghana / Safari (Finale)

Gems of The Lands 镇乡之宝 EP13 - Mole National Park, Ghana / Safari (Finale)

Show Video

This is a vast stage in the wild Each day in this dense expanse of forest, species throbbing with life display their most primitive natures, and life's grandeur as well as its insignificance Safari to me, for now it is my livelihood For me, it is the first home It assists the park with financing They pay something to the park, which helps run the park It has helped highlight the name of the community... to the government and NGOs It gives us a lot of joy So that is what we pride ourselves on, what keeps us moving There is no way one day I will get up and say I'm going to resign, because I have the chance to work with... different kinds of people from the whole world Ghana is in West Africa It has a typical tropical climate Its flag is composed of three equal horizontal stripes of red, yellow and green The red symbolises the blood of those who died for the country's independence The yellow represents the country's abundant mineral resources And the green symbolizes its vast areas of forest Ghana has almost 8 million hectares of forest land...

that account for approximately 35% of Ghana's land 690 kilometres from the capital Accra, in the north of the country, is the Mole National Park, Ghana's largest wildlife refuge Covering an area of 4,577 square kilometres... and at an altitude of 150 metres, the Mole National Park is home to thousands of wild animals Here, there are over 90 species of mammals, 33 species of reptiles, nine species of amphibians... and over 300 species of birds The park has become a well-known tourist attraction I took a plane from Ghana's capital Accra to its third largest city, Tamale And the view from the window changed at once There is a lot more flat, green land The Mole National Park is around 200 kilometres from the airport I'm filled with anticipation on this three-hour ride I can't wait to see what this gem of Ghana, this popular safari destination, is like In 1958, the lands of Mole National Park became a wildlife refuge And in 1971, the refuge became a national park The average annual rainfall here exceeds 1,000 millilitres The rivers in the park store up water, and the flora and fauna of the park rely on them to grow and reproduce How big is the Mole National Park? It covers an area six times the size of Singapore Imagine - this huge area is virgin forest And it exists just for wildlife Coming from a small country, the forest makes me feel... that this place is so enviably vast Hi -Hi -Nice to meet you -Nice meeting you too I'm very excited, because this is my first time going on safari What is special or unique about the Mole National Park? Firstly, the Mole National Park is the largest tourist attraction here in Ghana This is the only place in Ghana, or the whole world, where tourists can go so close to elephants...

without any interference, without any fears In the Mole National Park, visitors can choose to travel in a jeep or a canoe, or even to walk... to seek out different wildlife Is there anything I should be aware of, that I should be careful about? We should keep in mind that these are wild animals... and they can be dangerous When they are hungry, and you are going so close, and they do not get any benefit from you like food, they can also attack Which area are we going to today? The most important loop I deem necessary is the Yebon loop Because of the flooded area of water, most of the animals are moving upland So around that area, we can catch sight of animals The best period for going on safari here is between November and March As it is the dry season, the animals often appear at watering holes to drink The withered forests also give tourists more opportunities to spot animals The rainy season between April and October... tests the eyesight and patience Even though we have a downpour, it has poured for good weather for us to get good photos Are you bringing this along? Yeah, this is our defender Okay Because these are wild animals in their natural habitat So this is to protect all of us -You're going to protect me? -In case there is an attack -Let's go -Okay, let's go to the jeep For safety, every safari trip...

requires the presence of a professional guide throughout This is quite high up Daniel is an experienced tour guide and park ranger He has served at the Mole National Park for 13 years How do we find the whereabouts of the animals? Animals can be spotted anywhere But this time, the vegetation is providing a lot of cover I'm trying to see if something moves Yeah. Sometimes a movement attracts the eye When the animal stands still for a time, even with their colour, you may not know But when it moves, quickly the eye will be able to sight it Are these monkeys or baboons? Oh, they are baboons That is a male, the alpha male in the group The alpha male is so cool I'd thought going on safari would be riding in a jeep, and racing animals across a wide plain But this trip doesn't feel like the kind that gets the adrenalin flowing We sat calmly and safely on the roof of the vehicle, and watched quietly for any movement around us It lacked thrills, but I enjoyed this static kind of safari Oh, there! An elephant This is the habitat of around 600 elephants Many tourists come all the way just to see them On this land, there are African forest elephants, and African savanna elephants They are both treasured species that are almost extinct The one to the right is called Charlie That's Charlie This other one in the middle, with the broken tusk, is called Action Action. Okay Less than 10 minutes after entering the park, we've spotted three elephants And the ranger has named them Clearly he's very familiar with the animals here All the three elephants before Danny are male According to Daniel, male elephants are less fearful of strangers Female elephants are more wary and prefer to travel in herds This is the first time I've been on safari I thought I'd see large herds of animals, and I was wondering how close we'd get to them But I found that here in Ghana, West Africa, our safety is a priority For instance, when an elephant moves towards us, the guide will suggest we move backwards to give it space Do you find your job challenging? Because every day is different Every day is different because you begin to see... the different behaviours of the animals But sometimes there are a lot of risks...

because wild animals have not undergone training Have you ever faced danger here in the national park? I had an elephant attack with my tourists But thank god I was able to take control of the situation One other key thing we normally tell our visitors is that, when you are watching the elephant, don't make any noise If you clap your hands all of a sudden, you scare them, they will chase us They will be startled -Yeah What our guide Daniel said made me realize... that this land doesn't actually belong to us This wilderness... was originally the home of the wild animals, their playground We are the interlopers here Daniel carries a rifle But I also wonder - should we be the ones protected, or should we protect the animals? Animals will often appear, or watch us quietly from among the trees So who is watching whom? These are some of the thoughts that occur to me when I'm in this environment Why do you choose to be a safari guide? That's a very good question But I will say in the first place, sometimes it boils down to passion During my school days, I loved animals in general Even back at home, I used to take care of my father's animals, the goats and sheep So after school, I decided to apply Daniel has nurtured a love for animals since he was little Since joining the safari tourism industry, he has had a stable income, and come to understand the value of life and its meaning This gem of Ghana has even become a place he wants to spend his life protecting People from all the countries in the world are coming for safari tours So as a tour guide, you also learn certain things from them, you learn their culture I'll tell you that I've learned a lot of things from you Really? -Yeah Tell me - what did you learn? In the first place, the way you humble yourself You don't ask questions that are provocative When we're sharing ideas, you help me learn about certain things in Singapore When I saw wild animals this big in the wilderness for the first time, I was humbled by a sense of awe I suddenly felt so insignificant, while the elephant was such a wondrous creature I wasn't worrying about whether it would attack me, but about whether we had enough resources, whether humankind had the intelligence to keep it in existence, to keep it alive I completely understand why the rangers here... are so keen to look after and protect these endangered elephants Located in northwestern Ghana, the Mole National Park is the country's largest wildlife refuge Because of that, safari tourism has also become a gem of Ghana On this gem field of almost 5,000 square kilometres, the mild-tempered elephant has become one of its main treasures This park is also home to over 500 species of animals and 700 species of plants As it allows tourists to set their spirits free in the forest land, the Mole National Park also provides accommodation close to nature It hopes to show more people the primal appeal of this gem of Ghana Once I got here, perhaps because of the buildings or this environment, and particularly because of this name, "Mole Motel", I felt like I'd entered a 1960s, '70s US road movie This should be a very affordable hotel for the masses, and a hostel suitable for backpackers The construction of this motel began in 1958, and was formally completed in 1962 Hi Gordon. Nice to meet you Can you show me around? Welcome to Mole Motel To cater to different groups of tourists, several room types are available These include dormitory rooms, standard rooms...

and chalets There are 34 rooms in all I'm going to show you the chalet That's our executive room The rate for a chalet is 750 Ghanaian cedis (S$115) a night It may be five times the rate for a dormitory room, but it is the top choice for tourists seeking peace and quiet This is the balcony You come out and you are able to sit here... and still have a view of the park Is that a watering hole? Yes. It's not natural It was created It was created? It was created for the sake of the elephants, and for the other animals to swim, to drink The man-made watering hole... provides the wildlife with an important water source Especially during the dry season, the guests staying here have the chance to see... herds of animals drinking or even wading there The accommodation here depends so much on the environment But is the environment also a challenge for you guys? Well, somehow it is Like we just painted the walls not long ago, but the baboons jump on it, climb it It becomes dirty So the motel is not just for humans to stay in We have to adapt and also allow animals to coexist with us You know, naturally this is their home That is why, even when you enter the park, they tell you, you don't kill animals, you kill your speed Gordon says the baboons can pull off the wires outside the rooms The elephants can pierce a water tank this big I was taken aback to hear that But they definitely don't do that out of savagery It's their nature, something very natural Since the motel depends on the environment and animals for its business, then besides providing accommodation for humans, it must learn to coexist with the natural world This is our restaurant area You have the dining area And you can also see the swimming pool over there Though it's a bit old, it's well maintained, for your relaxation and enjoyment I can imagine sitting at the table, looking at the pool, and seeing the forest out there Yeah, not just the forest Sometimes you have the elephants coming all over here Oh -Yes They come up here, try to drink from the pool Elephants came to try to drink from the pool? Really? Wow It's a marvel This feels like a window When you look out...

We often say the sky and the water are one colour, but here it's the sky and the trees joined together It's a vast expanse but you feel you could reach out and touch it It's so far, yet so close A travel experience wouldn't be complete without good food The motel's kitchen may be off-limits to the public, but Danny gets a special peek thanks to the woman in charge -Is this your usual workstation? -Yes What are some of the popular foods? Oh, the popular food Fried rice, jollof rice Francisca is the head cook She has worked in the Mole National Park for 15 years She says sourcing food ingredients is the restaurant's main challenge The most common one is chicken We get it from Damongo But for the fish and potato chips, we have to go to Tamale or Kumasi How far is it? From here to Kumasi is about four hours or more than that But Tamale is two hours -Two to four hours to get the food? -Yes I've stayed at this motel for a few days, and at first I'd kept complaining about the long wait for food, and you have to order your meal in advance After chatting briefly with Francisca, I realized... how tough sourcing the ingredients was It takes so long for the meat to arrive from so far away What are your favourite dishes? My favourite dish is tezet Desserts? -Tezet Oh, tezet. What is tezet? Tezet is a local food prepared with corn, cornflour In Ghana, there are many staple carbohydrates that locals love, such as kpekple, kenkey, banku They are all made with corn or cornflour Tezet is no exception Now the water is boiling So we have to pour it in Oh, just pour it in -Yeah And stir? -And stir It's like porridge -Yes Tezet is easy and quick to make As more cornflour is added, it is stirred thoroughly, and the tezet is ready I can smell the cornstarch It's a bit like a porridge. It's very thick and gluey When it's cool, it becomes... Oh So we should wait for it to cool down Generally, tezet is eaten with soup Today, Francisca has recommended a Larabanga speciality, a soup made with tomatoes, green chillies and onions It also contains an unusual ingredient called "dawadawa" It is the fermented seeds of the African locust bean Now let's cut it this way Just with the fingers? -Yes Ah, it's like a rice cake And then what do you do? You dip it Like this, do the same thing So that we can swallow it together You're a very good teacher But you're a very fierce teacher Take it to your mouth Okay, take it to my mouth. The whole thing? How do you find it? It's very tasty The cornflour absorbs all of the sauce And when I bite into it, I can feel the small little...

wadawada? Dawadawa The texture is very interesting It feels like... a rice cake, as it's sticky and dense This sauce is very interesting Its main ingredient is a fruit from a tree But it tastes a bit like Thai fish sauce I regret picking Western meals all the time... and not having more local African cooking But honestly, the taste takes getting used to But after she showed me the food today, I see that many of the ingredients come from the nature around the motel I can see you're like a mother to all of your staff You treat them very well You are the elder there You bring everybody together You train them, you talk to them You've been here for so long, they're like family to you too Yes, they're like family to me So everybody calls me Ma, Ma I've learned a lot on the job There are certain things we don't know They bring professionals from outside to come and teach us Without those people, I wouldn't have got where I am today The safari tourism here has provided many locals with jobs... and opportunities for advancement And they have strived to improve in their respective positions, hoping that together, they can bring this gem of Ghana to new heights This must be the selling point of Mole Motel Everybody must come here and take a photo Everybody takes a shot from here And I remember I had an interaction with a tourist here... who said the view looks like heaven What's your future plan for the motel here? We want to add more rooms, especially the chalets There are only five of them And then we want to expand the pool area Tourism would really help the development right here, so you hope to have more people coming in Yes Maybe in a few years, we will have a complete overhaul Good luck I hope all your plans and all your wishes will come true On the fringes of this wildlife refuge are a few villages too How do the villagers influence the development of safari tourism here? Mention safari tourism, and most people imagine admiring animals in a majestic landscape, and enjoying nature in a luxury hotel Experiences like that carry a hefty price tag For many people, they may be an unrealistic dream Yet, in Ghana in West Africa, the Mole National Park offers a safari experience that the masses can afford As Ghana's largest wildlife refuge, the Mole National Park has consistently strived... to spur development while protecting wildlife There are 33 villages on its fringes, and the park hopes to make a contribution...

to their social and economic development All along, the safari tourism here has worked towards sustained development, hoping to bring together more people and the villagers here I'm on my way to a village named Mognori... to see how the locals make a living from safari tourism, and also to learn about the local culture and way of life Situated around 15 kilometres from the Mole National Park, Mognori is an eco-village Working with the villagers, the national park gets them involved in the protection of the area, while the villagers can increase their sources of income through tourism It has a mutually beneficial effect How many people do you have in this village? We have 400 people 400? That's a lot And what do you do around here in the day? We do farming and we also work in tourism as well Is this a traditional house? -Yes Over here, it is the men who build them The men? They will build the houses and roofs Then the women will do the plastering and the flooring Yeah, I notice there are vertical lines here In the past, we used them as calendars... to indicate events or activities that has happened within the family So you can actually see the days and months on this After stepping into this village and seeing the houses, and learning about the environment and conditions here, I was suddenly reminded of the African villages I'd seen in children's books They were more or less like this The raw materials for building houses... are earth dug up from the ground, wood that can be found in the village, and reeds that can be gathered from the river I can only describe this village as primitive, but I also get a strong sense... of how they obtain what they need from the earth and live on it In Mognori, we can see two kinds of roofs According to their preferences, some villagers build gable roofs, while others choose flat roofs where crops can be sunned On hot nights, they can even sleep there This is the room for women And you can see these pots When you put water in, they make the water cool Almost no electrical appliances are used here, and they have cleverly made these vessels containers for keeping things cool Interesting... The pottery itself will keep it cool Tourists visiting the Mole National Park can choose to stay here, try the food of the locals and experience the most authentic customs And this is my room But I harvested groundnuts and I keep them there These are all the peanuts Yeah, I have to pack them in sacks, then store them in the storeroom Where do you sleep now? Now I sleep at the other side of the house Oh, this is dry For a living, Mahama has to do several jobs Besides being a tourist guide, he is also a teacher, and a farmer as well Shea butter is a fat extracted from the nut of the shea tree unique to Africa The agricultural product is also a source of income for Mahama's family -So this is all the crushed ones? -Yeah Now you roast it As she's roasting it, you can smell the fragrance already It smells a bit like chestnuts It's clearly a nutty smell Can I try stirring it? So you just turn it around...

and spread it? The colour of this will change to chocolate A chocolate colour? A bit darker, then -Yeah The process of making shea butter involves many steps Before they are roasted, the shea nuts must be shelled, sun-dried, sorted and more After roasting, they must be ground up and kneaded several times It's like I'm squeezing mud or soil After grabbing it, I can feel my arm muscles tensing up I do pottery, so I'm familiar with the feel of this It's a bit like mud But because it's been kneaded, it's softer than mud See, it slowly gets softer Hello Mahama's mother is in charge of the shea butter-making in the family She has been doing this work for 40 years This agricultural product was an important income source... as she raised Mahama and the family Wow... It's like whipped cream You should do it the way she's doing it So you watch I like the sound that you're making Sounds like real work is being done I'm just playing Ah, okay, okay. I'm getting it now Do you have an idea how shea butter contributes to the income of the village? Before you produce the shea butter, the shea nuts can be sold in sacks You can sell them to support your child's education, buy foodstuffs You can also produce the shea butter As we were making the shea butter, I saw clearly... that this was the gem of their village But they have yet to discover the true worth of this gem The process is still manual That takes so much time and labour Shea butter has many benefits It can be used to moisturize skin, reduce inflammation, care for hair and so on Mahama's family sells one container of shea butter for 10 cedis (S$1.50)

How much shea butter can you sell in a month? In the peak season like June, July, we can get 200 to 300 containers a week So it's important that more tourists know about your shea butter And if they buy it, it will help the village It will definitely help I suggested to Mahama... that they set up a factory here, bring in machinery It would create jobs and solve the urgent problem of their living expenses But I am concerned that it may change their cultural traditions Mahama says that they do want very much to increase their output of shea butter If they could, then perhaps at this stage, culture must yield temporarily to financial needs To attract more tourists, Mognori includes local dances among the tour activities... to liven up and enrich tourists' experience When I watched their dance show, I was slightly opposed to it I was thinking, please don't let this be... entertainment designed specially for tourists That would make me very uncomfortable Later I realized this really was a traditional dance At funerals, weddings and even when a baby is born, they'll dance like this But we mustn't sniff at this dance I had to watch it for a while before I could imitate it We're used to moving our left and right limbs alternately, but they may move the arm and leg at the same time And different cultures have different rhythms and tempos How important is dance to the village culture? It's very unique because... apart from dancing for honeymoons, for funerals and festivals, government officials also take our dancers... to other communities and regions...

to perform and take money, and it helps to highlight the community Since 2003, this eco-village has benefitted from offering travel experiences A part of the profits has been used for building community homes... and improving roads and other amenities It has made the villagers' lives better But living in harmony with nature is also a challenge the villagers face Wildlife causes damage to crops To make up for that, the national park developed a river safari for them, creating another source of income This is very nice, going through... almost like mangroves What do you hope to achieve in five years' time? In five years' time, I wish to develop my place more You can see that when you came, we didn't have a reception facility -There's no proper entrance -Yeah And also have other media institutions covering our activities Bringing in more technology... will help you in tourism as well as the production of shea butter, but will that change the village culture? What do you think? I don't think it will change our culture because... with this shea butter thing, both locally and commercially, we need technology to do more with the tourist aspect If the safari taught me to respect nature and wildlife, then Mognori taught me to respect traditional village culture The word "mognori" happens to mean "riverbank" And Mahama told me that there is a song here about rivers I love the meaning and poetic quality of this song It reminds us to respect any unfamiliar culture and its people We must never assume arrogantly... that their values should be the same as our perspective The involvement of the villagers...

has added many selling points to local safari tourism At the same time, how should the national park... reduce the damage outsiders bring to this gem? According to statistics from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, 4 million hectares of land are deforested every year in Africa That is almost twice the global deforestation rate Ghana in West Africa has approximately 2.6 million hectares of forest reserves Long-term efforts have kept many endangered species of plants and animals safe As Ghana's largest wildlife refuge, while promoting safari tourism, the Mole National Park has also... been committed to tackling poaching and illegal logging activities This gem of Ghana is protected by little-known rangers I love trees. The trees here are so tall That is rosewood Rosewood -Yes Is rosewood protected in Ghana? Yeah, it's protected by law A lot of people use rosewood for furniture, for carving, carpentry Yeah, that is illegal If you want to do so, then you need to seek permission from the Forestry Commission I see Since 1996, Eric has been involved in protection work at the national park As a ranger, Eric's duties include carrying out routine patrols, preventing damage and illegal activities, and checking forest resources When you are to collect data, you need to mark your starting point, check your coordinates That is the location Then every 30 minutes, whether you see an animal or not, you mark This small device functions as a compass... and also records our position It can also collect data of everything we see, including the number of animals, whether they're male or female, their size That can all be collected To Eric, the Mole National Park is like a second home He wouldn't get lost without a map He knows his way around like the back of his hand What I didn't know was that he was risking his life for his work every day Whenever Eric carries out a day or night patrol, he runs the risk of being attacked He can't let his guard down for even a moment, as he could be attacked by wildlife at any point, or be harmed by poachers Was your family worried for you? Oh yeah, they think it's dangerous And whenever I'm home, they do advise me - you have to be very careful, take your training seriously, don't joke with your life Because if you make a mistake and someone kills you...

Statistics show that every year around the world, close to 150 park rangers lose their lives while on duty While rangers continue to do their jobs, their morale inevitably suffers a blow Have you seen a dead animal... that was injured or killed by these poachers? Oh yeah, it's happening I've seen several How do you feel when you see the carcasses? It's always very painful, because when an animal is born, it takes years before it becomes mature, and just within a second, one drops dead because of selfishness When Eric mentioned that he had seen the carcass of a killed elephant, his eyes reddened He was pained by it Listening to him, I was enraged too Between predators and humans seeking profit, which is more dangerous? There must surely be fewer elephants that attack humans... than humans killing wild elephants for their tusks Our population keeps growing, we keep occupying more land, but more animals are facing extinction I find his job really tough It also reminds me - we humans are very concerned about the environment we live in But can we not respect and cherish other living things too? A wildlife refuge could not be sustained by the efforts of rangers alone To manage the natural resources more sustainably, the Mole National Park has also made efforts... to improve infrastructure and environmental education Several NGOs have also joined in We work mainly with communities on the boundaries of the Mole National Park... to establish what we call CREMAs What is this community called? This is Murugu, which is part of the Murugu-Mognori CREMA, one of the first CREMAs that were created in Ghana The concept of community resource management areas or CREMAs...

was introduced by the Forestry Commission of Ghana It aims to promote collaboration and participation... in order to achieve sustainable resource management Godwin has been working with an NGO for 10 years... and oversees the Mole National Park's community projects He gives assistance to the village of Murugu on the fringe of the park... and encourages the villagers to take part in the protection of natural resources... while improving their lives in the process The development of shea butter production is their most prominent achievement Let's enter the machine room We have a little set-up here This is a crusher -This is a crusher? -That crushes the nuts Before they had this machine, they had to do it manually? Yes, so in the homes, you find them using a pestle and mortar to pound the nuts They had to do it manually With this, they can do a lot, they can do so many bags in a day, just crush them and mill them And your NGO provided this? Yes Besides the crusher, the NGO has also provided a roaster, a mill and a grinder These machines have raised productivity and quality It's designed to employ about 200 women The capacity is one tonne of butter a day Can you see I'm getting goosebumps? Yeah, I can see 200 women? -Yes Oh my gosh. I'm so moved I only realized after taking a tour with Godwin...

that this national park isn't just the virgin forests - it's also the small villages where many people live I like the way this NGO is improving villagers' lives - by empowering women to become pillars of society The production of shea butter... actually combines natural resources and human resources beautifully Godwin's NGO also contributes to education They believe that it is crucial for the concept of environmental protection... to be instilled from a young age This is a school for the community? - And it's a primary school? -Yeah, this is a newer primary school Very important for us - what we do here is awareness creation, is sensitization So we normally engage with schools, and let kids play around nature And they get excited, and then they get to build more awareness on why we need to protect it And education is a key to more opportunities Yeah If we need people to understand why the Mole National Park is important, we need to start from our children, the kids The people here depend on the earth for a living Because the earth has given us inexhaustible gifts, we must learn to repay it I like the way this NGO educates the children Watching them in their uniforms kicking a ball and running around the field,...

made me feel happy too I find them so pure and innocent, but they are also this village's hope for the future Since his university days, 35-year-old Godwin has studied the relationship between humans and nature For him, the Mole National Park is a responsibility as well as a passion People prioritize other aspects, and relegate the environment to the lowest, because we feel that, okay, that is nature, nature will take care of itself Yes, nature will do that, but our impact is slowing... the way nature is able to respond to the shocks that it is receiving So I think it's very critical that... we go into more sustainable production of everything that we do And then our environment will thrive I asked Godwin a few important questions And I realized that I'd found some answers for myself too Why is the environment so important? Because all living things are connected Why should humankind take up this responsibility? Because we are humans, and we can To be honest, I was looking for thrills on this trip But I really learnt to immerse myself in the stillness I had been resistant to the primitive, but I came to appreciate it I began by wondering why nothing had evolved, then I came to think that this place doesn't need to be beautified I had felt insignificant, but ultimately I found that every effort I made really mattered It's like how all the different people here are each doing their jobs, guarding this gem of their land As tourists, we can learn from them... and also convey this important message to more people <i>No animals were harmed</i> <i>in the making of this episode</i> Subtitles: Seki Mediacorp Pte Ltd

2023-02-09 08:15

Show Video

Other news