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The zebras looked at me with suspicion. There was a waist-length metal barrier that separated them from me. I was clutching some cut lush green grasses.
The grasses looked inviting to them, but the instinctive animals suspicion of human beings was also there. Finally, one of them decided to break rank and trotted close to the metal barrier, pulled at the grasses with its teeth as I stretched them towards it. While pulling and chewing the grasses, I had the opportunity to part it on the head and posed for pictures. Being naturally wild, zebras never allow that. Such rarity could only be experienced in a few places like the Safari Valley Resort in Adukrom, in the Eastern Region of Ghana. It is about 65 kilometres from the Ghanaian capital of Accra.
Driving from Accra to Adukrom, the town closest to the resort, was smooth, but the drive from the town into the resort was a little rough and bumpy. However, it was a less-than-10 minute drive before bursting at the entrance of Safari Valley.
Safari Valley is idyllic and captures the Biblical concept of the Garden of Eden where man and nature live in harmony, each contributing to the symbiotic survival of the other.
It is a 600-acre lush green land of pure tropical rainforest that has been partially tamed to accommodate the presence and comfort of man without sacrificing the unadulterated sylvan ambience. However outside the tamed and manicured resort area, it is prestine jungle with trees that could be hundreds of years old. The resort is in a valley area surrounded by rocky hills range.
Safari Valley is a premium luxury facility and comes at a hefty cost. At the resort, visitors are not just staying in an environmentally friendly accommodation; it is a kind of opportunity for wildlife adventure and exploration. Staying there gives visitors opportunity for variety of activities, from wildlife tours to other recreational pursuits, ensuring a memorable visit. We had the opportunity of touring different sections that exotic animals are kept. But none of them constitutes danger to visitors.
The aviary area has variety of colourful birds. Just by holding some grains they flew to me, perching on my hands, head, shoulders and so on.
The resort is surrounded by green and pristine landscapes, making it an ideal getaway for relaxation, adventure, and connecting with nature. With its commitment to eco-friendly practices and top-tier services, it is way high in the standard for luxury resorts in Ghana.
The accommodation facilities range from family, woodland, grove, and camper cabins. All the facilities are constructed with wood. The rooms are aesthetically designed with the tables, beds and other facilities crafted from wood. Even the bath tubs are made of wood. The soaps, liquid and bar, in the bathrooms are made of the African black soap while the cream is made from shea butter. The family suites each has a private swimming pool with 24-hour Wi-Fi, butler service, complimentary minibars, and so on.
Due to the resort sitting on a large expanse of land, commuting within the resort is done with noiseless electric golf carts, bicycles, and horses. There is also a stroll on the 580-metre tree-to-tree canopy walk, the Safari Fantasy Castle, fairyland aviaries, and train rides, interactive experiences to feed and pet friendly animals such as zebras, alpacas, meerkats, and rheas, and others.
It is a normality to watch the animals from the rooms as they roam freely, especially at night.
The visionary who conceptualized the resort is Mr. Samuel Afari, an expert in forestry and conservation.
He spoke about the resort and why he built it: I grew up in a family where wildlife and animals are common and so I think this background, and background in forestry and natural resources management motivated this.
And also I have a partner who has a deeper understanding and love for nature, environment and so on and so forth. So, it’s been a vision that I think was not, let’s say planned very much, but it comes also from, passion, from experiences from travelling around the world, and seeing that many environments have been destroyed and some have also been destroyed, some turning into the beautiful environment that creates economic opportunity and so on and so forth. That is what we decided to be replicating
Afari also explained that the desire to conserve and preserve nature has been pushing him in what is today Safari Valley: So, what I’ve tried to also establish in Ghana is to have a facility where the renewable natural resource of this country could be of benefit of the people in terms of employment, in terms of revenue generation, in terms of amusement, also for the children who are coming here to visit, so that they get education and gather knowledge.
The motivations have been plenty. There’s no particular one that I will say it’s because of this that I say that. But, it comes from all of it, but mainly my love for nature and my wanting everyone to come get some pleasure from it. Today, the project is massive, both from Accra, down to this place, and not to talk of the islands and all the rest of them. It’s massive.
Afari said that even though the resort sits on 600 acres of land, it was just a part of the dream for the place. He said there are other aspects of the resort still to come.
I would say, maybe 60 per cent have been achieved. We have many facets of the business that have not been implemented yet. For instance, we don’t want to be just in the outskirts of the cities. We also want to bring these amusement and experience to the city. We want to bring the Safari to Lagos, for instance. We would bring that kind of amusement, the kind of pleasure that we are enjoying here to the city. Also, we want to be able to expand to other African countries. For instance, there are over 250 million Nigerians just a few kilometres away. We have our brothers from the Francophone speaking countries-Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and so on. So, why not? Why can’t we establish the Safari brand in these countries? And so looking at all that, I think we can do more. So, we want to expand to other tourism areas in Ghana, and then also, to West Africa mainly, and Africa.
Despite the huge success the Safari Valley Resort has had, Afari insists that the resort must maintain its core value of preserving nature in addition to entertaining visitors: We have some characteristic, some attitude, for instance, whatever we do must be amusing. So, I’m sure there are other areas whose core values do not include amusement, but for us, it’s important that it’s entertaining, it’s amusing, and it helps the environment. And then also, the community living around this estate must also benefit, therefore, when it’s not beneficial to the community, it is an enterprise that we won’t engage. So, we are distinct we are mostly located in the rural areas.
