Introduction
Bono East is the part of Ghana that people cross rather than visit: the middle belt, where the forest thins into savanna and the long road north runs through. Stopping is worth it for two things that exist nowhere else in the country — a pair of villages where wild monkeys have been protected by taboo for centuries and are buried in their own cemetery, and a market town that functions as the hinge of Ghana's food trade.
Overview
The region sits across the country's transition zone, and you can watch the vegetation change through the car window: the closed forest of the south gives way to open woodland and then to the beginnings of savanna, with the light getting harder and the horizons longer as you go north. It is agricultural country — yam, maize, cashew — and the towns along the main road exist to move that produce. What that produces for a visitor is a region with no single headline sight and two genuinely unusual ones, plus a set of waterfalls that make a good excuse to break a long drive. The practical shape is straightforward: this is a stop rather than a destination, and one or two nights covers everything comfortably, most naturally on the way between Kumasi and the north. The best months are the drier ones from about November to March, though the waterfalls are more impressive at the end of the wet season, which is the usual trade-off. One thing worth knowing before you plan around it: the region's market town runs on a weekly cycle, and its big day transforms the place — arriving on the wrong day means seeing an ordinary provincial town instead of one of the largest trading events in West Africa, so check locally rather than assuming.
Discover Bono East
Two neighbouring villages share a patch of forest with a large population of mona and black-and-white colobus monkeys, and the arrangement between them is the reason to come. The monkeys have been protected here by local tradition for a very long time — they are not hunted, harming one is not done, and the practical result is animals that show no fear of people at all. They come down into the villages, sit on roofs and walls, and approach visitors closely enough that the usual wildlife problem is reversed: you are not looking for them, you are surrounded by them. There is a cemetery in the forest where monkeys that die are buried with the same observances a person would receive, which tells you more about the relationship than any explanation would. The sanctuary is run by the communities themselves and guided walks through the forest are arranged on arrival. Go early or late, when the animals are most active. Feeding them is discouraged for the usual reasons and the guides will say so.
Ways to Experience This Destination
Mona and colobus monkeys protected by village taboo for centuries, entirely unafraid of people, with a forest cemetery where they are buried with full observances.
A staged river drop reached by a long flight of steps, with a swimming pool at the base — impressive after rain, modest at the end of the dry season.
One of West Africa's largest markets on its weekly day, aggregating produce from across the middle belt and over two borders — wholesale agriculture in the open.
Thinly populated border country with a river park protecting hippos and gallery forest — minimal infrastructure, near-zero visitors, a genuine expedition.
Frequently asked questions
Treat this Visaja page as your starting point: verify the current rules directly with the official source before you submit an application.