Tour Guide, Accra, Ghana
| 3 mins read
As part of putting in measures to market the reserve globally to visitors, a viewing platform has been erected in the Gbelle Resource Reserve to aid visitors to have a good view of the game or animals in the reserve.
This new development which forms part of a series of innovations to make the reserve very attractive to visitors was disclosed by the park manager in the person of Dr.NanaOwusu Ansah.
He also did add that, a road is being constructed to link the western side (Gbelle) of the reserve to the south-eastern part at Wahabu so as to enable an optimum level of game viewing and safari experience.
The Gbelle Resource Reserve was established in 1975. Geographically, the reserve was established in the short-grass -savannah zone. Gbelle Resource Reserve is the only wildlife protected area in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The reserve spans through One Municipal and two District assemblies in the Upper West Region: Sisaala East Municipal, Sissala West and Daffiama-Busie-Issah.
The reserve is reputed for its large herds of Roan Antelopes, warthogs, kobs and waterbucks, which form the main attractions. Specifically, the south-western portion, in particular, has been identified as a major concentration area for these species of animals.
The Reserve forms part of the migratory route for the transit elephants and other large species of mammals that move between the Nazinga Game Ranch in Burkina Faso and Mole National Park further south. During the dry season, the water gathers into long perennial pools in the deeper portions, which have been proposed for sporting-fishing and boat-riding.
The natural attractions, combined with the aesthetic landscapes offer tourists a diversity of tourist products such as game-viewing, wilderness safari experience, as well as butterflies and bird-watching. This Reserve, being the second biggest natural reserve to Mole National Park has in its package, the following but not limited to: warthogs, hartebeests, kobs, roan antelopes, waterbucks, black and white colobus monkeys, stripe jackals, porcupines, baboons, buffalos, royal pythons, crocodiles, bird viewing, colourful butterflies, elephants and lions. The elephants and lions only occasionally move through the reserve.
Each game has a period or season in which tourists or visitors can see them. Many of the game could be seen or spotted during the dry season as water becomes scarce and a necessity to their survival and thus the very reason for the erection of viewing platform to enable visitors to have a clear view of the game.
The park manager concluded by calling on tourists to come to have a feel of the reserve as it has gone through a lot of transformations. He assured visitors of their safety through-out their visit to the reserve.