Sacred-grove monkeys at Tafi Atome and Boabeng-Fiema
Mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona); Boabeng-Fiema also has ursine (white-thighed) colobus (Colobus vellerosus). Volta Region and Bono East, Ghana.
Best time: 1 Feb – 31 Oct (February to October). Where: Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (Ghana). Time of day: 06:00–08:00 and 15:30–18:00 when the troops come into the villages.
- Partly on your own
- Low cost
- No binoculars needed
- Sound 3/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 1 Feb – 31 Oct. Any month; from November to January the Tafi Atome troops range further into the surrounding forest and are only reliable at the 06:00–08:00 and late-afternoon village visits
Active from 1 Jan to 31 Dec (all year) in a typical year.
Time of day
06:00–08:00 and 15:30–18:00 when the troops come into the villages; colobus roaring at Boabeng-Fiema in the first hour of light
- Morning visit: 06:00 → 08:00
- Afternoon visit: 15:30 → 18:00
What will you hear?
Mona monkeys' booming male calls and chattering troops moving through the sacred grove, the deep rolling roar of male white-thighed colobus at dawn at Boabeng-Fiema, and a village waking up underneath.
Binoculars?
No binoculars needed. Habituated troops come to arm's length in the village groves; nothing needed.
Where to go
- Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary — Community-run; guided visits from the visitor centre, homestay possible. Habituated troops come to hand for bananas. Map
- Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary — The best site for colobus; 20 km from Nkoranza. Guesthouse in the village, guide compulsory. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Both are community sanctuaries: pay the visitor-centre fee and go with a village guide for the grove (tro-tro from Hohoe or Ho to Tafi Atome; from Nkoranza to Boabeng-Fiema). No permit beyond that.
Cost: Community entry fee of a few cedis plus a guide tip; check current prices.
Free or no-guide alternative: The monkeys come into the villages by themselves at 06:00–08:00 and in the late afternoon; standing in the village street is free and needs no guide.
Field-recording notes
These are village groves: the soundscape is monkeys plus goats, radios, church and a borehole pump. That is the point of the place — the animals are sacred and unafraid — but a quiet take means walking a few hundred metres into the grove with the guide before the tour groups arrive around 09:00. Feeding is the habituation method here, so troops are close and noisy in the morning; playback and flash are asked not to be used. The colobus roar at Boabeng-Fiema is one of the loudest primate sounds in West Africa and is easiest in the dry season (Nov–Mar) when the trees are barer.
Sources
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More: all spectacles in Ghana · dawn choruses · Ghana in February · Ghana in March · April · Ghana in May · Ghana in June · July · August · Ghana in September · Ghana in October