Gwollu Crocodile Pond

Gwollu Crocodile Pond, known locally as Kalgwe and also rendered Kalgbei, is a sacred crocodile pond in Gwollu, the capital town of the Sissala West District in Ghana's Upper West Region. It is described as sitting in the centre of the Gwollu community, and it is inhabited by several crocodiles that are revered as the totems of some of the community's clans. The Ghana News Agency notes that Gwollu "boasts of ... the crocodile pond, Kalgwe where crocodiles are preserved and protected by humans."

The pond's significance is cultural as much as natural. A tour guide quoted by the Ghanaian Times described crocodiles here as spiritually linked to specific families and clans, and said that harming a crocodile is considered tantamount to harming a member of the community. Daily Graphic reports that crocodiles in Gwollu are revered as totems and ancestors, that it is taboo to kill, harm or eat them, and that by custom a dead crocodile is buried as a human would be. The Ghanaian Times lists the sacred crocodile pond among the key heritage sites highlighted when the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts toured the Upper West Region, alongside the chief's palace and other historical landmarks.

For visitors, the pond has functioned as a place where the totemic relationship between people and crocodiles is interpreted to guests, largely nature-lovers, school groups and back-packer tourists of the expatriate community, according to a tourHQ guide article. Daily Graphic, however, notes that the sites "were not developed" even though a number of tourists visited.

Two practical points are worth knowing before planning a visit. Daily Graphic reports that two ponds in the township serve as habitat for the reptiles and dry up in the dry season, forcing crocodiles to stray into bushes and homes. Separately, in April 2020 a desilted and excavated crocodile pond was handed over to the Wuljua community in Gwollu, a collaboration involving the Gbelle Resource Reserve, the Sissala West District Assembly, the Sissala West Tree Growers Association and a contractor; the park manager said the community hoped tourists would begin visiting.

Gwollu lies in the northern part of the Upper West Region, in a district that borders Burkina Faso to the north. No opening hours, entrance fees, guided-tour arrangements or visitor facilities are confirmed in the available sources, so these should be checked locally before travelling.