Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary

Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary is a community-run conservation and ecotourism project in the village of Tafi Atome, in the Afadzato South District of Ghana's Volta Region. It protects mona and patas monkeys that local people have regarded as sacred messengers of the gods for roughly two centuries. Accounts differ on how the project began: Wikipedia states the sanctuary was established in 1993 under the direction of a Peace Corps volunteer, while Graphic Online reports that in 1993 the Nature Conservation Research Centre, Peace Corps Ghana and other organisations collaborated to set up the community-based ecotourism project. Visit Ghana, the Ghana Tourism Authority's site, notes that in 1996 the village began broader efforts to protect the forest and monkeys and to offer tours. The site is reported to span 48.63 hectares.

The forest around the village has been preserved alongside the monkeys, and Visit Ghana records that the monkey population grew to about 200, with many bird and butterfly species present. Tourism revenue is credited with bringing electricity to the village and with improvements to the school and a community clinic.

Visitors take a guided walk into the forest beside the visitor centre. The monkeys are wild, though they often come close to visitors. The sanctuary is open daily from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. Visit Ghana advises that the monkeys are generally out at any time of day except from November through January, when they leave the village forest to forage roughly between 6:00 and 8:00 am and 3:30 and 6:00 pm.

Facilities include a visitor centre and reception area, a small gift shop, a community cook serving meals at a circular open-air shelter, and liquid refreshments in the village. A rustic six-room guesthouse sits next to the visitor centre, with flush toilets, showers and sheets provided but no towels; home-stays are also available. A community celebration, Dayitsotsoke, is held each 2 January with dancing, drumming and crafts. Upgrades commissioned in November 2020 added a tourist reception area, a modern seven-seater washroom, three visitor pavilions, wire-mesh and bamboo fencing, a car park and paved grounds.

The sanctuary lies about 230 km northeast of Accra and 43 km south of Hohoe. Visit Ghana's directions: from the main Ho–Hohoe road at Logba Alekpeti, turn at the Monkey Sanctuary sign and follow the dirt road 5 km to the visitor centre; trotros run from Accra, Ho or Hohoe to Logba Alekpeti, then take a local taxi or walk the 5 km.