We took an unplanned trip from Bolgatanga to Paga all in the Upper East region.
Paga is 54 mins and 42 km drive from Bolgatanaga.
Paga is a community where crocodiles are held in high esteem due to its history. The story has it that the founder of the community who was a hunter was saved by a crocodile and since then held them in high esteem and that no indigene should kill a crocodile.
However, unlike the normal visit to Paga where we would have visited the chief crocodile pond, we made our way to the Paga Nania Pikoro Slave camp which is a four minutes drive and 5km from Paga Township.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a beautiful scenery of rocks naturally carved in iconic shapes and sizes; a true reflection of the meaning of the name Pikorow.
Pio means rocks whiles korow means surrounded, hence the name Pikorow and the iconic siting of the area surrounded by rocks.
Asobre Daniel, a native of Nania and a tour guide at the historical site took us around the slave camp and gave us an education of the happenings at the site.
The Pikoro slave camp is divided into eight parts including water hole, Dining hall, Grinding mill, meeting place, entertainment center, punishment rock, cemetery, watch tower of the slave raiders and all served a purpose when the camp was running from 1704 to 1845.
Built by three friends, Bagaao a native of Pikoro, Samori Toure of Mali and Baba Toure of Burkina Faso, the camp was a resting place for people captured from parts of the Upper regions and some parts of the neighboring countries.
Slaves from this camp were sold at the Salaga slave market in the Northern part of Ghana.
One thing that stood out in the Pikoro Slave camp was the night of entertainment. Every Saturday night, slaves enjoyed entertainment with songs and sounds from the rocks. Songs sang were called glu; songs which were songs of praise to their masters and songs to encourage themselves as slave to stay long.
Additional Information
There are two main tour guides at the Pikoro slave camp. Visitors are expected to pay ten Ghana cedis each and it is best you visit the site in the month of April and may when there are rains so you can enjoy the green environment.
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source:offei-Akoto Ayeh
