Ghana

"Akwaba, welcome to Ghana!" For a long time Sander, Jelmer and I thought we wouldn't hear these words, other than from the Ghanese embassy in The Hague. Our trip definitely had a rought start. I actually planned this trip back in 2020 when flights were affordable and we had the option for a free rental car via a colleague of mine. Obviously the pandemic made sure the trip didn't happen back then, but this year we were keen on going. Sadly the flights doubled in price (with a direct flight costing even more) and the free rental car option was no more. Because of troubles at Amsterdam airport we had a delay which made us miss our connecting flight in Lisbon, forcing us to spend the night there and return to Amsterdam the next day. On top of that our luggage got lost and our car starting to smoke and smoulder.

Luckily that soon was all in the past and we could explore this West African country. With rainforests in the south and drier savannas in the north, Ghana has a wide range of habitats and an equal rich diversity when it comes to wildlife. Although many people visit Ghana for birding or to look for butterflies, naturally we came for the herpetofauna and the many iconic species that occur here. Not so many people have been herping here which made it all the more interesting. I contacted birding guide Kalu Afasi if he was interested in joining and organizing our trip. His knowledge of the country, the wildlife and his local contacts proved key to our success. That said, finding amphibians and reptiles was never easy and always hard work. We had to put in meters before finding something and hours went by without a single frog, gecko or snake. Our timing coincided with the rainy season but with only one rainshower to mention, general herp activity was low.

18th of July 2022

Although not intended to be a long stopover, the mess at Amsterdam Airport made sure we missed our connecting flight to Accra, so we had a whole afternoon and night in Lisbon. A hotel and dinner was arranged by the airline luckily, but we didn't feel like sitting around the whole day. Sadly none of the car rental companies had any cars available. It would have been great to look for salamanders in Sintra and leave a "message" at a certain hotel there... Plan B was get around by Uber and we visited the introduced Madeiran Wall Lizards (Teira dugesii) and the scenic Torre de Belém. After dinner I couldn't really sleep and strolled through the city where I met some entertaining street artists with interesting life stories to tell.

19th & 20th of July

In the early morning we flew from Lisbon back to Amsterdam and then finally onwards to Accra. When we arrived late in the evening we found out our luggage wasn't on the belt and according to the staff it would "probably arrive tomorrow". Kalu and Macho were patiently waiting for us, to drop us of at the hotel where we explored the surroundings a bit. Common species such as Tropical House gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia), Common Toad (Sclerophrys regularis), African Tiger Frog (Hoplobatrachus occipitalis) and Savanna Puddle Frogs (Phrynobatrachus accraensis) were found.

The next day consisted of waiting, calling and being sent from one office to the next. Finally we got a hold of someone (with many screaming toddlers in the background) who seemed to know a little more and told us hat the luggage would indeed arrive tonight via Brussels. Why ever... In the evening we were present at the airport at the correct time where the staff were again reluctant to help and told us to wait. Also here persistance paid off, we finally found someone willing to let us look behind the counter where indeed Jelmers and Sanders bags were standing. Mine was discovered in another pile in another room but very happy we left the building. Sadly then our car started to smell like burned plastic and smoke rose up from behind the steering wheel. A new problem!

21st until the 23rd of July 2022

Luckily Macho managed to patch up the car, so we could finally drive out of the city and into the forest. The drive was not necessarily that long in distance, but the entire south coast of Ghana feels like you are still in Accra. For hours we drove past towns, shops and police stops, over massive speedbumps and in massive lines of cars trying to overtake slow trucks on narrow roads. The reception area of Kakum wasn't much better. A place where busloads of school children are dropped off and where there is rap music blasting from the speakers at the entrance fits much better to an amusement park than to a national park. There were plenty of Skinks (Trachylepis affinis & maculilabris) and Agamas (Agama agama) around the restaurant though. Luckily Kalu arranged for us to sleep in the tree house inside the forest and far away from people. We had the place to ourselves and could move through the forest on our own which was perfect. After an early dinner we had a great start as we already found a Western Bush Viper (Atheris chlorechis), perched above an abandoned toilet. Not much later I found another major target species crawling through dried palm leaves at the edge of a stream: a Red-black Striped Snake (Bothrophthalmus lineatus)!

Also several other herp species were found such as Phrynobatrachus plicatus, Amnirana albolabris, Hemidactylus angulatus, Hemidactylus fasciatus, Hemidactylus muriceus and a mystery snake that escaped sadly. On the second night we generally saw the same species including another Western Bush Viper which I spotted while brushing my teeth from up in the tree house. Also the abandoned toilet delivered again and we saw a medium-sized Blanding's Tree Snake (Toxicodryas blandingii) on the prowl.
However, the main attraction of Kakum for most people is not an abandoned toilet building, but the canopy walk. For birders this is an excellent place to see many secretive canopy dwellers, for most visitors this is the best place to scream your lungs out, make funny TikTok videos and scare away all the animals. Luckily the latter kind of visitors only start arriving after nine, so from sunrise until then, you have the place for yourself. For herpers there is much to be seen here as well. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare and elusive Gastropholis echinata but we saw quite some other highlights. While strolling across the suspension bridges we saw Western Forest Skink (Trachylepis paucisquamis) and Cameroon Dwarf Gecko (Lygodactylus conraui) basking in the trees. Western Sawtail Tree Lizards (Holaspis guentheri) were doing their best to avoid being seen underneath the platforms. We even observed a Blanding's Tree Snake foraging in the canopy some 40 meters above the ground. Somehow the snake started to make its way on the dangly ropes of the suspension bridge right when the masses started to enter. There was a bit of chaos with people jumping and screaming "Mamba, mamba!" and on the dangly ropes the snakes was about to fall down. So we decided the safest for both snake and people was to catch it and release it nearby. This resulted in a bite to the hand*.

*Note on the venom of Toxicodryas.

After about fifteen minutes after the bite in my right hand, I started to notice a very stiff neck, sore joints and a swollen throat. Swallowing and talking did very much hurt, although these symptoms also vanished after about an hour. My right hand started to feel sore as well, it felt like joint stiffness. This pain lasted for a little more than a day but was basically gone after a good night's rest.

23rd until the 26th of July 2022

Another long drive brought us to the border with the Ivory Coast in a part of Ghana where English is spoken less than French. The vast Ankasa Nini-Suhien NP is still home to small groups of Elephants and Chimpanzees but because of the hunting pressure they are not often seen. We stayed at the Frenchmans Farm where we had a comfortable bungalow from where we could explore the nearby forest. In comparison to Kakum this forest is still primary and many streams cross the gently sloping terrain. During the day we searched for diurnal species such as Fire Skinks and Mambas in the agricultural lands around the national park with little success. Only finding a dead Fire Skink the cat from our new friend Amankwa brought in. At night Jelmer and I went with Amankwa to search for snakes inside the parks borders. The flooded parts of the forest were very good places for Tropical Clawed Frog (Xenopus tropicalis) and Amankwa spotted a Wide-headed Night Frog (Astylosternus laticephalus) while I found a Gabon Bush Snake (Philothamnus heterodermus). Also the streams were a joy to herp in but as usual, you have to make meters. Just when I was complaining to Jelmer how it is possible that we still haven't seen a water skink after so much effort, I could barely finish that sentence as I spotted a Keeled Water Skink (Cophoscincopus greeri) crawling between the leaf litter just besides the water. Also frogs such as Western White-lipped Frog (Amnirana occidentalis) and Guttural Puddle Frog (Phrynobatrachus gutturosus) were seen along the streams. On the path next to a stream I spotted a small but beautiful Forest Lesser File Snake (Gonionotophis klingi) crawling in the leaf litter. Super interesting how similar these snakes are to Nothopsis or Xenodermus on other continents!

Two ponds in the area were also of interest. One was conveniently close to our bungalow and was full of stunningly beautiful Spotted Reed Frogs (Hyperolius guttulatus), jumpy Bibron's Grass Frogs (Ptychadena bibroni), giant African Tiger Frogs and underneath a wooded board in a marshy area I was hoping for a caecilian, but found an African Brown Water Snake (Afronatrix anascopus) instead. The other pond required quite a bit of a hike through the forest to get there, but was also well worth it. Several African Dwarf Crocodiles (Osteolaemus tetraspis) were lurking in the kneedeep water and luckily Jelmer could grab a small one for some pictures. In the vegetation around the pond there were plenty of frogs calling such as Phlyctimantis boulengeri, Chiromantis rufescens, Phrynobatrachus plicatus and Hyperolius sylvaticus.

26th of July 2022

A mere stop on the long road north, but one that was worth it. Kalu had seen several snakes here in the past and we even had a bit of rain. So after dinner we set out to explore the surroundings. The big ponds around the restaurant are home to several big West African Nile Crocodiles (Crocodylus suchus) and at night the chorus of Spotted Reed Frogs (Hyperolius guttulatus) and Striped Spiny Reed Frogs (Afrixalus dorsalis) was deafening. During the day we only saw some more of the ubiquitous agamas and skinks, but sadly no snakes despite the promising conditions.

27th of July 2022

One bird we were all keen on seeing was the White-necked Rock Fowl (Picathartes gymnocephalus). These highly specialized birds can only be found in primary forests with small streams to forage and big overhanging rocks to build their cup-like nests under. Although shy, rare and localized, these birds are a rather sure shot to see at Bonkro where they are used to people occasionaly coming by to observe them. Not many people have been recently because of the pandemic though, so the birds were a bit skittish at first but soon starting hopping around us. We had great views on these comical creatures and when the sun went down we made our way back to the Hotel 734. The birds are well protected, but sadly the forest is not. Logging is rampant in all the surrounding forests and we saw many signs of hunting. I have never seen a more destroyed rainforest and when the forest is gone, the birds will also not survive. We tried to find some snakes but only found some Phrynobatrachus plicatus, Ptychadena longirostris and Ptychadena oxyrhynchus alongside a single Chiromantis rufescens. So a very cool experience to see this beautiful bird species, but with a bitter aftertaste.

28th and 29th of July 2022

Out of the forest and into the savanna. The town of Buipe is situated along the Black Volta river and in the heart of some interesting savanna habitat. None of it is protected so it is easy to walk around, but as you might expect, habitat destruction for cement works and agricultural land is rampant. We found a place to stay at the Legacy Lodge where we had some interesting neighbours. While laying in my bed I heard some rhythmic sounds like calling tree frogs. Happily I fell asleep in my bed. The next day I still heard those sounds though, finding out the sounds were actually made by priests who locked themselves in the next room, and had been chanting some prayers throughout the night. Next to the room of Sander and Jelmer someone OD'd and nearly died. Always nice to get a bit of culture on herping trips!

Around the hotel we already found quite the interesting gecko community living. All were super shy and near impossible to photograph, but after a few hundred attempts we managed with combined forces to photograph Togo Fan-footed Gecko (Ptyodactylus togoensis), African Wall Gecko (Tarentola ephippiata) and Western Half-toed House Gecko. Also Five-lined Skinks (Trachylepis quinquetaeniata) were plentiful, whereas I only spotted one big individual of African Red-sided Skink (Trachylepis perrotetii). Jelmer found our first Senegal Chameleon (Chamaeleo senegalensis) here as well, after which a few more followed.

The temporary ponds here were full of the usual suspects such as Hoplobatrachus occipitalis and Ptychadena but also Galam White-lipped Frog (Amnirana galamensis). On our second night Jelmer and I went a bit further away from the road and even encountered some species of frog we never had dared to dream to see without rain. First we found two West African Rubber Frogs (Phrynomantis microps) sitting both along a line of ants. And later I found a Marbled Piglet Frog (Hemisus marmoratus) which might be my favourite frog of the trip. Also snakes were out and about. On the first night I spotted an Angolan Garter Snake (Elapsoidea semiannulata) crawling around at the edge of a pond. On the second night Sander and I tried to localize an owl when I spotted an Elegant Sand Racer (Psammophis elegans) hanging in a shrub. Not far from the hotel Jelmer found a shed of a Black-necked Spitting Cobra, but sadly we didn't find the snake that left it. All in all, we left Buipe very content although we didn't find the much anticipated Royal Python or Fat-tailed Gecko, and were also keen on leaving the mine field of human excrements behind us.

30th of July until the 1st of August 2022

Mole was a breath of fresh air. At the Mole Motel we had some stunning vistas on the surrounding savanna, including a large waterhole where elephants came for a swim every day. We also had a swim every day and the swimming pool was put to good use by us. Moreover we had a restaurant nearby for some food and wifi. A bit of luxury! Although an animal had a dump between my bed sheets and I had to resort to scissors to have clean sheets.... Sadly we were not able to walk around freely because of the big wildlife, so for every step you take a ranger is needed and they charge here by the hour. During the day we hiked through the savanna in the hope of finding some diurnal snakes or lizards such as cobras or monitor lizards. Kalu and Sander went birding, while Jelmer and I went with our ranger Hashim to look for herps. It was surely not easy, because in the rainy season the grass is lush and green and reaches up until the shoulders. At one point I also lost the others and while following a small creek I did discover a big monitor lizard, a Nile Monitor Lizard (Varanus niloticus). Not the Savannah Monitor I was looking for, but a cool encounter all the same. Also West African Nile Crocodiles were easily spotted along the bigger waterbodies, but otherwise we just found West African Redhead Agamas and Five-lined Skinks which were everywhere.

The nights proved to be much more exciting indeed. Despite not having any rain on the first night we spent at Mole, this was the best night for frogs. Chalky Reed Frogs (Hyperolius nitidulus) were forming a huge chorus, alongside Hoplobatrachus occipitalis and Ptychadena tellini. But Smiling Running Frogs (Kassina fusca) were also at it, and we found several amplectant couples making their way to the water. In other ponds we also found different puddle frogs syntopically, Francisc's Puddle Frogs (Phrynobatrachus francisci) and Natal Puddle Frogs (Phrynobatrachus natalensis) were making so much sound that our ears started to hurt! The second night we had a massive downpour so we got our hopes up for even more activity. It started indeed very good when we just started roadcruising and a massive Puff Adder (Bitis arietans) was on the move. But otherwise the frogs kept a low profile and only a small Two-coloured Blink Snake (Tricheilostoma bicolor) was found by Sander. 

With mammals we were quite lucky and it already started with an encounter of a big cat not even Kalu has seen here in his 17 years of visiting Mole. I was hanging out of the window with a flashlight trying to find some geckos along the road, when we suddenly stopped. A Leopard (Panthera pardus) slowly walked past my window, and all of us were too baffled to even think of grabbing a camera. A quick Iphone shot had to make do, as the cameras were also in the boot of the car. Such unprofessional photographers! Of course we also saw many other species during our game drives such as Kob (Kobus kob), Elephants (Loxodonta africana), Warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus), Crested Porcupine (Hystrix cristata), Four-toed Hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris), Lesser Galago (Galago senegalensis), Patas Monkeys (Erythrocebus patas), Vervet Monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), Olive Baboons (Papio anubis) and Sander had a keen eye for Bushbucks (Tragelaphus scriptus), spotting many of them from the driving car at night. The baboons in particular were very cheeky and tried to enter the room multiple times, only succeeding once to steal Sander's cookies. The biggest birding highlight for me was an Abyssinian Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus) which was foraging around the accommodation.

2nd until the 4th of August 2022

This rather small forest reserve is under severe pressure from logging and hunting. While all the valuable trees have already been cut, hunting is still rampant and every night we heard gunshots from hunters. Despite all that, the forest is still home to a large number of Tree Hyraxes (Dendrohyrax dorsalis) and Galagos and every night we could see, but mostly hear, these nocturnal mammals. We even saw a West African Potto (Perodicticus potto) high up in a tree. Sadly no pangolins which should also still occur here. Of course the reserve is most notable for its butterflies which were indeed present in big numbers, and among birders because it is one of the last places to see Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus) in Ghana. Also the highly priced Nkulengu Rail (Himantornis haematopus) occurs here, which I was lucky enough to run into during an afternoon stroll through the forest.

During our three night stay the focus was of course amphibians and reptiles, but sadly we didn't have any notable rain. This meant amphibians were hard to come by apart from the obligatory Hoplobatrachus, Phrynobatrachus and Ptychadena in puddles on the road. We did see our first Mottled Squeakers (Arthroleptis poecilonotus) here, but otherwise it was not the most interesting stop for amphibians. Reptiles were also hard to come by and only occasionally did we see geckos such as Hemidactylus fasciatus and Hemidactylus muriceus, but also a few Spiny-necked Forest Geckos (Ancylodactylus spinicollis). During the day we saw many skinks of different species, but not the desired Fire Skinks although Kalu had seen them here before. We did get a little closer to a Western Sawtail Tree Lizard which I discovered one on a tree close to the lodge.

At night Jelmer and I walked the main road and side trails and found three snake species like that. On the first night a White-lipped Herald Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia) and on the second night a Central African Egg-eater (Dasypeltis fasciata) and a Pale Wolf Snake (Lycophidion irroratum) in short succession. The latter two were on the crawl just before a small rain shower arrived late at night. This got our hopes up, but after these two species it was again eerie quiet. The most unusual snake find happened during the day. Kalu and I were walking in the plantation close to the lodge, when a large group of locals arrived. They were playing music very loud from a big boomblaster, not even some nice techno, but mostly theme music from Hollywood movies. All of a sudden they also started screaming which made me even more annoyed with them. Close inspection revealed however not one, but two Spotted Night Adders (Causus maculatus) which were desperately trying to get away from these people. With theme music of Pirates of the Carribean in the background, I was wrestling these two wriggly venomous snakes like a true Jack Sparrow. 

5th until the 7th of August 2022

And then it was time to say goodbye to Kalu and Macho. They dropped us off in Kyebi from where we had an appointment with Ransford from A Rocha. The organization that aims to preserve this unique forest reserve for future generations. Ransford arranged for us to sleep three nights in the Atewa Range Forest Reserve complete with tents and food. The organization was immaculate and before we knew it we were in the back of a pickup truck, being dropped of in the middle of the rainforest at a campsite which was already set up. There was even a small Western Bush Viper perched directly above our tent. Perfect!

During our three nights here we could go wherever we wanted and explore the forest on our own. Again the lack of rain made herping not the easiest and this was the first time that we also had to deal with steep slopes. On the highest point of the mountain range there is an interesting swamp where we found many frogs such as Hyperolius bobirensis, Hyperolius picturatus, Arthroleptis poecilonotus and Phrynobatrachus plicatus. On our final evening here I also spotted a big and beautiful Togo Toad (Sclerophrys togoensis) sitting on the path, shortly followed by a Western Tree Frog (Leptopelis occidentalis) high up in a tree. Another frog highlight is of course the Atewa Slippery Frog (Conraua sagyimase) which is recently described and can only be found here along a few streams. One of these streams was just behind our camp and we found the frogs to be locally common. They are big, beautiful but very skittish and the moment you shine a flashlight on them they disappear. With some patience (and a lot of cursing) I fnally managed some nice in-situ pictures. Apart from Bush Viper Benny who was every day above our tent, snakes were hard to find. During the day Jelmer found another Spotted Night Adder, while at night I found another White-lipped Herald Snake and a Fat Burrowing Asp (Atractaspis corpulenta) half hidden in the leaf litter. A very twitchy snake much like its congeners but with a very striking white tail. We also found a big shed of a Black Forest Cobra but sadly not the animal that left it. 

On our last morning here we were woken up by rain. A bit sad that it didn't start to rain sooner as we surely would have found more frogs and snakes, but when we saw the puddles that started to form inside our tents it was also maybe a good thing. We would never have managed to keep our stuff dry! 

Epilogue

It turned out that the image we had of Ghana was quite different from the reality and we found many contrasts in the country. We thought Ghana was a much more touristy place with many birders for example visiting, but in some areas the local people see so few Obronis, that they thought we were Chinese. The people were in general rather friendly (apart from staff at the embassy and airport), but they will charge an Obroni more than a Bibini. The infrastructure is generally good and the roads paved, but making progress on these roads is slow because of the heavy traffic, many towering speedbumps and police checkpoints. The great thing about Ghana is that there is quite some forest still standing, in contrast to other West African countries, but there is also a lot of logging, mining and hunting going on. Human habitation is never far away, and on most nights we could hear terribly loud music coming from the surrounding villages, although we were deep in the jungle. The birds and mammals we encountered were all very shy, have learned to avoid people because of the hunting pressure and were hard to photograph. Animals such as pangolins are highly priced and much sought after, both by the Chinese as by naturalists. We also learned that several tour operators in Ghana purchase pangolins from poachers before the guests arrive, and release them so people can find "wild pangolins". They do this with snakes and other reptiles as well. Needless to say we were sad to learn about this and also declined these offers.

That said, Ghana is a perfect destination if you want to explore West African rainforests on your own. Only in some places like Ankasa or Mole a ranger is required, in all other places we could walk around freely, something herpers value greatly. Kalu knows the country like no other, has contacts in the right places, has a problem solving mindset and helped us with the unnecessarily complicated visa procedure. He is the best birder in Ghana and even on this herping trip we saw close to 300 bird species.

Species

Seraphin's Caecilian (Geotrypetes seraphini) DEAD

Tropical Clawed Frog (Xenopus tropicalis)

Common Toad (Sclerophrys regularis)

Togo Toad (Sclerophrys togoensis)

West African Rubber Frog (Phrynomantis microps)

Marbled Piglet Frog (Hemisus marmoratus)

Boulenger's Wot-Wot (Phlyctimantis boulengeri)

Smiling Running Frog (Kassina fusca)

Striped Spiny Reed Frog (Afrixalus dorsalis)

Bobiri Reed Frog (Hyperolius bobirensis) Atewa

Spotted Reed Frog (Hyperolius guttulatus)

Chalky Reed Frog (Hyperolius nitidulus)

Painted Reed Frog (Hyperolius picturatus)

Forest Reed Frog (Hyperolius sylvaticus)

Western Foam-nest Frog (Chiromantis rufescens)

Western Tree Frog (Leptopelis occidentalis)

Wide-headed Night Frog (Astylosternus laticephalus)

Mottled Squeaker (Arthroleptis poecilonotus)

Savanna Puddle Frog (Phrynobatrachus accraensis)

Peter's Puddle Frog (Phrynobatrachus calcaratus)

Francisc's Puddle Frog (Phrynobatrachus francisci)

Guttural Puddle Frog (Phrynobatrachus gutturosus)

Natal Puddle Frog (Phrynobatrachus natalensis)

Ridged Puddle Frog (Phrynobatrachus plicatus)

Bibron's Grass Frog (Ptychadena bibroni)

Snouted Grass Frog (Ptychadena longirostris)

Sharp-nosed Grass Frog (Ptychadena oxyrhynchus)

Tellini's Grass Frog (Ptychadena tellini)

Dakar Grass Frog (Ptychadena trinodis)

Atewa Slippery Frog (Conraua sagyimase)

African Tiger Frog (Hoplobatrachus occipitalis)

Galam White-lipped Frog (Amnirana galamensis)

West African White-lipped Frog (Amnirana albolabris)

Western White-lipped Frog (Amnirana occidentalis)

Home's Hinge-back Tortoise (Kinixys homeana)

African Helmeted Terrapin (Pelomedusa subrufa)

West African Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus suchus)

African Dwarf Crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis)

Common Agama (Agama agama)

Senegal Chameleon (Chamaeleo senegalensis)

Western Sawtail Tree Lizard (Holaspis guentheri)

Keeled Water Skink (Cophoscincopus greeri)

Fire Skink (Lepidothyris fernandi) DEAD

Guinea Writhing Skink (Mochlus guineensis)

Senegal Skink (Trachylepis affinis)

Orange-throated Skink (Trachylepis aureogularis)

Speckle-lipped Skink (Trachylepis maculilabris)

Western Forest Skink (Trachylepis paucisquamis)

African Red-sided Skink (Trachylepis perrotetii)

Five-lined Skink (Trachylepis quinquetaeniata)

Spiny-necked Forest Gecko (Ancylodactylus spinicollis)

Western Half-toed House Gecko (Hemidactylus angulatus)

Banded Half-toed gecko (Hemidactylus fasciatus)

Tropical House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia)

Prickly Half-toed gecko (Hemidactylus muriceus)

Cameroon Dwarf Gecko (Lygodactylus conraui)

Togo Fan-footed Gecko (Ptyodactylus togoensis)

African Wall Gecko (Tarentola ephippiata)

Nile Monitor Lizard (Varanus niloticus)

Two-coloured Blink Snake (Tricheilostoma bicolor)

Angolan Garter Snake (Elapsoidea semiannulata)

Black Forest Cobra (Naja guineensis) SHED

Black-necked Spitting Cobra (Naja nigricollis) SHED

Fat Burrowing Asp (Atractaspis corpulenta)

Red-black Striped Snake (Bothrophthalmus lineatus)

Forest Lesser File Snake (Gonionotophis klingi)

Pale Wolf Snake (Lycophidion irroratum)

Elegant Sand Racer (Psammophis elegans)

African Brown Water Snake (Afronatrix anascopus)

White-lipped Herald Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia)

Central African Egg-eater (Dasypeltis fasciata)

Gabon Bush Snake (Philothamnus heterodermus)

Blanding's Tree Snake (Toxicodryas blandingii)

Western Bush Viper (Atheris chlorechis)

Puff Adder (Bitis arietans)

Spotted Night Adder (Causus maculatus)

Many thanks to Kalu Afasi, Ransford Agyei, Yannick Francioli, Monty Najar, John Sullivan and Tom Williams.