Friendly Crocodiles Pagi

Paga is a small town in the north of Ghana, comfortably located near the border with Burkina Faso. What is it notable for? Yes, because here live some of the most terrifying creatures on the planet — huge crocodiles. That's just they behave quite peacefully and calmly, are not afraid of people and are practically tame.

These reptiles settled in Crocodile pond, about 44 km from Bolgatanga — the capital of this region. Here they calmly swim side by side with the kids while local mothers wash clothes on the shore. And not once in the entire history of the existence of crocodiles here has any of them attacked a person. Locals respect these animals — they believe that their souls are connected with the souls of people. They say that if an important resident dies in the city, then there is one less sacred crocodile in the pond.

According to local legend, a long time ago, a hunter was trapped between a pond and a lion chasing him. He made a deal with the crocodile in the pond: he and his descendants will not eat crocodiles if he helps him cross the pond and avoid death in the paws of a lion.

The crocodile agreed and helped the hunter swim across the pond. The hunter built a house on the other side and founded a village.

According to another story, there was a certain Naveh who left home in Burkina Faso and wandered into this country.

He got lost while looking for water, and met a crocodile, which led him to a watering hole. It was then that Naveh decided to establish a Pagu on this place. And in gratitude to the crocodile, he promised that none of his descendants would eat their meat.

In general, no one knows how the crocodiles ended up in Paga. The pond is completely cut off from other reservoirs, and the oldest crocodiles living here are more than 80 years old.

There are two crocodile ponds in Paga. The first one is located on the highway, 12 km from Navrango, and is called the Main Pond. The second is Zenga Crocodile Pond, a five—minute drive from the main road to the border of Pagi.

Guides working near the ponds use live chickens, which tourists pay for, to lure crocodiles out of the water, where tourists can pet them or take pictures with reptiles. Sometimes children and even adults sit on their backs — and nothing, it seems there are no incidents yet.