Buoyem Caves

A canyon nobody expects in Bono East

Most travellers know Bono East as the long flat stretch of highway between Kumasi and Tamale. Buoyem is the correction. The road out of Techiman runs through farmland and then drops, and the village appears at the foot of layered sandstone cliffs rising on three sides. You come down into Buoyem rather than arriving at it.

The rock is soft and full of holes. Wind and water have cut overhangs, tunnels and chambers into it, and three of those chambers are large enough to be called caves in the full sense — dark, high and occupied. Along the trails the guides show you a rock shaped remarkably like the outline of the African continent, another like an open umbrella, and a sheltering overhang the community calls Canopy Rock, under which you can camp.

Around the canyon lies the Mprisi Sacred Grove, some 350 hectares of dry semi-deciduous forest. That precision matters, because older descriptions of Buoyem call it rainforest. It is not. It is the drier, more open forest of Ghana's transition zone, where the southern forest begins to give way to savannah — and it is protected not by a reserve boundary but by the fact that it is sacred. Below the cliffs runs the Bibiri River, with two falls on it: Bibiri Falls, and Ohemaa Falls, the Queen Mother's falls.

A refuge from the Asante wars

To understand why a community lives inside a canyon, you need the Bono. Their state, with its capital at Bono Manso north of Techiman, was the first great Akan kingdom — older than Asante, and rich on gold and kola long before Kumasi rose. In the early eighteenth century the expanding Asante kingdom conquered it.

What happened next is told at Buoyem the way oral history is always told: by the people whose ancestors lived it. According to the guides, the caves became a place of retreat after the defeat — somewhere people could withdraw into the rock, hidden, defensible, with water close by. Over time the caves took on the character of sacred places, and the forest around them with it.

The details vary with the teller, and no written record from the time settles them. The outline is consistent, and it is the reason the grove is still standing when so much forest around Techiman is not. People do not cut trees in a place where their ancestors were saved.

The Asante Empire→

The hike

Be realistic about the falls. Like almost every waterfall in the middle belt, Bibiri depends on the rain. In the wet months it runs properly. At the height of the dry season it can shrink to a thin stream over the rock. Go for the canyon and the caves, and treat a full waterfall as a bonus.

Getting to Buoyem

Techiman, your base→

Where to stay

Buoyem has a small community guesthouse: five simple rooms with one bed each, mosquito netting, electricity, shower and flush toilet. Sheets are provided; towels are not. Camping is possible and the guesthouse can supply a tent. Home stays in the village can be arranged at the visitor centre. There is no restaurant — meals are cooked to order by women in the village, so ask early if you arrive late in the day.

For more comfort, sleep in Techiman and come out for the day.

Hotels across the regions→

When to come

Buoyem celebrates a two-week Yam Festival at some point between September and December: the chief carried in a palanquin, the stools of the chief and queen mother ritually anointed at the stream, drumming and dancing. Dates change each year — contact the community before planning around it.

Ghana festival calendar→

Worth combining

• Techiman — the regional capital, heir to the Bono state, and one of the largest food markets in West Africa.
• Tanoboase Sacred Grove — the origin place of the Bono, a rock shrine with a hideout and a watchtower used in the same wars that sent people into Buoyem's caves.
• Bono Manso — the old Bono capital, and a sorting station where captives were graded before being sent to the coast.
• Forikrom — the Boten shrine and caves, remembered as a refuge for women and children in the wars with Asante.
• Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary — north of Nkoranza, monkeys protected by taboo and given funerals when they die.
• Kintampo — the falls, and the marker for the geographical centre of Ghana.

The true scale of the slave trade→

Practical notes, no sugar-coating

• Go with a guide. The routes are unmarked, the caves are dark, and the sacred sites carry rules you will not know. Everything is arranged at the community visitor centre.
• Fees are paid at the visitor centre. Ask for the current rate and a receipt.
• Cash. There is nothing to draw money from in Buoyem. Bring small notes from Techiman.
• Bring shoes with grip, a hat for the caves, a torch, water, and rain gear in the wet seasons.
• Photography at the sacred sites — ask first, and accept the answer.
• Time. A full day at minimum. Overnight if you want the bats at dusk.

Checked September 2026. The history of the caves is oral tradition and is given as such. Fees, festival dates and facilities change; confirm with the community before travelling.