The sacred crocodile ponds of Paga are one of the most remarkable wildlife encounters in West Africa. Large Nile crocodiles — sometimes over two metres long — live in shallow ponds at the edge of town, considered sacred by the local Kassena people. For a small fee, a guide will call a crocodile from the water by clapping, coaxing it with a live chicken, and then invite visitors to sit on the animal's back for photographs. The crocodiles are genuinely docile: well-fed, habituated to humans over generations, and apparently in no hurry to disturb an arrangement that has worked for centuries.
The main pond is Chief's Pond (near the Nakore chief's palace); the Zenga Pond on the other side of town is quieter and less visited. There are several ponds in total, and guides know them all. Come in the morning or late afternoon when the reptiles are most active — midday heat drives them into the water or the shade. The experience is entirely without barriers or safety equipment. It is, somewhat astonishingly, fine.