Best of Ghana

The trip was good for seeing Ghana as it exists today as a modern, bustling country. The itinerary attempted to give a widespread cover of the country but the poor road conditions and very heavy commercial traffic made the long drives slow, and uncomfortable … with limited viewings in the distant wildlife reserve destinations seeming a “waste of a long challenging drive”. The guide and accommodations were superb.

accommodation was great. No sleeping bag liners or mosquito nets were needed. Travelled in April. Receive a better exchange rate with larger notes i.e. $50 or $100 dollar bills. We exchanged $200. US dollars at the airport & this lasted all holiday!! As vegetarians there were always plenty of bean stews etc although we always clarified this with the hotel/restaurant-guide not really helpful with this. Worth donning your swimwear to stand under the Kintampo Waterfall - loved it. Opted for the cycling-helmet included at Picathartes Guesthouse great 1 hour trip on dusty red roads, my partner opted to seek the Yellow Headed Picathartes-wasn`t disappointed-great clear view. Locals set up a screen to show a film that night which we watched with the local children sharing the sweets that we had brought from home and popcorn...disappointed that the other group members went to their rooms. A night safari proved a great choice when we were shown a Pangolin ABSOLUTLY AMAZING. Tree planting the next day-I planted 7 trees in the pouring rain around the school ground. Not much to do at Cape Coast-beach dirty best option is kayaking in the shallow lagoon. Tried my hand at weaving, printing & drumming which I enjoyed. Went to a batik workshop and now have a colourful piece of cloth printed by myself. Mole N.P. good for elephants accommodation overlooked the water hole, the jeep safaris were disappointing from a birders point of view as the guides rarely stopped to point birds out. Monkeys were in abundance outside our room in the morning playing around. Kakum N.P. very disappointing for wildlife even on the canopy walk-zero wildlife seen. The Explore guide failed to build a rapport with our small group of 6. Despite having extensive bird knowledge seemed most reluctant to share this other than the 2 scheduled bird trips. We all felt extremely safe with our driver Frank. On the whole there was an awful lot of travelling which was very tiring at times but was necessary to see the country. From a birders point of view, although I saw good birds I left the country feeling as though I should have seen more.

The accommodations were variable, always clean and with hot water but some places were tired and in need of updating. Air conditioning was a must as it was hot and humid, however most were noisy and not good for a light sleeper. The staff were always helpful and friendly. Food in the hotels and restaurants was plentiful and there was always fish or chicken for those less adventurous, accompanied by mountains of rice or pasta. We were able to meet the locals, often visiting their homes, and learn about their cultures and beliefs. Also how they lived off the land and produced most of the food they need for the villages and to sell at the market stalls. We were able to try our hand at weaving, dying cloth and making garments. All extremely interesting and an education. We experienced Kayaking, canoeing, climbing through the tree canopies in the forest along rope bridges plus lots of other activities. All under the guidance and care of our very informative tour guide Oscar and driver Prince. Our tours through the castles was quite daunting, learning how the slave trade treated people was shocking. All in all our holiday was an exceptional experience, if not quite exhausting. We were disappointed with the lack of wildlife but was not through lack of exciting safari drives trying to find the animals, with so much else going on our cameras were never idol. Jan and Arthur