Ghana may not be known as mass tourist destination but my recent visit to the West African country showed me how wonderful it is and how much potential it has for tourism. I absolutely loved its richness, beauty, warm and easy going people.
For the first time since the birth of my son, this summer, I packed my old backpack for a real journey. And to be in an exotic new surroundings, with my sister and her friends, we chose off-the-beaten-track destination: Ghana.
When I wanted to buy a guide book to know about the country from FNAC bookstore in Paris, I found none. Nor much more luck on the Internet, apart from some web pages and forums of complaining travellers on the backpacker’s website. I am thus sharing my travel account with essential tips for those planning a trip to the West African country.
First of all, some general information: Ghana is on the Atlantic Coast, bordered by Ivory Coast in the west, Togo in the east, and Burkina Faso in the north. Contrary to their French-speaking neighbours, the Ghanaians speak English. But the official language is the Twi. They speak of course dozens different dialects there, as everywhere in Africa.
Both words which you will hear most in Ghana are:
Akwaaba – Welcome! Everywhere, all the time, people welcome you and ask you how you are. The Ghanaians are really, very welcoming (contrary to what is said on the above-mentioned forums).
Obroni – white person (Even when you are a person of mixed blood.) Anecdotally, the etymology of the word Obroni is not kind … It means Nasty Man (and frankly, seen the history of the country, it is not surprising). But the word is not used in the same sense today. Thus you should not take offence that when the children walk by saying “Obroni! Obroni!”
As for the food … well let us be honest, if you are into culinary tourism, this country is not for you. In Ghana the specialities are Fufu and Banku, cassava dish served with soup or chicken or the fish. They eat so a lot of fried rices, and my favorite dish, Red Red: a stew of red beans served with spiced plantains. After 15 days of this diet, you will undoubtedly crave for a burger or a good Nicoise salad.
Yet, we ate lots of fresh peanuts that we bought from the roadside street vendors. In fact, you cannot say that you have tasted peanut as long as you did not eat those green peanuts. ……..
We also regularly bought hot fired plantain and good big mangoes from those roadside vendors.
The trip took us through a cross section of Ghana for two weeks, and here is our route. We did not have time to go to the north western part of the country, where there is an amazing park, we were told: the National park of Mole. But because of the rain, roads were not always passable, and we did not want to pass two days on muddy roads. I might one day go back there to see the elephants of Mole!
DAY 1
Arrived in Accra. We immediately embarked on the northern direction, near the border with Togo to explore the mountains part of the country. We drive a large part of the day, over a tolerably good road, but at times rocky and difficult: it rained so much that the roads were transformed into rivers.
We passed through some of the most beautiful scenery on our first day of travel.
I had not expected the country to be so green. It was luxuriant everywhere. Beautiful! At the end of the day, just before dark 18h, we finally arrived at Mountain Paradise, a nice hotel situated right in the mountain, in the middle of nowhere. The place has an amazing view.
Double room: The comforts of the guest houses are spartan (No hot water in the bathroom, like much everywhere else) but it’s clean. The food is excellent, and the view awesome. The owner is very nice and he will organize you everything you wish. Ask for Adam, the young helpful handyman, and kiss him for me. (Hmmm, Adam …)
Day 2
We get up very early, and begin the day by a great session yoga in front of the mountain. We have the best teacher with us, and we are going to take advantage of it at the most throughout the stay.
After 1:30 am sun salutation and downward facing dog, we decide to go walking in the surrounding mountains. Two hours of steep little climbs in the middle of cassava, avocado, banana, cocoa trees (Do you know that the pulp of the cocoa fruit is edible? It is very pleasant and looks like mango fruit). Adam, our young person and magnificent guide (yes, I fell in love with him) surprised us by bringing us to the foot of a waterfall, into which we spent time diving with delight. In fact, the holidays starts well for me.
Day 3
After a second night in Mountain Paradise, we hit the road up still further north, in the direction of Wli, to see the famous waterfalls.
We bath in the lower falls (90 meters high, all the same) and the experience is incredible. How refreshing it was at the foot of the falls!
The second upper falls, the 300 meters high, was outside of our reach. We arrive too late for the six hours hike which would allow us to join the upper falls, we stay around admiring its grandeur in awe from far.
Double room: The place is great, and the cabins are staggeringly clean for a Ghanaian hotel (Did I mention it was run by a German family?). Nice place. Besides we have eaten well, it was probably the best dinner of our trip.
Day 4
This day, we had to head the Ashanti region, in the Western part of the country, very far from the falls of Wli. We hoped to cross the lake Volta and bypass the road, but we have never managed to figure out the exact schedules of passage of boats, and our driver, Emmanuel – who could be stubborn – was completely against the idea of crossing. We abandoned the idea to cross the lake by dugout and we returned to travel by road. The route by road is very long, up to the lake Bosumtwi, near Kumasi.
Small precision on the lake Volta:
It is the largest artificial lake of western Africa.
It has a surface of 3500 km ².
The lake is formed by the Akosombo Dam completed in 1965.
About 80 000 Ghanaians had to be resettled to make way for the dam (which represented 1 % of the total population of the country).
We arrive at nightfall at the Green Ranch, a lodge held by a Frenchwoman, Elodie passionate about horse riding.
Rooms are clean, and there is also a small dormitory for 4 with bunk beds. Everything is a little bit rickety but the view on the lake is stunning, and Elodie is an adorable host. The big advantage of this place, are Elodie’s horses. She proposes horseback riding expeditions around the lake. If you do not like horses, consider other options: you will be disturbed by the smell of stables situated just under the rooms.
DAY 5
Today is Saturday, and we do not want to miss the Kimasi market for the world. It is the biggest market in the country. We have one thing in mind: bring back as many batiks as possible. Thus we are going to roam the labyrinthine of tiny alleyways of this immense market in search of good motifs, cheerful color. We returned with meters and meters of fabrics.
After a second night in the Green Ranch, we are ready for a tour of the lake Bosumtwi on horseback. Elodie, our host, is an excellent teacher and for the first time in my life, I really enjoyed the horse ride, I who has been a poor rider.
Lake Bosumtwi is Ghana’s only true lake, lying in a meteorite impact crater, without any outlet to the sea. It is 10,5 km in diameter and possesses a surface of 49 km ² filled with water. The age of this lake is estimated at more than 1 million years. It is recognized as a Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO. People from nearby villages practice traditional fishing methods on the lake.
The rest of the day, we spend it just chilling by the lake in another very nice recent lodge: Cocoa Village Guesthouse. Bathing, stand up paddling, reading, simply relaxing.
4 person Bungalow: 40 euros. This is one of my favorite hotels in Ghana. The rooms are clean and cosy, nice welcome, the small beach is an invitation to relax.
DAY 7
This time, destination to the coast. We go to Axim, a town in the Western part of the country, not far from the Ivory Coast border. The road is long yet very good, and we once again take advantage to enjoy the landscape. In the evening, we arrive in a magnificent hotel situated on a hillside with a great ocean view. Nice to feel the chill in the air.
We have an immense and air-conditioned room (the first one!) with a fantastic view overlooking the beach. Once again, we were amazed to find out that we were the only tourists in this fantastic hotel, a hotel that would have been crowded at some other countries at this time of year.
Turtle Beach Villa: Double bungalow with terrace, 180 USD. Everything is clean, the service is excellent, the staff lovely. There is a saltwater pool (a little green). Starting from August, you could see sea turtles and whales. Another great spot!
DAY 8
We begin our day with a magnificent session of yoga in front of the Atlantic Ocean. It is so great to travel with one of the best of yoga teachers. The rest of the day, the weather conditions was not in our advantage to go to the beach, so we took the opportunity to make a tour of Axim, a small nearby port of artisanal fishermen, typical of Africa.
DAY 9
We were told about gorgeous property in the coast of Axim, and with a feeling of curiosity, we went to see. On a private peninsula in a picturesque spot, a bungalow of two rooms, two bathrooms one with bathtub overlooking the sea, a terrace, a garden and a private pool. Once again, this magical place which could blush with envy any resort of Tulum in Mexico, is desperately empty. The staff, seeing that we hesitated, offers us our dream night in 50 % discount. We did not hesitate for long. For 90 euros half a pension for a person, we offered ourselves the honeymoon suite. I can tell you that we did nothing. Nothing. Room service for the breakfast, lunch, the dinner, and the breakfast the next day. I am already dreaming of returning there.
Island Cape Villa with private pool: 490 euros per night. But I swear, it’s worth it. So much. This is without a doubt the most beautiful hotel that I have ever stayed in my life. 1000 stars.
DAY 10
I thought that we that we were done with explorations. But no. We left the Island Cape villa and embarked on car ride. New stage: Elmina, and the visit of the “castle”.
Here, a little lesson in history is in order. The Ghanaian heritage regarding colonial fortifications, built between 1482 and 1756 by various European powers, mainly Portuguese and English, is immense. It is some 60 forts which served as counters or as colonies on Côte-d’Or, registered on the UNESCO in the world heritage of the humanity. Besides the political and military presence of the Europeans of the centuries before the departure of colonization in Africa, a large part of these forts holds the painful memory of the deportation of the slaves from Africa to America, which was then one of the main shops of these European counters.
Visit the cells of the women, in particular, and cross the door which opens towards the sea, where they would be taken boats, is a painful experience. It is interesting to underline a historic fact which is untold during the visit of the fort of Elmina: both nearby ethnic groups of this part of Ghana, Fanti (on the coast) and the Ashanti (further north, towards Kumasi), actively participated in the slave trade, by selling to the colonists their war prisoners. It is not a question here of minimizing the role – vile, inhuman, unspeakable – Europeans in the history of the slavery, but simply to note that the memory was selective, not always justly kept. The slavery of the Africans by the Africans remain a taboo.
Day 11
If there is a touristy activity in Ghana, it is this one: a stroll on the canopy of Kakum National park. An hour from the North of Cape Coast, at the end of a track, is the biggest concentration of tourists’ bus of the country. (Well OK, two buses. And in fact they are school ones, no tourist. But all the same: lots of people!). In spite of the influx, you should not miss the visit of the dense forest on suspended rope bridge 30 or 40 meters above the ground. Note: the gift shops of Kakum are undoubtedly the best place to purchase gifts for your loved ones.
In the afternoon, we went to visit Cape Coast Castle, the largest in the country, where thousands of slaves passed through the “Door of No Return. Again, a real blow. Without having ever set foot in a concentration camp, I imagine that the emotion could be similar.
That’s it, I am happy to share my travelling experience that I will cherish for years. I’m glad i went.
Editor’s Note: This is the translation of the text published in the blog, L’art du Temps. Translated by Arefaynie Fantahun.
This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. Please cite Ethiopia Observer prominently and link clearly to the original article if you republish. If you have any queries, please contact us at ethiopiaobserver@protonmail.com. Check individual images for licensing details.
