Cocoa Village Guesthouse, Lake Bosumtwi

We are informing Bradt guide readers that we have a newly opened Guesthouse at Lake Bosumtwi called a Cocoa Village Guesthouse. We have 4 rooms accommodation (two bungalows and two dormitory rooms) with bar and restaurant for serving drinks, breakfast, lunch or dinner. A rate for 4 person bungalow is 70 Ghc, a bungalow for 2 persons is 50 Ghc, dormitory is 15 Ghc per person and camping is 10 Ghc per person.
Cocoa Village Guesthouse is located 5 km right of Abono, after Rainbow Garden Village guest house (near Anyinatiase village).
We are organizing Ghana guided tours with own off-road vehicle for individuals and small groups. Guesthouse is located on the lake shore so swimming is possible. We can also arrange round the lake hiking and other activities.
For more information visit our web site http://www.cocoa-village.com/cocoaEN or contact us on
Email: info@cocoa-village.comcall on Tel: +233 20 861 2675.

Thank you for visiting us
Matevz & Tomas

News from Green Ranch, Lake Bosomtwe

We would like to update some information regarding. the activities and services offered by the Green Ranch.

First of all, accomodation is now available for our horses’friends in a mud-brick tatched-roofed bungalow and costs 30 GhC for one person and 25 Ghc per person from 2 up to 4 persons including breakfast. Full boarding is available for an extra GhC 20 (excluding drinks) and includes a local food lunch plus a 3-course dinner.

The Green Ranch vegetarian table proposes not only an amazing view over the lake and mountains but also some very personal delights such as natural drinks, a wide range of salads and of course, its homemade yogurts and cottage cheese. All our food is meant to be made of highly quality local produce (i.e. Volta brown rice, peanut butter…) together with our organic home-grown vegetable when available.

And of course, the horse-back rides…………you will have to experience it to know what it is like to ride around the whole lake in a ….9-hour-journey that takes you into the local cocoa farms, up to the thick bush of the mountain, down to the waterside jungle and through the stoney 22 villages that are located around the lake. Oh yes ! it is a unique experience indeed !

Our prices are now such :
First hour starts at GhC 30
Additional half hour GhcC 15
Extra hours GhC 25
Around the lake (advanced booking only) GhC 150

Thank you,

The Green Ranch Family

+233 20 29 17 058 and +233 20 35 34 870

email: sistaelo@hotmail.com

Horse riding at Lake Bosumtwi

We would like to inform all the Bradt guide readers of the Ghana book that we have newly opened a horse ranch called The Green Ranch at Lake Bosomtwe and we offer horse-rides from 1 hour to 1 day to all…Our horses are all Ghanean (!) and I, myself, am a professionnal French horse-trekking guide.

‘Safety in sports’ and ‘Respect of the environment and local communities’ are our mottos so we are very concerned in bringing a safe enjoyable activity with healthy and well-looked-after animals and site.

The first hour of a ride is priced GHC 25, then extra hours are GHC 20 (so, for instance, if you want to go for 3 hours, it will cost you GHC 65. A full day ride (8 hours) around the whole lake including a break for lunch costs GHC 100 (including the lunch)
We also offer a little cowboy ride for children under 7 at the small charge of GHC 5 for 10 min.

Hopefully, we’ll fully complete the Green Ranch project by the end of the year when we’ll propose the Bed & Breakfast option then with strictly vegetarian (mainly home-grown) food shared at our table.

We are located 3 km from Abono, branch to the right at the school junction, on the (rough) road leading to the Rainbow Garden Village.

Thank you for visiting us and experiencing a ride in the wilderness of Bosomtwe !

Elodie & Kojo

email: sistaelo@hotmail.com

Tel: +233 (0) 20 29 17 058 or  (0) 20 35 34 870 or (0) 54 17 27 204
(Our numbers are not always well covered by the network but in case they are unavailable, sms should get through)

Agnes’s updates

some updates from our last trip from Takoradi to Kumasi and Accra last week.
- Bobiri Forest Reserve
Coming from Kumasi, the signpost indicating the Reserve is not more present. Take the second road on the left inside the village of Kubuase.
The double self contained room is now at 30 GhC/night. A generator produces electricity from 6 pm to 9 pm. If the breakfast is a good value (6 GhC), the diner is not (7 GhC for spaghettis or rice with tomato sauce). It is better to bring some food.
- Lake Bosumtwi
the “toll” to access to the lake is now more formal and delivers receipts. 1 GhC for Ghanaian and 2 GhC for non-Ghanaian
Some problems of management at Rainbow gardens resort (room not clean before our arrival, huge electricity shortage and generator out of order) but the site is beatiful and the staff very friendly. 50 GhC/room for a self-contained bungalow
- Bunso Arboretum
interesting visit for 10 GhC/pers. The guesthouse is no more available as the local chief succed to obtain the right to use it for his own and non frequent use. It is still possible to put your tent near the visitor center.

Cheers,

Agnes

 

Stefan’s updates

ACCRA.
Rising Phoenix is great value but you have to like rastafari culture (they are constantly hanging around there).
Fort Ussher: worth seeing, but in a bad state of repair – ask the guard which parts to enter, some are close to structural collapse.
Beaches: forget about it, also at Labadi Beach Hotel. The water is full of rubbish, better go some dozen kilometres westward or eastward.

CAPE COAST.
At Haizel’s guesthouse, the water pressure was not sufficient to make the showers in the second floor work.

NEAR KAKUM.
Hans’ Botel deserves positive feedback for the beautiful view of the pond and the many weavers, and the rooms are also ok. They could improve on their breakfast however. If not on a weekend, it is all but overcrowded.
At the nearby ostrich farm, construction is going on which will result in a new lodge. At least the place is quite beautiful, not too close to the street and on a hill with a view of the forest.

KUMASI.
Baboo’s is good but Queen’s Gate can also be recommended. The “King of kings” (near Tasco’s) is dark, loud, and offers a view of a backyard only.
Sanbra hotel is good, but try to get a room with natural light.
The Vodafone internet cafe near the post office is excellent.

GREATER ASHANTI.
The Besease shrine is a nice place to rest among the tortoises, but the priest speaks just enough English to tell you that he wants money; a visit is not really rewarding.
Abono at Lake Bosumtwi can be very peaceful in the morning, with most tourists arriving only at ten or later. Still, you cannot avoid the BAKDA rope and the caretaker, and many begging children aged around 8-12.

TAMALE
The connections offered by OA travel are as good (and as cheap) as those by STC.
Heritage hotel (near Las) was a bit shabby and suffered from permanent power failure. There are some more hotels at that corner that deserve to be scouted for the next edition.

MOLE
Mognori can definitely be recommended as a less decadent alternative to Mole Motel. It is a pity that most inhabitants do not speak English, but all a very friendly, and the local guides are up to their task. In our case, the transfer to the park was a bit improvised and hazardous, with three people on a motorcycle, so you better say in advance whether you want to accept this.

HO
The Kalapka reserve offers a beautiful landscape of woodland, forest, and hills. The ranger was very eager to give up an interesting walk. There will be a guesthouse at the rangers’ camp near Abutia Kloe in the near future offering a very basic accomodation (it has not yet been sorted out whether and how they will get electricity for the guests).

EAST COAST/KETA
Every place seemed to be void of tourists (we were there on a weekday), the guesthouses as well as the beaches, and the water is very clean and ideal for swimming.
Abutia guesthouse is quite large and has 4 types of rooms (not: 4 rooms).
Maranatha is very scenic, as is the boat taxi transfer to there and from Abunyiani to Ada.

Stefan

Fabienne’s updates

Hello,

I am coming back from a recent 2 weeks stay in Ghana, with your precious guidebook as a helper (5th edition)!

Here are some comments, additions, suggestions and so on, that might be helpful to others I hope:

GENERAL
- page 65: banks would NEVER change money, only the forex bureau of the towns

- page 70: we never saw an accident and all of the tro-tros we took where far more prudent than in many countries where we have traveled!

CAPE COAST

- page 163: the Standard chartered on Chapel square has closed
- page 166: Baobab house, apart from all its wonderful concept has now, in the house, rooms to rent. 15 cedis for two, nice (but the facilities are shared in the courtyard and they will not provide you with towels); a very good value and location.
- page 166: Chic Hebbs village seems nice but it as very few things from the list to serve and the woman-owner is too welcoming but in fact she is not sincere and just wants to make money; she does not behave nicely with her staff.
- in Cape Coast you have not mentioned the post office, after the Savoy hotel up the hill then right handside.

ELMINA
- page 177: the post office is not there anymore ; Gramsdel restaurant … does not serve food, just drinks! But a nice place to eat, after the post office on your map going towards Gramsdel but on the same side of the street as the post office “Cozy corner”, a simple hut serving good ghanean food, a decent selection, freshly cooked, not expensive.

BUSUA
- in Busua, best than any places to eat (Daniel the pancake man included) the street food!

ABURI
- page 240: the cocoa farm is nice to visit but they do ask a fee of 5 cedis per person
- nice place to eat in Aburi, “Bamboo canteen”: a long list of ghanean dishes, not expensive, very good, nice lady cooking and managing, open from very early morning to late at night. Coming from May lodge, left handside after the fork where the carvers are. May lodge now charges 25 not 15.

KOFORIDUA

- page 246: Kes charges 23 the double, not 13!

AKOSOMBO
- page 256: the Continental hotel will also change dollars
- page 257: Adomi charges 30 and 40 which is overpriced for the rooms and the staff is not welcoming. Benkum is much better (also charging 20 and 25 now)

LAKE BOSOMTWI
- page 327: in Abono the “caretaker” is still there and bugging!

ATIA KUSIA
- page 332: in Atia Kusia, they wanted 17 C for two!

It was our first trip with Bradtguide and it is just wonderful, complete, serious. Thanks!

Fabienne

 

 

Lake Point Guesthouse, Lake Bosumtwi

We also had a great stay at Lake Point Guesthouse by Bosumtwi lake – clean, friendly and very high standard in general but at the same time not detached from the neighbouring villages at all. We had a super new years’ party on the lake shore  – a totally non-touristy affair set up by the villagers for themselves and we were welcome to join in.

Spela

Annette’s updates

I spent 4 months in Ghana during 2007 in which I lived just near Kumasi and travelled North to South and recently spent another 2 weeks in 2010 travelling mostly East to West. I have a few updates to the Bradt Guide which I hope will prove useful for the next edition (I was travelling with the 4^th edition as the 5^th edition was not yet out).

ACCRA – I stayed at the Silver Gate Hotel. It is located in Demalt (North Kaneshie) and rooms cost between 15 and 25 cedi. The rooms are very large, self-contained places with a fan and TV. The staff are very friendly and helpful. I stayed here twice and both times it was excellent.

CAPE COAST – Stayed at the Red Cross Hotel. Actually quite impressed. It was really clean and the staff were eager to help even going so far as using their mobile phones to call our next port of call to see whether they had rooms available. At Cape Coast Castle they employ policemen to help tourists (and  keep hawkers out). They are really friendly and even gave me lunch while I was waiting for my friend to finish.

ELMINA – Mabel’s Table. We walked here from Elmina Castle and it was quite a trek! It was a bit more expensive then quoted in the 4^th edition but the food was excellent and they were really large portions. Probably one meal between two would have sufficed.

BEYIN – Beyin Beach Resort. This was our favourite place. The new budget accommodations cost 20 cedi a night (huts with beds and mosquito nets). It was very clean, the shared bathrooms were the best I have seen and it was in such a beautiful location.

NZULEZO – We didn’t stay here. The boat ride was so beautiful although I didn’t see too much as I was constantly bailing out the boat! Did seem a bit gimmicky. The chief’s daughter brought her purse along to our ‘meeting’ to pocket any money we seemed obliged to fork out. Interesting place though.

PRAMPRAM – We set out to find the Turtle Conservation and Ecotourism Project but could not find any sign of it. We asked around the village and nobody seemed to think that they were still around. I have big question marks next to this project in my book. Hotel de Vas was closed, nobody seemed sure if it was going to reopen. We stayed at Sealane and had the same problems as other readers. The ‘Western-style’ food was very expensive. There no water and broken lights. It looked like a very tired place. When we told them we weren’t going to pay unless we got water, they fixed something and we had temperamental water but no hot water. For 30-60 cedis a night, we could have hoped for much more (just take Beyin Beach Resort for instance!). The breakfast which is included is just tea and bread (egg is extra!). Highly recommend not staying here. On the other hand, the ‘Who is your friend chop bar’ had excellent fresh food and really good service.

KETA – From Ho we caught a tro-tro to Denu and then one to Keta. We stayed at Abutia Guesthouse for 12 cedi. The shared bathrooms were absolutely full of mosquitoes (as were the rooms…). I guess that’s what you pay for being so close to the lagoon. The restaurant was not serving food and they instead sent us to Angel Food (on the road to the Lighthouse) which had really good and well-priced food.

BIAKPA – Mountain Paradise Lodge. Unfortunately the weather was terrible while we were staying here and I got the feeling that they were trying to charge for every single little thing. Everything came at a cost. There was no mention of the shared bathroom accommodation (maybe it was full?) and we were not allowed to use tents as it was so wet. The self-contained room was priced considerably more than the book said at 25 – 39.5 cedis. There is now electricity at the site. Taxis were expensive to get there but we were lucky enough to meet the owner of Mountain Paradise at Fume who, although on his way to Hohoe, took our bags so that we could more easily walk the distance from Fume to the Lodge.

FUME – Hanson’s Spot was closed and didn’t look like it was going to reopen anytime soon. We asked many, many people in the village about the unsignposted guesthouse but nobody seemed to know about it.

TAFI ATOME. Accommodation cost 15 cedi. The beds were the most uncomfortable that I came across in Ghana. They do have a running shower now though (no buckets) and the drinks in the shop were cold. The monkey tour was at 6am and we had an excellent guide. Food at the chef’s house was amazing! Seemed the ONLY way to get to and from Tafi Atome was by motorcycle for 1 cedi each way.

HOHOE – Stayed at Grand Hotel. The bar was really loud. I slept with earplugs. Had breakfast at Taste Lodge. Reasonable food but service was very slow (even for Ghana!).

KUMASI – I stayed with friends but when I did have to stay in a hotel in the city, I went to the Kumasi Wesleyan Guest House which is on Asomfo St. It was quite disappointing. There were many stairs to get there and it was not that clean (hair in shower and when we asked to move rooms because our air conditioner didn’t work there were tissues under the bed…). 32 cedis a night for TV and air con. Good location. Nurom Inn Annexe was closed for renovations.

LAKE BOSUMTWI – 2 cedi entrance fee for white people. Good lunch and drinks at Lake Paradise Resort.

Regards,

Annette.

 

 

 

Wildwin Resort, Lake Bosumtwi

The management of the newly opened Wildwin Resort has emailed me with the following details

“Wildwin Resort is on Lake Bosomtwe, 2.6km left of Abono, after Lake View guest house.  We have 8 room accomadation (rates are 40-70 Ghc, aprox. $27-49) based on the size of the room. We offer activities ranging from,Camping, Swimming, Hiking, Volleyball, Pool/Snooker, Table Tennis, Fishing, Rafting and numerous Board Games. for more details visit our website or call us at +233-20-672-8613.”

Lake Bosumtwi lodges

Hi Philip, I’m really finding this updates site useful, thank you. I thought I would add some small small info about a recent trip to Lake Bosumtwi. So I am a research scientist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and I’m currently based at the Kintampo Health Research Centre in Brong Ahafo, and have been slowly making my way around the attractions of the country over the past 6 months with my trusty 2007 edition of the Bradt guide. I thought I’d post on my recent experience (8th Aug 09) on a weekend jaunt to Lake bosumtwi with my friend Christine. We had booked to stay at the Lakepoint Guesthouse in Abono: We both rang/texted the LakePoint Guest House owner multiple times the day before we were going, to find out if there were any chalets available. After several tries it finally became clear to her that no, we weren’t separate bookings, yes, we were staying for 2 nights, and yes, we were more than happy to have the 3-bed chalet even though there were only two of us if everything else was booked. Phew! so that sorted we finally made our way with a friendly taxi driver on the Friday night from Kumasi. 3/4 of the way there on a very bad road we rang for directions on a very bad line, to be told that our room was no longer free ‘because we had not confirmed’. I was a bit concerned but thought we could sort it in one way or another as it seemed that inexplicably a couple of dorm beds were now vacant. We arrived there, and I must say it is in a beautiful secluded location, the buildings are well made and decorated- the main restaurant/reception was very pretty with fairy lights everywhere and a nice breeze. The chalk menu on the blackboard looked yummy (nice fusion seafood/ghanaian/european) and the other guests seemed really content. S, we arrived at the reception to enquire whether we could sort out the issue with our room. We politely asked if we could discuss our booking. The girl on reception at first denied that we had booked, but we then tactfully pointed out that our names were right there in the book in front of her. OK, so they did not have any more chalets she said, but we could have a look at the dorm. We were reluctant to do this at first as we were looking forward to a relaxed weekend without having to sleep with randoms with different itineraries. So we asked again if we could speak to the manager to whom I had just spoken on the phone. The girl smiled and shook her head ‘she will not come, she has hurt her foot’. So we smiled equally vacuously and said, no prob, we’ll go to her office. So needless to say she goes to get her. The manager does not come with the receptionist, but she sends a message saying that we should have confirmed. We rightly repeated that were not aware that we needed to confirm, we were not told to do this after any of our many calls otherwise we definitely would have done so, and we had only just booked the previous afternoon anyway. In the middle of this, the manager finally arrives, limping on a bandaged foot, looking very peeved. So we smile and start again. She gets very annoyed and cuts me off before I’ve even started ‘ we have no more chalets, what do you want me to do, build you a house’ and ‘So do you want to sleep with me then’ I was very embarrassed, we were disturbing guests and she was shouting like a madwoman by this time. It was very difficult to explain that we were not in the wrong, she should not have given away our rooms without confirming with us whether we were coming, and her lack of remorse or any attempt to apologise or compensate made us very reluctant to be shuttled off to a dorm at their convenience. So she eventually shouted at us to ‘Fuck Off’ – and we unsurprisingly decided to leave. We should have left much earlier. We ended up at another place, the Lake Paradise Hotel nearby, which although is a bit of a large, souless Accra-type outfit, the rooms were great quality, the beds luxuriously large, and the views of the lake were lovely. And most importantly the owner and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful and sympathetic about our circumstances, which maybe in retrospect is worth more than staying in a trendy eco-lodge if the landlady is a nutter. We walked (hiked) to and from the Rainbow Village Guesthouse from our hotel the next day which was great fun, and really enjoyed our day there- it is extremely colourful and nicely landscaped, there is a wooden jetty from which you can swim, a volleyball court and lots of sunloungers. We were brought freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee by a humorous teenage waiter. We ordered food which was fine, and had a near miss at the end of the day with the same waiter who tried to charge us an extra 6 cedis for sitting on the loungers. He gave up pretty quickly with a laugh when we spotted the charge. So I guess my take-way points at the end of this not-so-small post is that Lakepoint Guesthouse can be a huge disappointment. I know other people who’s rooms have been overbooked at the last minute, and one girl I know was told after she had called the guesthouse to change her booking that ‘she changes her mind as often as she changes her knickers’ by this woman (admittedly this is second-hand info about someone else’s experience). So even though I have personally vowed never to return to that place, I would actually still recommend it if you can avoid having to deal with her, or if you are prepared to make other arrangements at the last minute if rooms are overbooked. Lake Bosumtwi is beautiful a relaxing place to spend a weekend, and we saw some very colourful birds- Rainbow Village has a tree full of chattering weavers- but be aware that mobile phone reception around the lake is very poor to non-existent- which might be just the thing for some people- making it a bit more difficult for us to arrange for taxis etc.

Shay