Regarding the President Hotel in Accra, your info is still mostly correct — rooms a bit grungy, but still great value — but you might want to let the folks know that the hotel has a church service in the front courtyard every Sunday morning. If you are in your room, you will hear every word of it. Not a problem for me, but might be an annoyance for others.

I will say, though, that the President has the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. I honestly want to ship it home.

I’ve just returned from a 3-week trip to Ghana (April/May 2013), mostly along the Western Ghanaian coast and to Ashanti region, and would like to mention that the entrance fees for sights (e.g. Elmina & Cape Coast castle, Kakum National Park) have increased quite a bit for foreigners, plus there is now a 20 cedi camera fee in both castles! (instead of 2 cedis)

Abraerica in Amedzofe (http://abraericahospitalities.com) Is Hosting The 2013 Amedzofe Devt. Association Congress. Visit This Festivity For Your Reliaxation .Have Fun With The Dream Big Guy In Their Gospel Performance On Good Friday Night.Borborbor Will Take It Turn At 4:00Pm.Be There And Dance To The Tune.

Brief Story Of Dipo Passage Rite:
Descriptions
* The Krobo mark the passage of girls into womanhood by performing a series of rituals known as Dipo.
* Dipo rites have been practiced since the eleventh century, and their popularity has not waned despite modern intrusions into traditional Ghanaian culture.
* At the beginning of the Dipo ceremony, each initiate enters a ritual house, sheds her clothing, symbolic of childhood, and is dressed anew by her ritual mother.
* The morning after shaving their heads, the initiates carry their calabashes to the river to bathe. The washing ceremony is a purification rite to cleanse the body and spirit.
* After their ritual bathing, the girls are fed a special meal of water-yam porridge and palm-oil sauce prepared by their mothers.
* The initiates are helped by priestesses.
* The girls undergo inner and outer transformation with the help of specially appointed Dipo guardians.
* The climax of the Dipo initiation ceremony is called the blessing of Tekpete, referring to a legendary sacred stone which the Krobo carried down from Krobo Mountain when the British evicted them from their place of origin in the nineteenth century.
* The initiate wears pure white strips of calico around her head and chest.
* Each initiate has been splashed with chalky water to ward off any evil forces that might overcome him.
* The initiate maintains a contemplative silence by pressing a single leaf between her lips.
* The initiate is carried by her father or other family member after sitting on the sacred stone of virginity.
* Each initiate has been splashed with chalky water to ward off any evil forces that may overcome her.
* Despite the influence of the Christian church in Ghana the Krobo people consider the Dipo ceremony their most sacred an beautiful ceremonial tradition.
* The initiates are shaved their heads by their ritual mother.
* A shaved initiate.
* After blessing the sacred stone of virginity: if a girl is found not to be a virgin, or, worse still, if she is discovered to be pregnant, she risks to be ostracized and will never attract a husband from their own tribe.
* The initiates are now ready for their Out-dooring Ceremony, during which they will be presented to the community of family, friends and potential suitors.
* The Krobo are among the oldest and most famous makers of recycled glass beads in Africa. many of the beads, known as KORI, ZARGBAH, POWAH, OTANKAH or AGGREY, are made locally; others have been trade from Venice since the seventeenth century, as well as from Holland.
* During the final week of Dipo instruction, the girls have studied the art of dance and music .
* Dipo girls learned about the subtleties of seduction, including special techniques of cooking
* Denoting family wealth and social status, each type of bead an initiate wears has a name of significance.
(1) Blue beads, called KOLI, mean “something you love very much”, and are associated with affection and tenderness.
(2) Yellow beads symbolize maturity and prosperity.
The large yellow beads known as BORDOM beads are said to possess magical protective powers.
(3) White beads signify respect for the gods and ancestors when worn by priestesses. The village priest wears a Dipo-straw hat and clad in white gown , always on mango pack.
* At their Outdooring Ceremony, Krobo initiates, perform the KLAMA dance which emphasizes their graceful movements.
* Tied around her neck are beads that are often been passed down through a family for many generations. Men of other tribes consider Krobo women to be among the most desirable in West Africa.
* The beads around their necks are of great value for the Krobo.
* The Krobo girls demonstrate their dancing skills for the chief, relatives, and, most importantly, prospective suitors who gather to admire the display of feminine grace and beauty.

We are adding a dormitory to our facility. By the end of this month, March 2013, a dormitory capable of sleeping 20 persons will be ready. It has 2 baths and 2 toilets with a corridor overlooking the picturesque valleys. The price is GH 20.00 per person, per night.

Hideout Lodge (Butre):

Huge recommendation for this little hotel. We slept in a treehouse and we were very impressed by the friendliness of the staff (a much desired attribute that missed in most hotels we visited) and the quality of the food and room we stayed in. Price/Quality was excellent so if anyone is looking for a secluded spot at the beach please consider this location.

Batenstein Fort

Quite a negative experience for us visiting batenstein fort in Butre. We have been coming and going to butre a couple of times because we came back for hideout lodge when first staying there, having a good experience and coming back to it after green turtle lodge and we saw when we arrived and left from the trotro spot, a small simple wooden shed, which read “tourist office”. Now before we went to batenstein we saw this office at least four times, none of the times it being occupied.

We went to search for the path up the hill to the fort and from the bridge to hideout we took a right (afterwards we saw we should have taken a left). We walked through forest on a little footpath, came across a wateringhole and some people who would only show us the way “for something” so we just said hi and moved along. Finally we found what we thought was the path and through a very interesting climb we reached the fort. We enjoyed some nice views and we saw from there a path had been made that went directly into the village. So when we were done seeing the fort we went back down along the path. When we came back down into the village however we were in for a rude surprise.

A man came up to us saying we were to pay for visiting the fort and that we had to follow him to the tourist office (which was until then unoccupied on all occasions). We were asked to pay 10 cedi for seeing it even though it is nowhere even hinted at, a fee has to be paid when visiting the fort (not in the village itself, not on your way to the fort, not at the fort itself, no sign whatsoever). The tourist office, was suddenly occupied by 3 other men and a book was given to us for registration purposes (interesting detail, the oldest registration was only just after the italians renovated the fort and built a path to it in 2010). We put down our details and in the column for amount paid we put 10 cedis and gave him the money. We then asked for a receipt to know the money would go to the village, to a guide (we did not have) and keeping up the fort but he gave us some bogus excuse not to give the receipt. Desillusioned we went back to hideout afterwards and were very dissapointed this had happened. So please, if you are going to visit the fort, be warned you will have to pay for it, and it would be best you go to the tourist office first so you can at least get a guide with you (although I must say it seemed to me the money we paid would not be going to the village, or the guide, or the fort, but the man would just take it himself. He even said when he met us going down from the fort he “wouldn’t be here if people would not have to pay”.)

Green Turtle Lodge (Akwidaa):

This is just an opinion from two visitors so please don’t get discouraged for going there when reading this but we were not impressed. Especially since the bradt guide offers this as a great place to stay, we had a very different experience.

First of the positive aspect, we were greeted by a very friendly staff member of the reception so hats off to her.

Then the negative aspects.

- We would think, considering all the environmental friendly ideas the creators of this lodge had, to be sure of a night of solid resting. This, however, did not happen. The bed we were sleeping in (we were in the 35 cedi hut with shared bathroom) was terrible. We had a big beam right in our backs and even though me and my gf differ considerably in height we both had tremendous trouble getting comfortable (we didn’t btw). The second problem was a generator (of all things!) was on most of the night right behind our hut making the noise levels unbearable. Why would they have a generator? Especially since it is advertised they are using solar power. Even worse, the generator did not seem to be for the guests to make their stay more comfortable but for the employees (not that I would not grant the employees such benefits, but it’s at least strange the generator would seem only for them). A last problem we had, although this is in all fairness our own fault, is the huts do not have any fan or AC so it gets really hot in the hut. Too hot for us to be able to sleep together with the other two problems.

- A second negative experience for us was the turtle hike. We did this because we thought it good to support the turtles in this way but our experience with the guide seemed lacking. The guide told us a quick two sentences of turtles nesting at this part of the beach and we started walking. Due to bad luck we only saw turtle tracks and nothing else (but we usually have this bad luck when viewing animals so no surprise there) but it seemed strange to us, to walk a mile to get to a secluded spot on the beach where a change on turtle sighting would be higher, only to turn around and walk back not even 200 yards into the area. Furthermore the “guide” seemed to not know at all what he was doing, because when we asked if we there was a chance we could see eggs, he said, sure, and started digging in random spots with two hands (I seem to remember turtle eggs being very delicate and so this way of digging seemed absolutely crazy). Also only after us making a comment on it being to bad we did not see any turtle did our “guide” start using his torch a bit more often. All in all a very lacking experience.

- In the bradt guide it is mentioned they also did other excursions to a nearby national park, the stilted village etc. but when informing on this they did not seem to do those anymore. The last time he could remember they asked 300!! cedis to go to the national park which is an outrageous amount to begin with but they didn’t seem to eager to even offer us these excursions in the first place.

All in all, we were planning on staying there for 5 nights, we eventually stayed just one and left with dissapointment.

Akwidaa,

We had to go to akwidaa from the turtle lodge to catch a trotro and I noticed a troublin trend there (although this could be interpreted in other ways than I did). Children, ranging from about 10 to as young as 3 years old, seemed to be calling us “my friend” all the time. Now of course in itself this may seem harmless but after being in ghana and india, you know that “my friend” is not used in a friendly, i-just-want-to-say-hi manner, but in a i-want-something-from-you manner. Needless to say we just said hi back and would be on our way, but if that is the general consensus for all of akwidaa, the children there are raised with quite negative intentions. As I said before though, this can be interpreted in different ways and maybe it is just their way of a friendly greeting.

In Cape Coast the Gramophone Records Museum and Research Centre has gone. The staff of the Cape Coast Centre for National Culture have no idea what happened to it.

Wassa Domama Rock shrine project is still working well and their guest house is open.  WASSA DOMAMA, BOX K3, CAPE COAST, Ghana, My Guide was FRANK ARTHUR and his number was +2230246616086.

The Sanbra Hotel in Kumasi is a fine hotel. C44. Free internet access in the lobby. The owners advise that all valuables be left at reception. The restaurant is still as great as always – enormous meals.

The Ejisu Hotel (C25)  is spotlessly clean and they seem to be taking account of the report on Bradt Update of a robbery. They sent ‘the boy’ with me to buy my dinner at the chop house by the roundabout.

The Video City Hotel (C20) in Mampong  is as  grimier and run-down as you reported, but the owners are wonderfully welcoming. The restaurant runs out of food early. I was sent to the Obama Chop House for my rice and chicken.

The Star and Moon Guesthouse in Banko is great, though there mightn’t be much for tourists to do in the area.

It is important to stress that it is now easy to get to Nkoranza for the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey sanctuary  via Mampong. From Mampong to Ejura costs C2.50 in a taxi, and from Ejura to Nkoranza is C3.
The shared taxi station  is now in the New Market of Nkoranza, which is at least 2km from the excellent Hand in Hand Centre at St Theresa’s Hospital.

In Tamale, the Picorna Hotel (C39 per room) is a bit dingy, but the staff are so charming that makes up for it, and the restaurant is excellent, though sweltering. I heard great reports of Swad Fast Food off the Bolgatanga Road.

Regarding getting to Mole National Park, I think it is best to get the early morning Metro Mass Tamale to Wa bus as far as Larabanga, as it is so straight-forward to get a motorbike or taxi to Mole from Larabanga (between C7 and C10 for a motorbike ride). The bus leaves Tamale at around 6.30am, until it was 3 hours late leaving when I travelled. This bus cost C14, as opposed to the direct Mole NP to Tamale bus I took back, which cost C6. The dorm in Mole NP costs C24.

In Ho, the Freedom Hotel is now known as the Bob Coffie Hotel. The cheapest room is C50.
The two short walks in Amedzofe to the German cross and waterfall (both C5) are wonderful and the guides are charming. It was the only village in Ghana where I saw litter bins. There are far longer walks through forest that can also be arranged. The fact that the Akofa guesthouse has a kitchen provides a lovely opportunity for travellers to cook with the produce in the market. I see that people have already posted on the Ghana Update blog about the relatively new Abraerica Hospitality Hotel.
The Biakpa Mountain Paradise lodge was the highlight of my trip, although beer at C5 and 1.5 ltr water at C2.5 were a bit expensive, as was the room, which cost C45.

I stayed at Water Heights Hotel at Wli Falls  (C50; breakfast C8.50) and at the wonderful German-run Waterfall Lodge (C37; breakfast C5.90), which is closed on Tuesdays. Breakfast at Waterfall Lodge was the best I’d had in Ghana.

We (German couple, 41 and 52, journalist/university prof) visited Ghana for three weeks in February 2013 and found the guide very good and valuable (and – this for Germans who are preparing for Ghana -  far far better than the German one from Jojo Cobbinah, this one gives just lots of wrong and more of useless information.)

Here a couple of updates to the Bradt guide and highs and lows as we have experienced them (prices are usually for self-countained doubles or one of those big-bed singles, with fan)

Accra, Pink Hostel (100 GhC)

nice staff, full of young volunteers, feels a bit in the middle of nowhere, okay but nothing special.

Accra, Afia African Village – also called: Afia Beach, Accra (120 US Dollar)

the bungalow was nice, although the AC did not work, for being in Accra the beach looks very good, pay attention when you call to make a reservation: The guy I asked how much it is confirmed the figures, 100 for a standard bungalow, 110 with balcony and 120 with ocean view, but he didn’t say that it was in Dollars although I was talking of Cedis all the time. At the end Helen, the boss, proofed to be very professional: she charged us the 120 Cedi. In fact 120 Dollars seems a bit too much and 6 Cedis for a beer is double of what you pay elsewhere.

Ada Foah, Brightest Spot Guesthouse (25 GhC)

great value for the money! nice courtyard with very good tilapia & banku served.

ferry Ada Foah to Akuse (5 GhC)

the MS Sogakope left on time -  Friday 6h in the morning – and this is a great trip to do. Women are selling food and there are lots of little villages to see (even if I some times felt a bit like in a zoo).

Atimpoku, Adomi Hotel (35 GhC)

room was okay and quite – what you won’t expect, because the Hotel is right on the main traffic circle. The owner is half-german and has been living in Hamburg for most of his life, good opportunity for an interesting chat on Ghanain-German cultural differences.

Koforidua, Erdrec Hotel (34,50 GhC)

the Hotel description fits just perfectly! one feels a bit like in USSR already entering the reception Hall and for sure once touched the dark red carpeted floor – quite unique. still: good value, just a bit out of town, but plenty of shared taxis on the street.

Boti Falls didn’t have any water in mid February, even if the man at the Trotro-Station in Kof-Town was sure there was, they still want the full fee.

Kumasi, Sanbra Hotel (44 GhC) and Fosua Hotel (60 GhC with AC)

both okay, but alltogether not too friendly or nice, just okay. We didn’t find the coffee shop or the cocktail bar in the Aseda House though.

Tamale, Catholic Guesthouse (33 GhC)

very nice place to stay, we particularly appreciated the quiet garden after downtown trips, plenty of shared taxis to get into town.

Visiting the Mosque and walking up is worth and also walking along the Zongo Hausa to the leather workers, on the rooftop bar of the Crest Restaurant do not worry if a couple of young Ghanains take a seat at your table, they are just curious and want to talk and they will leave immediately if you just tell them friendly to do so!

There is a ForEx in Hospital Road now.

Bobiri Forest Butterfly Sanctuary (30 GhC)

this is a wonderful place to stay! Agnes prepares good diner even if you arrive without reservation and a very nice breakfast with lots of fruits, take it both on the terace of the main house. The walk though is for sure a bit longer than 3km, but still it is worth walking from Kubease. And: Jonathan does a great job as a guide through the Forest (4 GhC).

They told us they are open year round, but still maybe it is better to phone: 020 8094709 or 0236 464520 (the numbers Agnes gave me)

Winneba, Lagoon Lodge (35 GhC)

the first room somewhat stylish (in our sense) room for decoration and colours, huge bathroom – very nice. Food is good, somewhat ridiculous that there is no smoking allowed in the garden though. The guys at the reception/at the bar were friendly but totally clueless, it took them nearly half an hour to copy, re-copy and re-copy again the same invoice. Be patient!

Winneba itself seems poorer than other small cities, the beach is okay but nothing compared to the ones farer west and seeing the University Campus is worth – like a wholly different, elitist, world.

Green Turtle Lodge, (60 GhC)

it is (still) a great place to stay, what a wonderful project! But we had the impression that things are changing and that this might be related to the fact that the original owners have left (we talked to the caretaker who said the place is still for sale, but an American might buy it within short time). The huts could easily be in a better shape: for example the electricity didn’t work properly when it got humid at night, because the connecting wires were ‚connected’ in the most unprofessional way – though the staff managed to fix it after a while; time to buy new matrasses and pillows, and for sure to wash the cushions. The evening turtle tour now seems to be done only if tourists ask for it, at least the documentary book on the daily turtle watch tours stopps in february 2011 or 2012 (sorry can’t remember the year). The staff is friendly, the food is good and a bit different in style from what we had most of the time, but the reception looks a little bit like there was no-one there for the last two years.

Still the beach is great!

The canoe tour (10 GhC) with Jimmy at 6h in the morning in the mangroves behind Akwidaa (poor little village 25minutes west from the Turtle walking at the beach) is everything but exciting and Jimmy didn’t have a good day, he hardly said a word and after 35minutes he seemed only happy that is was over.

Butre, Hide Out Lodge (50 GhC)

Another great beach and another nice lodge. in comparison with the Green Turtle the food here unfortunately is done in some ‚western style’ kind and this is not a good idea at all: I had a bad banku which was cut into slices like Italian polenta, the pepper sauce wasn’t hot at all and the fish was just a fried slice – what a disappointment in comparison to so many great grilled tilapia, banku and pepper I had on the streets elsewhere. The advantage on the other hand is Butre itself, which is just around the corner – over the bridge to be exact – and a very nice little village, with fishermen who that morning we were waiting for a Trotro had exposed what to us looked like little sharks and dolphins!

Elmina, Coconut Grove’s Bridge House (110 GhC, 85 GhC when AC does not work!)

the idea was to go to the One African Guesthouse – but do not try to walk their from the main road where the Tros between Takoradi and Cape drop you off, it is just too far and it is all walking along the busy road. So we ended up in the Coconut Grove’s: the building is very nice facing the bridge and the castle, but for the room itself it is definetely a bit overpriced and the breakfast is ridiculous – every single street egg bread was a lot better.

Elmina was the only city we visited which had a square place and spots around – being from Old Europe that was what we missed elsewhere – thanks to the Portoguese!

the fish market is definetely worth the 1 GhC entry fee – quite an impressive quantity of tunas and even more impressive the way slight women cut them into pieces with machetes.

Cape Coast, Mighty Victory Hotel (40 or 50 GhC)

Oasis Beach seemed to us a bit too much an all-Obruni/volunteer meeting place, the Mighty Victory is worth the walk through town up the little hill and it isn’t far at all, a quite and nice place to stay with gazebos in the garden-kind entrance. Don’t miss the Market day on Sunday.