Ghana News

Juaboso & Western Region

philipbriggs — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:09:20 +0000

Peter Vande Walle and Tanya Hectors have written and kindly sent us a detailed travel guide to the little visited Western Region of Ghana and its main town Juaboso. It is in PDF format and can be viewed by left clicking (or downloaded by right clicking) this highlighted text Western Ghana

Accommodation in Cape Coast and Elmina

philipbriggs — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:12:25 +0000

The owner of the splendid Baobab restaurant in Cape Coast has also opened a guesthouse on top. Very clean rooms, clean toilets and showers, but not self contained. Profit goes to the project. I highly recommend it.
I am also very happy with the Stumble Inn in Elmina. A great place.

Amei

Trip report for Accra, Kumasi and Elmina

philipbriggs — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:24:04 +0000

My husband and I have just returned from 2 weeks in Ghana, staying in Accra, Kumasi and Elmina. We found your guide exceptionally helpful.

We would like to highly recommend Geoman’s Car Rental in Cape Coast. George had a professional approach, which can be unusual to find. He quoted C140 inclusive for an air conditioned car from Elmina to Accra, as opposed to the $US 140 quoted by the Elmina Beach Resort. The car and driver were both good, the journey took about 3 hours door to door, and, best of all, the driver knew Accra well and took us through back streets to avoid much of the gridlocked traffic.

We had less luck with our hotels. We lasted one night at Hotel Georgia in Kumasi. When we checked in we were taken to a room with a balcony overlooking a concrete wall! – so very dark! We said it was unacceptable and taken to another room, which had seen better days. (We previously stayed there 8 years ago).The ceiling fan was hanging by a thread and swaying dangerously so we were unable to use it. However, the room was spacious, cool and with a good shower with hot water. The breakfast was a depressing experience and the pool was not maintained and so couldn’t be used.

We ended up staying at the Golden Tulip for 3 more nights, which was good but more expensive than we had planned. However I got sick there and wonder if it was from the salads.

We booked into the Coconut Grove Beach Resort in Elmina, but were so disappointed with the room that we moved immediately. The room was filled by a huge bed, but there was room for little else – no space for storage and it smelt strongly of damp. The tv was stacked on top of a small fridge in an awkward position. We eventually spent 3 nights at the Elmina Beach Resort, which was adequate, but the atmosphere was dead, with only 7 of the 150 rooms occupied. This was probably because it was the month following Christmas, and the harmattan at the same time, but we found it to be a depressing experience!

Baobab Restaurant in Cape Coast was excellent, and we had several meals there, served by the young people being trained by the Foundation, with evidence of good customer service. It was interesting to talk to one of the teachers, and we were impressed with the quality of their publicity material and gift shop. One to support!

We travelled from Accra to Kumasi via Nsawam, and the road was appalling – more than one hour of rocky, dusty dirt road and we were advised afterwards that we should have taken the route via ‘the mountains’ ie Aburi. We booked the car for this journey via the Niagara Hotel, as recommended by your guide, but were a little disappointed with the car and driver. The rear view mirror was not in place and even after asking for it to be properly positioned it was not. Also this driver insisted on using the Nsawam route as he said it was shorter, but the journey ended up taking 6 hours and was hazardous.

And lastly I’d like to recommend 233 Jazz Bar and Grill in Accra – a cool place with first class music and musicians.

Alice Opoku

Getting to Tafi Abuipe

philipbriggs — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:01:26 +0000

I am a peace corps volunteer working in Tafi Abuipe. It is a kente weaving village and I am working to promote tourism by building a new tourism centre for the village. I wanted to make changes to the ‘getting there’ info in the Bradt guide. We no longer have a bridge out , we have a beautiful new road through the village that is easily accesable for any vehicles. The junction road is still at the junction in Tafi Mador (not (Mado as it says in the guide book). The road is paved all the way through to the Kpando Rd, which has been a great asset to us in Tafi Abuife. Meanwhile, the new welcome centre, located in Tafi Abuife right off of the nice new road, should be finished by July of this year.

Chris

Safe swimming on Ghana’s beaches

philipbriggs — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:54:45 +0000

We were recently informed about the drowning of a tourist at the beach used by Axim Beach Hotel in Western Ghana in August 2011, as detailed on Tripadvisor. Having communicated both with the hotel and with a friend of the victim who witnessed this tragic incident, it seems timely to issue a reminder to all visitors about the potential risk associated with swimming on any Ghanaian beach in the wrong conditions. The main reason for this is the strong undertow that characterises this stretch of coastline, particularly in rough weather, though it may not always be apparent until you are actually in the water. The management of Axim Beach Hotel has told us that swimming conditions are most likely to be dangerous during the rainy season, between July and October, and are best from Dec until the beginning of the rains. However, in both cases, this is dependent on weather conditions on the day, and if conditions are rough at any time of year, or you sense the presence of a strong undertow on any Ghanaian beach at any time of year, it is advisable to get out of the water immediately. It should also be noted that many beaches in Ghana do not have dedicated lifeguards, nor do they display flags indicating whether swimming conditions are safe, so you will either need to ask around or rely on your own judgement when deciding whether or not to swim.

If other readers have any further input on this subject, please feel free to comment below.

Philip

Pedro’s updates

philipbriggs — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:07:36 +0000

I have just arriving from a 15 days holiday touring Ghana covering each of the different regions of the country. As usual I relied on Bradt Guides, namely the 5th edition of your Ghana Guide.

Concerning the trip I would like to add some informations and recommendations:

1) I was going to go in a Explore group in the last two weeks of december but the trip was cancelled in late August due to the low number of inscriptions. As such I decided to search and book a trip using a local tour operator. After some “googling” and email exchanges I choose “Global Village Tours” (email: planit@ghanatours.travel). They were really professionals and everything surpassed my best expectations. I had a private guide/chauffeur absolutely fantastic not only as a person but with a profound knowledge of all the aspects related to Ghana: Mr. E. T Mensch (www.idyilghana.com). As such I think you should add their names on a future edition of your guide.

2) Concerning Larabanga mosque comments on your guide although I didn’t had any of the complains that some readers state in your guide I personally found the Bole Mosque more interesting and because of the size similarities I think the Bole Mosque deserves the same level of quotation as the Larabanga Mosque.

3) The Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary was a little disappointment because unless you stay sleeping in the elevated platform during the night and had a “close encounter” with a hippo you only see them far away from the canoe due to security reasons. Nevertheless as a local community program I think it deserves the mention but not such high expectations. The same happens with Mole National Park wildlife! The best of Mole is the lodge by itself since the location and view are outstanding. I was two years ago in Uganda and compared with the Murchinson Falls National Park and Paara Lodge as well as the trip on the Nile river I must say that Murchinson beats Mole 10 to 1!

4) Axim Beach Hotel is really a paradise, and in spite of the TV in the room and all the new additions you “regret” and comment in your guide, to me it was the BEST HOTEL off all the different ones I stayed or lunched in Ghana. I strongly recommend it. It is much better than the Coconut Elmina Beach Hotel for example.

5) Elmina Castle is a must see in any Ghana trip (and I say this not because I am from Portugal). It deserves some sort of “modern museologic” intervention however. I sent an email to the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon stressing this (they intervene in restoration of Oman Castle, St. John Baptist Fort in Benin and Essaouira fortress). The village, the boats and the sea views as well as the people makes ElMina a really unique place in Ghana.

6) The DaViva shop and the shopping gallery at Movenpick Hotel are interesting for those who look for beautiful and unique textiles from Ghana as well as for art gallery shopping. For those interested in African Masks and African sculpture I would recommend Afia Village Art Gallery in Accra.

7) Cedar beads are as much interesting as stated in the guide and I would recommend also a visit. The same regarding the Obuasi AngloGold Ashanti Mine for those interesting in visiting a deep underground mine. The book commemorating the 100th year of the company is worth buying.

8) Concerning Bradt Guides I have used them for many years and they are really reliable, and overall this one in Ghana didn’t disappointed me and I think it is impossible to anyone to visit Ghana without it!

Thanks for all your efforts in reviewing and publishing it.

Pedro

La Terrasse Creperie, Accra

philipbriggs — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 13:30:19 +0000

Elidja ATINDOKPO has written to say “We have opened our creperie-restaurant in East Legon, Accra. We are situated near the french school and close to MJ Grand Hotel. The restaurant is closed on monday but open every other day from 12.00 am to 11.30 pm. For more details contact info@laterrasse-creperie.com or check out the website http://www.laterrasse-creperie.com“

Ghana voted one of Top 10 tourist destinations for 2012

philipbriggs — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:02:30 +0000

Good news for Ghana that the travel publisher Frommers has listed it as the only African destination in its Top 10 places to visit in 2012 – see the Frommers website for more details!

Walking tours in Nima, Accra

philipbriggs — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:43:04 +0000

There are now walking tours of Nima, the most impoverished area of Accra, situated between the airport & centre of town. Chloe write: They are guided by Charles Sablah, a Nima resident who will ensure your safety whilst learning about the district, with it’s variety of West African nationalities bringing different religions living in the same area. From meeting local dance & drum groups, kids at a very special bilingual school, entering extended family courtyards and spending time in the local market. He can make 2hrs in Accra enlightening! Highly recommended call him on: +233 (0)24-627-0095 or mail: mature009@gmail.com.

For further details, click on this PDF link to Charles’s brochure or visit his website ghana-nima-tours.yolasite.com

KALPOHIN Cultural Exchange Program

philipbriggs — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 10:37:35 +0000

A few months ago I visited KALPOHIN Cultural Exchange Program in Tamale, Ghana, in the company of my 25 year old son and the 17 year old grandson of a friend. Aside from the shea butter, groundnut preparation, and cotton spinning, we also had a demonstration of traditional slab formed pottery. The 2 boys each took a turn at forming their own pots, and finished pots were available for sale at very small prices. If we had been able to make a return trip, they would have fired our own pots for later collection.

We all had a great time. Mr. Walisu is an excellent tour guide, positive and personable, and eager to answer our questions.

There is also a small orphanage associated with the village project, clean, well-organized, brightly painted, the classrooms decorated with the colorful drawings of the students. It seemed to be a very happy place, and it shares in the fees generated by the tours.

Walisu Alhassan has an email address as well as as postal address that he would like to add to his contact information. alwalisu@yahoo.co.uk and P.O.Box ER 450, Tamale, Ghana.

I definitely recommend this tour to visitors to Tamale.

Patti Thomas