Holger writes:
Our family (son 15 years, daughter 18 years) just traveled two weeks across Ghana and like to send some updates for your travelling guide:
General
Many prices especially at the touristic sides (like Kakum, Mole, Boabeng) have been rised clearly. Because we had only 2 weeks and wanted to see a lot we decided to rent a car (with driver). After a long search we decided for Ghana Car Rental. To rent a car (especially a 4×4) is compared to other expences in Ghana a very expensive thing and is no option for low-budget-travellers. We paid 120 $ / day (including accomodation and meals of the driver and excluding fuel). The prices were nearly the same at all agencies (you can get cheaper cars, if you stay in the south and don’t need a 4×4). For us it turned to be a very good decision. We saw many wonderful places in short time, relaxed while driven and always had a good guide with us. Ebeneser (+233 24 549 7951) was our driver and guide and drove good, safe and very experienced even over long distances or in the middle of Accra / Kumasi. He is a very nice guy and soon became a part of our travelling group. He help us a lot. I recommend to contact him, if you need a driver.
Also we prepared for problems (after having read a lot) we had no problem to get along all the tour with bank cards at ATMs. There are a lot of them even in smaller towns and we always got money. Due to negative stories we used a postbank savings book with a limited amount on instead using our normal cash or credit card.
Cape Coast
We spend the first 3 days in Cape Coast at a house we found at Airbnb (https://www.airbnb.de/rooms/1461768?s=zpKk). There are two fulls equipped rooms (with big bed) and you share living room and kitchen which Kwesi, who lives there and was a wonderful host. We really enjoyed our stay. It’s a good alternative to the hotels and beach ressorts, if you like to have space for living and cooking. It lies in a quiet place in a suburb from Cape Coast. It was easy to get to town, so every taxi took this direction. We specially recommend it for families or groups.
Kakum NP
We confirm the recommendation to get start early to Kakum National Park (arive at 8 a.m.) We went there twice. The first day early to the Canopy Walkway, which is really a wonderful experience (although I don’t recommend it to people with fear of heights), the second day later (10 a.m.) and it was really crowded. After that we visited Hans Cottage Botel. The baya-birds in the trees are really worth seeing, but the service is extremly weak (we wanted to eat there, but needed 45 minutes just to get a coffee and therefore skipped our plans). A hidden jewel is the international stingless bee center which was really interesting and had a very dedicated guide. If you visit Cape Coast Castle, join the guided tour, its really informative. Another jewel is the Java Museum in Elmina (Attention: At the first look it looks closed from outside). We really recommend taking the guided tour in the small museum. The girl, who does it, explained the stories very alive and fascinating and speaks (not normal to all guides) a very good English. The Ko-SA and the Stumble Inn, both Elmina, are even nice places if you just want to spend the afternoon, swim and have some drinks/snacks.
Nkoranza/Boabeng-Fiema
We stay at the bungalow 1 at the hand-in-hand-community in Nkoranza. It’s a very lovely place with lots of atmsphere. The meals are good (also the service is a bit unintersted). We use ouir stays for trips to Boabeng Monkey Sanctuary (very lovely plcae), the bat-caves of Buoyen and Kintampo Falls. Actually you can go to the bat-caves cause there are a lot of wild bees around. But the both intersted guides instead leads us to the rock formations, with wide views over the land.
Mole National Park
Due to the it being the end of the dry season we saw very many animals (elephants, warthogs, antelopes, crocodiles, birds, crocodiles) very close. The Hotek is o.k. We had a canoe trip and homestay at Mognori Eco Village, which we warmly recommend. The contact was made wirh Mr. Mahama (233-24-1343-392), the teacher of the village, who arranged everything. The homestay takes place in little, clean mudhuts with bed and moskito nets and a host who arranged dinner and breakfast. Also the vilage walk and the canoe trip were nice, was the homestay the best. Our kids had at lot of fun with all the young friendly and curious kids from the village.
Kumasi
There has been a lot of good things written about Chris place, The Four Villages, in Kumasi. It’s all true – it is a wounderful place with a high price. We afforded a stay at my birthday and it was really a welcome, calm and peacefull finale after an exciting and also stressful day inside Kumasi.
Lake Botsumwi
The Lake Botsumwi is worth a visit and good place for a short break and some relaxing. We stayed at the Lake Point Guest House, which was a somehow strange mix: really beautiful equipped cottages (the bst we saw in Ghana) with a green, flowerfull side and real tasty meals contrasted with a undedicated service (which was unable to fix a broken light in 3 days) and a path down to the lake, which leads you along waste dumps.
Bobiri Forest
We also visited the Bobiri Butterfly Forest Reserve. In a rainy period (even after the rain) you won’t see to many butterflies. Really wonderful is the surounding and the guesthouse. After seeing it we would really have loved to stay there for a night.
Bradt Ghana Travel News 