The people of Ghana are warm and welcoming and city vibe is eclectic. Ghana may not be on your list of popular places to visit in Africa but it’s calling out to be discovered by mainstream travellers. The country is exciting, fascinating and well off the beaten tourist path, promising you a completely different holiday that you’ll remember for a lifetime.
1. Visit Ghana’s bustling market places
The capital city of Accra is a sprawling, chaotic metropolitan that’s home to over 2 million residents. It’s quite overwhelming when you first arrive in the city, but you’ll soon discover that the vibrant city is safe and welcoming. It’s an eclectic blend of posh residential estates, shanty towns, striking heritage buildings, contemporary architecture, festive coastal hubs and lively markets.
To get a real sense of the people of Ghana and their incredible creativity, visit one of the city’s busy market places. We recommend Makola Market which sells everything from fresh produce, street food and Ghanaian delicacies to local arts and crafts.
Close to Makola Market is the National Museum of Ghana which showcases the country’s fascinating history, including the legacy of the Ashanti Kingdom and slave trade.
2. Enjoy Ghana’s beautiful beaches and vibrant nightlife
Kokrobite lies to the west of the capital city of Accra and boasts having some of the most beautiful beaches in West Africa. The sea fishing village offers holidaymakers sunny days on white-sandy beaches and a vibrant nightlife.
The most beautiful beach in Kokrobite is the pristine Langma Beach. Another popular holiday destination is Kokrobite Garden which has a large sparkling pool and fun entertainment for the whole family.
3. Discover untouched ancient rainforests
Once you leave the chaotic city streets, Ghana opens up into wild, untouched landscapes just waiting to be explored. One of the most popular tourist destinations in Ghana for nature lovers is Kakum National Park in southern Ghana. It spans across a protected tropical rainforest that’s lush and breathtakingly beautiful.
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A highlight of Kakum National Park is the Canopy Walkway which is suspended 30 metres above the forest floor. The 350-metre walkway gives you a unique perspective of the dense rainforest and a bird’s-eye view of its incredible fauna and flora.
Guided forest tours should provide glimpses of notoriously elusive forest animals such as the famous forest elephants, flying squirrels, giant hogs, leopards and various species of monkey.
4. Explore Ghana’s stunning safari destinations
Ghana is not your traditional Big 5 safari destination but it still has a lot to offer wildlife enthusiasts. The best place to visit in Ghana for a superb safari tour is Mole National Park. It’s the country’s largest national park and home to many valuable species such as elephants, buffalo, roan antelope, hyenas and lions, which have only recently been introduced.
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Mole National Park is also a birder’s paradise with over 344 recorded bird species, many endemic to Ghana or highly endangered. The Lovi and Mole Rivers flow through the Park and leave behind the only drinking holes during the long dry season. The best time for a safari tour in Ghana is at the end of the dry season from January to March when the animals and birds congregate around the water sources.
5. Remember Ghana’s dark history
A visit to the Cape Coast provides a peep into Ghana’s dark history and the role it played in the horrific slave trade era. Many descendants of slaves who were forcibly removed from Ghana and sent to the Americas come to visit the country’s historic castles and fortresses to pay homage to the men and women who endured extreme misery and despair at the hands of the ancient slave traders.
Between 1482 and 1786, towering castles and forts were erected along a 500-kilometre stretch of coastline that was known then as the Gold Coast. These strongholds served as fortified trading posts when the country was the hub of the gold and ivory trade and later were used to house millions of imprisoned slaves to meet the growing demand for human labour in the Americas and the Caribbean.
It’s estimated that 6 million inhabitants were forcibly captured and housed in dark dungeons in the giant fortresses along Ghana’s coast, enduring unbearable heat, discomfort and starvation until they were shipped off to foreign shores.
Cape Coast Castle is the largest of the 17th century fortified castles on Ghana’s historic Gold Coast. It’s now a living museum that showcases Ghana’s rich and turbulent history.
Take a guided tour of Cape Coast Castle and its dark dungeons. Step through the ‘door of no return’ that each slave stepped through, taking their last look at the beautiful coastline and never returning again to their homeland.
Visit MoAfrikatours.com for more info.
Post published in: Business