Anyone been to Ghana?
- Thread starter frogwoman
- Start date
Steel Icarus
we move
I would love to go. Mrs SI isn't interested, though, so I guess it won't happen. But it has a reputation as one of the friendliest places to visit, and the food looks amazing. Plus it's the same latitude (or longitude, whatevs) as here so it's the right time when you get there 
pompeydunc
Well-Known Member
I lived for a year in Accra in 2009/10. Fantastic, fun and safe city. Great to have a cold beer on the beach with the BBQ going, or go to one of the informal contained bars in Osu.
Nkrumah's tomb and Black Star square are interesting to visit, but not many other tourist attractions as such in Accra. Just enjoy the vibe.
Volta region is good to visit to escape the heat. Ada Foah is a good place to swim in fresh water river where it meets the sea. But beware of Bilharzia and take medication on return it you do swim in fresh water to be on safe side. Cape Coast is worth a visit to learn about the horrendous slave history. A visit to the north perhaps worth it for Tamale National Park and the elephants, but it's a long way!
It's hot and humid all year. In January, you get the "doctor" when a win blows sand from the Sahara desert and blocks the sun a bit and reduces the humidity. It's a blessing, so it nicknamed the doctor.
Don't forget to take malaria pills and make sure you've got right vaccinations.
Nkrumah's tomb and Black Star square are interesting to visit, but not many other tourist attractions as such in Accra. Just enjoy the vibe.
Volta region is good to visit to escape the heat. Ada Foah is a good place to swim in fresh water river where it meets the sea. But beware of Bilharzia and take medication on return it you do swim in fresh water to be on safe side. Cape Coast is worth a visit to learn about the horrendous slave history. A visit to the north perhaps worth it for Tamale National Park and the elephants, but it's a long way!
It's hot and humid all year. In January, you get the "doctor" when a win blows sand from the Sahara desert and blocks the sun a bit and reduces the humidity. It's a blessing, so it nicknamed the doctor.
Don't forget to take malaria pills and make sure you've got right vaccinations.
bimble
floofy
I’m going next week
so might have something useful to say afterwards.
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
I was there in 2011. The city was having an obvious building boom that reminded me of stories of Dublin in the 1960s. Nkrumah's tomb was the only touristy place I went to, well, that and the slave castle at Cape Coast (heavy stuff).
I was too old for night life even then, but frogwoman might want to look up the Time Out Guide to Accra, if it still comes out.
I was too old for night life even then, but frogwoman might want to look up the Time Out Guide to Accra, if it still comes out.
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
We went down the coast with a driver. Check the prices. There should be public transport though - your Ghanaian friend will know. The highways often had the burnt out wrecks of crashed vehicles strewn along the roadside, though.
E2A:
If you're not scared of heights, try the Kakum rainforest canopy walk:
Kakum National Park - Wikipedia
Boudicca
Seaside Queen
I got the bus to Cape Coast, on to Takoradi, a bit further up the coast, up to Kumasi then back to Accra.
Kumasi market is great.
frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
pompeydunc anything I should know etc? I might DM you
bimble
floofy
Right! Ive been back a week and its already fading into memory and anecdote even whilst the mosquito bites still itch a bit.
I was there for a work thing, which was a week in the far north up near a town called Bolgatanga, where i don't think you'd go unless you had a reason to (though there are the amazing Tongo Hills to see with boabab trees and giant boulders and ancient shrines which have been in use since at least 300AD).
So other than that I had 5 days to myself which i spent touristing around in Accra & the coast from which some suggestions:
From Accra I went along the coast to the west and back again, in a mixture of private taxi and local minibus called TroTro.
Kokrobite is a small fishing village about an hour outside Accra, along crappy roads. Was nice and quiet, relaxing after the city. Place has a lot of Rastas and 'definitely no smoking weed here' signs. Not a swimming beach, I think none of them are really, this is the Atlantic and its quite wild big waves at this time of year anyhow. A lady from Aberystwyth owns a beach bar where you can get good strong coffee. There's a reggae night on Fridays where people come out from Accra for the night.
Carried on west to Cape Coast and Elmina, stayed a night in each place.
It's not fun but I do recommend going to at least one of these 'slave castles', vast compounds that started as forts turned into factories with fancy oak panelled accomodation on the top floors and the slave dungeons below. There is something about actually standing there in what 'we' built that helps to make the horror of it more real.
Best bit: In Elmina, a short walk up a hill from the castle is the first dutch fort, 'Ahomka Fie' on the map. The oldest bit of the lot, falling apart slowly, and when I went there it was early morning 7 or 8ish not a soul around, no tickets nobody at the gate or anything, and the view was incredible of thousands and thousands of people bringing fish in to the market from their brightly painted wooden boats. Stayed up there for ages just watching it all going on.
In Accra:
See the markets, particularly Kantamanto which is i think the worlds biggest second hand clothing place, how exactly it all works and where itcomes from idk, row and rows of stalls, like a whole alley of just fleurescent football boots, another of small girls party dresses, etc. A thing to see. Also Makola (main market), vast, busy but not hasstly.
Coffee: place called 'Jamestown Coffee roasters' which is not in Jamestown, has amazing Ghanaian coffee, which is very hard to find, all exported so that almost everywhere is just nescafe.
Music: Music is everywhere all the time, massive important part of life all over. Went out on my tod to a few things and had a brilliant time, completely friendly and safe and good vibes only. Particularly enjoyed; Club 233 (live music, lovely atmosphere, older crowd, lots of jazz-nodding). The cool young people seemed to be go to a place called Kona, more jamaican music than ghanaian. Round the corner from The Republic Bar, small and friendly, spills onto the street, different music each night of the week.
Random practical suggestions:
Use uber, when you first get to Accra at least, unless you want to either spend loads of time arguing with taxi drivers or pay 3 times more than you should.
Take some cash with you (euros or dollars middle size denominations best) just for when you are not near a functioning ATM. And hold onto your small change in cedis there's a shortage of all the small denomination notes.
If you want a local sim card the only place to get it as a foreigner without a ghana id card is in a place called 'accra mall' the MTN shop.
But all of that is just stuff, the main thing is people, chat to people, i don't think its just because I haven't been anywhere interesting for a while, the conversations i got to have with strangers in Ghana, people met in buses or in bars etc, those are the bits I won't forget, great quality of chat not smalltalk, I learnt loads about all sorts of stuff.
One thing that happened feels kind of like a metaphor for how the whole trip went for me:
In that 233 bar in Accra i ordered a cold beer (club beer, its nice) and when i'd finished it the barman put another one in front of me and said "somebody bought this for you" and I looked around expecting some dude to wink or come over and start shouting in my ear but no, just a lot of smiling faces doing the jazz nodding, and I never found out who had done it, and that's never happened anywhere before and doubt it will again, unless I go back to ghana maybe.
I was there for a work thing, which was a week in the far north up near a town called Bolgatanga, where i don't think you'd go unless you had a reason to (though there are the amazing Tongo Hills to see with boabab trees and giant boulders and ancient shrines which have been in use since at least 300AD).
So other than that I had 5 days to myself which i spent touristing around in Accra & the coast from which some suggestions:
From Accra I went along the coast to the west and back again, in a mixture of private taxi and local minibus called TroTro.
Kokrobite is a small fishing village about an hour outside Accra, along crappy roads. Was nice and quiet, relaxing after the city. Place has a lot of Rastas and 'definitely no smoking weed here' signs. Not a swimming beach, I think none of them are really, this is the Atlantic and its quite wild big waves at this time of year anyhow. A lady from Aberystwyth owns a beach bar where you can get good strong coffee. There's a reggae night on Fridays where people come out from Accra for the night.
Carried on west to Cape Coast and Elmina, stayed a night in each place.
It's not fun but I do recommend going to at least one of these 'slave castles', vast compounds that started as forts turned into factories with fancy oak panelled accomodation on the top floors and the slave dungeons below. There is something about actually standing there in what 'we' built that helps to make the horror of it more real.
Best bit: In Elmina, a short walk up a hill from the castle is the first dutch fort, 'Ahomka Fie' on the map. The oldest bit of the lot, falling apart slowly, and when I went there it was early morning 7 or 8ish not a soul around, no tickets nobody at the gate or anything, and the view was incredible of thousands and thousands of people bringing fish in to the market from their brightly painted wooden boats. Stayed up there for ages just watching it all going on.
In Accra:
See the markets, particularly Kantamanto which is i think the worlds biggest second hand clothing place, how exactly it all works and where itcomes from idk, row and rows of stalls, like a whole alley of just fleurescent football boots, another of small girls party dresses, etc. A thing to see. Also Makola (main market), vast, busy but not hasstly.
Coffee: place called 'Jamestown Coffee roasters' which is not in Jamestown, has amazing Ghanaian coffee, which is very hard to find, all exported so that almost everywhere is just nescafe.
Music: Music is everywhere all the time, massive important part of life all over. Went out on my tod to a few things and had a brilliant time, completely friendly and safe and good vibes only. Particularly enjoyed; Club 233 (live music, lovely atmosphere, older crowd, lots of jazz-nodding). The cool young people seemed to be go to a place called Kona, more jamaican music than ghanaian. Round the corner from The Republic Bar, small and friendly, spills onto the street, different music each night of the week.
Random practical suggestions:
Use uber, when you first get to Accra at least, unless you want to either spend loads of time arguing with taxi drivers or pay 3 times more than you should.
Take some cash with you (euros or dollars middle size denominations best) just for when you are not near a functioning ATM. And hold onto your small change in cedis there's a shortage of all the small denomination notes.
If you want a local sim card the only place to get it as a foreigner without a ghana id card is in a place called 'accra mall' the MTN shop.
But all of that is just stuff, the main thing is people, chat to people, i don't think its just because I haven't been anywhere interesting for a while, the conversations i got to have with strangers in Ghana, people met in buses or in bars etc, those are the bits I won't forget, great quality of chat not smalltalk, I learnt loads about all sorts of stuff.
One thing that happened feels kind of like a metaphor for how the whole trip went for me:
In that 233 bar in Accra i ordered a cold beer (club beer, its nice) and when i'd finished it the barman put another one in front of me and said "somebody bought this for you" and I looked around expecting some dude to wink or come over and start shouting in my ear but no, just a lot of smiling faces doing the jazz nodding, and I never found out who had done it, and that's never happened anywhere before and doubt it will again, unless I go back to ghana maybe.
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frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
That's so cool, where were you staying in Accra bimble if you don't mind me asking? My mum grew up in South Africa so is a bit nervous about me going as it's not that safe there, she was pretty reassured when I told her you'd said how safe it was. I'm thinking of trying to get to Kumasi too and one of the national parks.
bimble
floofy
I am kind of mystified about how come it is so very safe there, it's not just that i got lucky or something, its there in the almost total lack of any defensive architecture (almost no barbed wire gated areas armed security / guard dogs etc, the stuff i'd normally expect to see loads of in a city with massive inequality and plenty of people living in serious poverty etc). So yeah weird thing but true, it is just a really safe and friendly country.
I stayed in a couple of different hotels in Accra one near airport one by the sea but wouldn't particularly recommend either, if i went again would probably look to stay in the part of town called Osu.
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Boudicca
Seaside Queen
Ghana is nothing like South Africa! They are very keen on god there, loads of churches, I don't know whether that has got anything to do with it.
It doesn't really have a tourist industry, so you will stick out as a white person, but just curious stares really, nothing threatening.
If you can dress like you live there, this also helps. So lightweight trousers and a shirt rather than jeans/shorts and a tshirt. Respectable.
bimble
floofy
Yep agree about wearing 'respectable' clothes, like don't go about in T-shirt with holes in or dirty old trainers, which is fine here but there its just (imo) kind of rude. Packing clothes for Ghana is the first time I did ironing since January 2020, when i went on a different but similar-ish trip. 
frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
Any other dos and don'ts I should be aware of? I didn't think about the clothes thing but that makes sense.Ghana is nothing like South Africa! They are very keen on god there, loads of churches, I don't know whether that has got anything to do with it.
It doesn't really have a tourist industry, so you will stick out as a white person, but just curious stares really, nothing threatening.
If you can dress like you live there, this also helps. So lightweight trousers and a shirt rather than jeans/shorts and a tshirt. Respectable.
pompeydunc
Well-Known Member
Feel free, but my advice is over ten years old. bimble is far more up-to-date. And reading stories of their trip reminds me of why I love the place. Slightly amused by your South African mother worried about your visit. It's 100 times safer than South Africa.
frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
Seriously? Is this because of religion again?
frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
Definitely. I'm just going on my own and not planning any tinder dates but that's good to know
bimble
floofy
absolutely no idea why, just cleverer than us maybe. They do grow & export tobacco.
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
One thing I should have said about the rainforest is - don't wear jeans. Get some proper lightweight tropical kit for that gig. It will probably look smarter than jeans as well.We went down the coast with a driver. Check the prices. There should be public transport though - your Ghanaian friend will know. The highways often had the burnt out wrecks of crashed vehicles strewn along the roadside, though.
E2A:
If you're not scared of heights, try the Kakum rainforest canopy walk:
Kakum National Park - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
(My French colleague had her trousers rendered almost transparent with sweat while hiking round the big trees with me - I have never mentioned this to her, and nor do I intend to at any point in the future).
