Trip Report: Ghana
Visited in February 2023
To call my journey from Switzerland to Ghana an odyssey would be quite an understatement. Instead of flying from my hometown with a stop, say in Paris, to the Ghanaian capital Accra, my flight route was as follows: I took a three-hour train ride to Geneva, flew from Geneva to Brussels, stayed overnight in an airport hotel before flying from the Belgian capital to Accra the following day.
And so I was back in Brussels. A city with which I have never warmed up. And this short stay will also remain rather negative in my memory. I chose my hotel, the NH Brussels Airport, for one reason only. That was the free airport shuttle. However, a few days before my trip I found out that this shuttle was running the last time at 22:45. According to Flightradar24, my flight should usually land between 22:15-22:20.
Unfortunately, mine was the only flight within the last thirty days that had a delay of 20 minutes. Eventually, I miss the shuttle because of five minutes and as a consequence, I had to pay €20 for a five-minute Uber ride. I can’t remember the last time I had to pay such a price for such a short ride. But well, it’s Brussels. Offers little but is quite expensive.
The next day I am standing at the T-gates of Brussels Airport. The view on the screens of the gates shows the following: Douala, Ouagadougou, Kinshasa, Freetown and so on. The name “Gates of Hell” suddenly takes on a whole new meaning. Fortunately, I was going to one of the most popular countries in West Africa: Ghana. While West Africa is often referred to as the most difficult region in the world to travel, Ghana is the region’s golden child. A country that has the reputation of being uncomplicated, having nice people and being relatively safe.
For me, it was the fourth trip to West Africa, with almost three years having passed since my last trip to Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania. In general, I have an ambivalent relationship with West Africa. On the one hand, I’ve experienced epic things in this part of the world. But on the other hand, this region is also extremely exhausting and at some point you also get fed up with all the hardships that these countries bring with them. All the more I was looking forward to Ghana, which many call the perfect beginner’s country for West Africa.
The six-hour flight from Brussels to Accra was more or less uneventful. The A/C in the plane was admittedly about 1-2°C cooler than usual. This caused a large number of Ghanaians to wear their winter jackets the whole flight. You could have thought that this plane was on the way to an Antarctica expedition.
Welcome to Ghana, West Africa’s golden child
If there’s one thing I’ve learned on trips to Africa, it’s that it’s worth to get off the plane quickly, leaving as many people behind as possible on the way to the terminal, in order to be one of the first to get to passport control. Otherwise, you run the risk of waiting in line for an hour or two. In Accra, there has been a new record in this regard, and in a positive sense. From the time I landed until I left the airport, less than ten minutes passed. That’s faster than in some European countries.
Accra’s Kotoka International Airport is in the middle of the city. For my ride to Osu, one of Accra’s most popular neighborhoods among expats and tourists, I ordered a Bolt cab. Bolt is the most used ride sharing app in Ghana, ahead of Uber. The 15-minute cab ride costs 36 cedi, which at this point is the equivalent of about €2.50. Such a cheap cab ride from the airport is another record set by Ghana. Brussels should take a good example.
By the way, Accra was one of the best cities I have ever been to in terms of taxis. Not only in Africa but in the whole world. The cabs I ordered via Bolt usually arrived in 2-3 minutes and a ride within the city never cost more than 20 cedi, which is about €1.40.
I had a total of 3.5 days for Ghana. That doesn’t sound like a lot, because Ghana has enough to offer for 7 days or even more. At the end of the article, I’ll talk about the places I missed (on purpose) and explain why. For the 3.5 days in Ghana, I still planned to see a few things: Accra, Cape Coast Castle, Elmina Castle, Kakum National Park, Aburi Gardens, Boti Falls and Umbrella Rock.
I spent the first day in the capital Accra. About 5.5 of Ghana’s 32.5 million inhabitants live in the metropolitan area of the city. Nevertheless, Accra still felt small somehow. This is probably because tourists mainly move within the triangle between the Accra Mall, the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Labadi Beach, which is about 20 minutes from each point to the next.
By the way, the contrast between the neighborhoods right next to the airport and Osu in the south of the city is also pretty stark. The neighborhoods next to the airport are considered the most expensive in the city and some of them don’t even look like Africa. Here are some very chic houses, in which you can certainly live well. On the way from the airport to the city you can also see many international brands (fast food chains, fashion labels, etc.), which I have never seen in any West African country. Also a sign that the purchasing power in Ghana is certainly higher than elsewhere in the region.
Osu, on the other hand, seems like… West Africa. Dusty and dirty streets, stray animals like goats and chickens, small street stores and chaotic traffic. Ironically, I would have expected it to be the other way around, that Osu, popular with expats and tourists, would be a bit more upscale than the rest of the city.
What sets Accra apart from most African cities is that it’s more or less safe. This is true not only during the day but also at night. In the “touristy” neighborhoods, you can walk around after sunset and the risk of being mugged is quite small (albeit not zero). The rule for virtually all African cities I’ve ever been to is that once the sun is down, you only move around in taxis.
My first and only full day in Ghana was a Sunday. It’s not like you need days to see the highlights of the capital of Ghana. After all, you can count the attractions on two hands. The most important landmark is without a doubt the Black Star Square, which I found a bit disappointing, as I expected more than just a roundabout with an Arc de Triomphe on it.
Furthermore, I went to Labadi Beach, where you actually have to pay 20 cedi as admission. This beach was quite crowded because the locals like to go there on Sundays. Nice beach? I would be lying if I answered this question with yes. However, there is a lot going on and those who like loud music and drinks will probably not be disappointed. Speaking of drinks, I also visited Skybar 25, the highest bar in West Africa. Certainly nothing special in global comparison, but a big deal for Ghana and West Africa.
All in all, I found Accra okay. The sights of the city did not blow me away and I didn’t find the city beautiful either. What I did like was the good selection of restaurants, which is not a matter of course for African cities. Plus the already mentioned fact that Accra is more or less safe.
Day-trips out of Accra
I left Accra on the next two days. For this I organized a driver (Whatsapp: +233554964642, say that you got the number from Nicolai). Initially, I wanted to book a guide too, but you don’t really need that in Ghana. After all, you pay an entrance fee at every attraction and this fee includes a tour guide. Booking a driver and tour guide would just mean that there would be three of you in the car (the two Ghanaians in the front, you in the back). However, the guide is not allowed to enter the sights. Unless you also pay his entrance fee and he enters as a tourist like you. Therefore, the guide does not offer any real value in my opinion.
Our first day-trip had Cape Coast Castle, Elmina Castle and Kakum National Park on the menu. One thing in advance, it was a very long day. We left Accra at 7am and came back at 10pm. In total, I spent more than ten hours in the car that day. The road from Accra to Cape Coast was also miserable. A one-lane road with countless cars and trucks on it. We were actually moving quite slowly.
Cape Coast Castle is probably Ghana’s biggest tourist attraction and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a place with a dark history, as African slaves were imprisoned here before being shipped to the Americas. There used to be over 40 such slave castles. Today you can still visit about thirty of them. These castles marked the point of no return for the slaves on the African continent.
Once you have bought an entrance ticket, you are assigned to a group for a tour. These tours last about 90 minutes and you get a good impression of how this slave castle worked. You also learn about the barbaric practices the Europeans utilized here. Not that I thought this place would be fun, but I was still shocked at how depressing Cape Coast Castle was. For me, this place is in the same league as Auschwitz or the Killing Fields.
Elmina Castle was the second castle I visited. It’s only a 20-minute ride from Cape Coast. However, I skipped the guided tour there and visited the castle on my own. This on the one hand because it was already 14.30 and we still had to drive to Kakum National Park afterwards. And on the other hand I had no desire for another 90-minute tour after the Cape Coast Castle.
Thus, my visit to this castle became quite meaningless. I just walked around the castle, examined the rooms and then left without really learning more about the place. Did I miss anything? I really don’t know. However, I would only recommend Elmina Castle if you feel like doing another tour after the Cape Coast Castle.
Our third and last stop was the Kakum National Park, another 30-minute drive from Elmina Castle. Kakum is known for its canopy walk and of course I had to do that as well. It’s a nice park and it was a good thing to do after sitting in the car for already five or six hours. However, if you don’t have time for Kakum, it’s not a deal breaker either. After all, there are several similar parks all around the world.
The day-trip to Cape Coast, Elmina Castle and Kakum was a good one. Cape Coast Castle was definitely an interesting place to visit and the other stops were also alright. But as I said, it was a very long day in the car and my recommendation is to either skip Elmina Castle or Kakum National Park if you want to do the same trip.
You could call my second day-trip a fail, because I basically sat in a car for seven hours to see a rock. But let’s start from the beginning…
Boti Falls, waterfalls about three hours north of the city of Accra, was the goal of my second day-trip. Getting there was a lot more pleasant than the trip to Cape Coast, as there was hardly any traffic. Three stops were planned on that day and the first was the Aburi Botanical Gardens, where I spent about half an hour. The place was alright, although not very exciting to be honest and rather a filler.
The second stop was the Umbrella Rock. If we had gone first to Boti Falls, we would have gotten a guide for Umbrella Rock as well. But since I did not know that, I searched for Umbrella Rock myself using Google Maps, which was more difficult than expected.
First, I walked for minutes through about waist-high grass. Probably not the best idea in a country where poisonous snakes can be everywhere. At some point I ended up on the property of a family. I mentioned earlier that the purchasing power in Ghana must be higher than in the neighboring countries. However, this should not hide the fact that there is also extreme poverty in Ghana.
Like for example this family I met there. They live in extremely poor conditions in the middle of nowhere, far away from civilization. In mud huts and with their cattle. The boy then led me to Umbrella Rock, which I probably would not have found alone. For this I gave him the wage that I would otherwise have paid the guide.
When I arrived at Boti Falls, I was told that there was no water running. Seriously, how bad was my preparation for this trip? Funnily enough, I discussed this trip with several travel friends and also with tour operators in Ghana. No one had the idea that the falls would be dry in the dry season…. I first heard about it one or two days before I went, as an expat in Accra told me that they might be dry.
I still climbed down the 250 steps and then back up after having over three hours to get here. However, in the end, I really only came here because of the Umbrella Rock. Was it worth it? The rock was definitely nice. But driving more than three hours each way to see it? Not really…
How I would rate my Ghana trip
So, how did I like Ghana? To be honest with you, I found Ghana was okay, but no more than that. This has several reasons. Looking back on how I spent my days in Ghana, I didn’t really find any of them bad, but I also don’t feel that any of them will stay in my memory forever. The trip to Cape Coast was impressive mainly because of the castle and probably also the most interesting (and at the same time depressing) thing I experienced in Ghana. The other two days in Accra and at the Boti Falls and Umbrella Rock were mediocre.
I could have decided to visit other places in Ghana. For example, Mole National Park in the north to see elephants and other animals. However, for someone like me who has visited plenty of safari parks in Africa in recent years, Mole does not seem to be a must see. It is also clear that Mole is no Serengeti just by the fact that you cannot see the big five there. However, the park entrance fee is also much less than in the well-known African safari park.
Another possibility would have been the mosques in the north, for example the famous Larabanga Mosque. But apart from the fact that I am not that interested in places of worship in general, I thought that I will probably see this kind of mosques if I am ever in Burkina Faso or Mali. The fact that Ghana couldn’t really offer me anything new isn’t really Ghana’s fault in the end. When you have already seen 144 countries, it is also normal that the level of enthusiasm decreases over the time. Still, I would say that Ghana does not have any attraction that can be labelled as world-class.
Moreover, there were other things that annoyed me in Ghana. For example, the terrible infrastructure outside of Accra. Sure, it was no comparison to Guinea or other countries in West Africa, but just the fact that I had 5.5 hours from Kakum National Park to Accra says a lot.
I also had some unpleasant situations at police checkpoints on the way from Kakum to Accra. There were at least ten of them or even more and three times I was harassed by police officers for various reasons. In the end they clearly wanted me to pay them a bribe. Even though I had been in such situations before (and I only paid a bribe once in my life), I found these situations more than annoying.
Another example is that you need a visa for Ghana and it now happens all around the world at Ghanian embassies that passports get “lost”. For a country that is considered West Africa’s golden child, this is an embarrassment and make me come to the conclusion that Ghana, even despite its good reputation, is still West Africa in the end. That means, a country with a lot of corruption and terrible infrastructure.
Nevertheless, I do not want to badmouth everything and as I said before, Ghana was still alright. There are also many reasons why you can have a great time in Ghana. For example, the people are nice, the country is reasonably safe and not that expensive for Africa. Ghana’s biggest asset is that it is not as touristy as the heavyweights in East Africa. If you haven’t seen much of Africa yet, you can easily spend an exciting week or two in Ghana.
Click here to find the trip reports of the 170+ other countries I have visited so far!
