OffToAfrica

my 60+ mom who loves to travel has recently invited me to join her for a trip to Ghana. I have been to Kenya and loved experiencing the wildlife and migration - tell me why I will love Ghana? Animals? Culture?

Travelnick

Just came back from business trips to both Kenya and Ghana. I really can only comment on the cities. Accra is a sprawly mess of a place with some good value colourful clothing. It is a very safe city for the most part - in total contrast to NAirobi where no one stops at red lights at night for fear of car jacking. THe beaches at Accra are long and OK - but swimming is dangerous - very strong rips. Hotel accommodation in Ghana is a rip off - very limited supply. eg LAbadi Beach $150 per night - OK but lots of places in Asia will give you a better hotel at a cheaper price with far better food and safer swimming conditions.
People living in NAirobi commented on how friendly GHAnaians were - from my limited experience I thought Kenyans were much friendlier.
Getting a visa in London was a complete aggravation for Ghana - blatant corruption and astonishingly aggressive behaviour by the bureaucrats there. So from a tourist point of view, I will be skipping Ghana and head some where else - even if the animals are great.

JamesA

I had the 'unfortunate' experience of having to go to Libreville ( Gabon ) Lagos ( Nigeria ) and Accra in Ghana a few years back on business, I obviously 'drew the short straw', I hated the places. I can see no reason to go to those places unless you enjoy being unsafe and harrased, the authorities at the airports were downright 'nasty', having said that Accra was the best of the bunch but it certainly isn't a tourist destination. Is there a particular reason for choosing Ghana?

JamesA

Travelnick - I have to go to Nairobi, managed to cut the trip down to just 2 days as decided no point spending the weekend there, flying KQ from Bangkok. The company booked me into the Serena though I can choose myself, heard of is it the 'Grand'? When I asked about evenings it seems that it is just the 'Carnivore' and no one mentiones anywhere else, I pressume no night life whatsoever. Is it really as unsafe as everyone says?

Guenmai

I was just in Ghana in Dec 2003/Jan 2004 and absolutely loved it. I've traveled a lot, for vacation, over the last 30-plus years so I have a lot of places to compare Ghana,too. As far as my experience goes, people were great, traveled alone,female, with no problems. Got sick and folks I didn't even know cared for me as if I were a family member and never asked for anything in return. At my first hotel, in Accra, the laundry guy even stayed after work to do my laundry,on unpaid time.When I asked him how much it would cost to do my pile of laundry and when he told me the hotel's price, I told him I'd just wash the laundry in my bathroom sink, but he said that he wouldn't think of it. I was a bit sick at the time and he wanted to help out...so he did ALL of the laundry and returned the whole laundered pile and tore up the laundry slip and said he wouldn't charge me.He then said he hoped I'd feel better soon and left my room...never waiting for a tip or anything. I received numerous acts of kindness at that level the ENTIRE two weeks I was there. If any of you want opinions on Ghana then go to Lonelyplanet.com and click on Forum and type in Ghana and hit Go. Those folks go to Ghana A LOT and 99.99% of the comments I've read from them...over a year's time...have been nothing but positive.As for hotels, yes, the 4 and 5-star ones are expensive. I highly recommend checking into the Novatel, the second hotel I stayed at in Accra. I got a room for $72. a night breakfast and tax included and the whole hotel was totally renovated in 2002 and is beautiful.The(French) Accor chain is now building an Ibis hotel right in the back of the Novatel and Ibis hotels are priced lower than Novatels. Happy travels.

welltraveledbrit

I took a trip to from Senegal to Mali a couple of years ago and was going to spend a short while in Ghana on my way down to SA
Because of a problem with an internal flight in Mali...the flight was cancelled and we had to drive back from Timbuktu over land on a track through the desert...driving all night three breakdowns and we still missed the flight to Accra!

Anyway the long and short of it was that our trip to Ghana was cut from 6 to 3 days so we didn't make it out of the capital....I'd love to go back...from what I looked into Ghana has a lot to offer culturally and infact there is considerable heritage tourism to Ghana amongst African Americans. Historically Ghana has been very stable and has a very interesting history of kingship amongst the Ashante. However, as I understand it wildlife isn't on the agenda but there's great music right through West Africa!

alice13

What can I say? It's ten years since I was there and maybe things have changed. But I loved Accra - met so many interesting people - on the bus into town; at a local watering hole.

I did't think Accra was a dump just somewhere different. There's amazing music to be heard and I had the best pair of shorts EVER made by a local tailor.

True - don't swim unless you are very at home in surf. And do take a trip west of Accra to the forts at Elmina, etc.

You don't go to Ghana for safari style animal viewing - you go for the warmth and vibrancy of the air and people.

alice13

Oh, and my very best wishes to your Mum who sounds pretty special.

Guenmai

I agree with welltraveledbrit and alice13 as for Ghana. Ghana has an incredible history.There are 76 forts along the coast and there are two big slave forts that are frequently visited. Plus Ghana was the gold coast so there's a deep history of gold and one of the mines still produces half a million dollars a day of gold. I have friends who've been going there since the 70s and still enjoy it and have very fond memories. There is a deep Afro-American connection. I'm Afro-American and have known of Ghana my entire life. Plus Maya Angelou and WEB du Bois lived there and Louis Armstrong traced his roots to Ghana. I was told by a Ghanaian that Afro Americans help out quite a bit there. My sister helps fund an orphanage started by a friend of hers.I also agree with alice13 in that Ghana is a place that you go to for the people. It's a place where I never felt part of some tourist institution. I arrived alone, traveled alone, and departed alone and with no problems. If interested, Pilot Videos has a video on Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire that was done pretty recently and can be bought for under US$20. It's a nice video.The American commentator Megan ? did the video. I think it's at pilotvideos.uk And if you all need a travel guide...definitely buy the Bradt guide to Ghana. The new one is to come out very soon. Happy Travels.

Guenmai

For those interested, I've found the correct address,at home, to Pilot videos. www.pilotguides.com The address is 160 South Van Ness Avenue Los Angeles, Calif 90003 (323)962-9342...or The Old Studio 18 Middle Row London W10 SAT,Uk Tel.(208)[email protected] Happy Travels!