Sam and Cynthia: July 2011

Ghana is basically hot and humid all year round. The best time to travel is probably December to April since you'll miss the rainy season. But this is also the hottest time of year and quite uncomfortable in the north of the country since it there's the added bonus of Saharan sand blowing in the air. July and August are good months to travel if you're planning to stay in the south, since there's a lull in the rains during this time.

If you wish to see festivals, August and September are good months to visit Ghana since many communities celebrate their first harvests during these months.

Ghana's Main Attractions:

Cape Coast Castle and Elmina are Ghana's most impressive slave forts. Tours of the dungeons are depressing but of course educational. A fine museum at Cape Coast Castle documents the slave-trade.
Accra, Ghana's bustling capital is home to the fascinating Makola market as well as some of the region’s best nightclubs. Accra is a fairly modern African city and relatively hassle free and safe.
Kakum National Park is a rain forest with an attractive canopy walkway to help you spot some of the wildlife that hides in the dense foliage.
Kumasi is the former capital of Ghana's Ashanti Kingdom and there are some excellent museums that let visitors delve into the fascinating history of the Ashanti people.
Mole National Park is Ghana's largest wildlife park and offers a chance for a walking safari. Elephants and lions have been reintroduced recently.

Beaches - Ghana has many excellent beaches with excellent surf. The best include Busua, Langma (near Kokrobite) and Butre.There are a lot of popular Ghana beaches in this little country in West Africa. Ghana faces the Atlantic Ocean and is blessed with beautiful beaches. The beaches in Ghana are mostly public beaches and are great for water sports such as jet skiing, surfing and kite surfing. Here some of the beaches in Ghana that beach combers should definitely visit.

Labadi Pleasure Beach
§ This public beach is located in Labadi, Ghana, and has a three-km beach front that offers wide variety of water sports activities. The beach is blessed with strong winds and have moderate to big waves, simply perfect for surfers. The wide expanse of this sandy beach is right for frisbee and beach volleyball. Changing-room facilities, restaurants, snack bars and shower rooms dot the shore.

Kokrobite
§ This is a 30-km expanse of beach from western Accra. Although this is a public beach, fewer tourists go here since it is a bit far from the capital. However, people who visit this place are greeted by a scenic view of the hills and crystal blue waters. Few facilities like changing rooms and restaurants are found here but then there are only few visitors here, so the few facilities are adequate enough to provide the tourists’ needs.

Ada Beach
§ One hundred km farther from Accra is Ada Beach. This beach is located in the coastal town near Lome Road and is a perfect haven for skiing, fishing and other water sports. The beach also has a marina near it, perfect for yachting. The coastal village near the beach also has restaurants and inns where tourists can eat and spend the night at a reasonable price.

Chocoloco Beach
§ A breeding ground for sea turtles, Chocoloco Beach is located east from Accra where the Volta River purges the Atlantic Ocean. This beach is also a sanctuary for estuarine birds. This beach is a perfect destination not only for beach combers but also for nature lovers, as well. It is a great place for camping. Accommodations such as rental bungalows and inns are located at a nearby village.

Alaska Beach
§ This beach is very popular among beach combers and backpackers. The beach is secluded, unlike the other beaches in Ghana. Although secluded, the beach is complete with camping facilities, bungalows for rent, showers, toilets and water sports facilities. Moreover, this beach has several restaurants where tourists can sample fresh seafood and other local cuisine.

Langma, Kokrobite
§ The cleanest and most beautiful beaches of Ghana are the ones in Langma. Take a tro-tro from Kokrobite to Barbara's Village.
§ Just around the corner from Barbara's Village, you'll find turtle nesting. Don't disturb the turtles, observe them in their natural habitat.
§ You can get a refreshing coconut or a drink on the beach too, although this is the most secluded and crowd-free beach in Ghana. Splendid waves make you wanna body-surf. You can get the boards at the Village.
§ Evenings are romantic mixture of food, waves, moon and dinner on the beach

Ghana's Economy:
Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorest countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance. Gold and cocoa production, and individual remittances, are major sources of foreign exchange. The domestic economy continues to revolve around agriculture, which accounts for about 35% of GDP and employs about 55% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Ghana opted for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program in 2002, and is also benefiting from the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative that took effect in 2006. Sound macro-economic management along with high prices for gold and cocoa helped sustain GDP growth in 2008.

History and Politics:

Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory,
Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence.
Ghana endured a long series of coups before Lt. Jerry Rawlings took power in 1981 and banned
political parties. After approving a new constitution and restoring multiparty politics in 1992,
Rawlings won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from
running for a third term in 2000. John Kufuor succeeded him and was reelected in 2004. John
Atta Mills took over as head of state in early 2009.

Important slavery sites in Ghana include:

St George's Castle in Elmina, one of several former slave forts along Ghana's Atlantic coast, is a hugely popular destination and place of pilgrimage for African-American tourists and visitors from all over the world. A guided tour will lead you through slave dungeons and punishment cells. A slave auctioning room now houses a small museum.

Cape Coast Castle and Museum. The Cape Coast Castle played a prominent role in the slave trade and daily guided tours include the slave dungeons, Palaver hall, the grave of an English Governor, and more. The castle was the headquarters for the British colonial administration for nearly 200 years. The Museum houses objects from around the region including artifacts used during the slave trade. An informative video gives you a good introduction to the business of slavery and how it was conducted.

The Gold Coast in Ghana is in fact lined with old forts used by European powers during the slave trade. Some of the forts have been turned into guesthouses offering basic accommodation. Other forts like Fort Amsterdam in Abanze have many original features, which gives you a good idea of what it was like during the slave trade.

Salaga in northern Ghana was the site of a major slave market. Today visitors can see the grounds of the slave market; slave wells which were used to wash slaves and spruce them up for a good price; and a huge cemetery where slaves who had died were laid to rest

More information about traveling in Ghana

Senegal

Goree Island (Ile de Goree) , is Senegal's premiere destination for those interested in the history of the trans-Atlantic slave-trade.

The main attraction is the Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves) built by the Dutch in 1776 as a holding point for slaves. The house has been converted into a museum and is open every day except Monday. Tours will take you through the dungeons where the slaves were held and explain exactly how they were sold and shipped.

Benin
Porto-Novo is the capital of Benin and was established as a major slave-trading post by the Portuguese in the 17th century. Ruined castles can still be explored.

Ouidah (west of Coutonou) is where slaves captured in Togo and Benin would spend their final night before embarking on their trans-Atlantic journey. There's a History Museum (Musee d'Histoire d'Ouidah) which tells the story of the slave trade. It is open daily (but closed for lunch).

The Route des Esclaves is a 2.5 mile (4km) road lined with fetishes and statues where the slaves would take their final walk down to beach and to the slave-ships. Important memorials have been set up in the last village on this road, which was the "point of no return".

The Gambia
The Gambia is where Kunta Kinte hails from, the slave Alex Haley's novel Roots was based on. There are several important slavery sites to visit in the Gambia:

Albreda is an island that was an important slave post for the French. There is now a slave museum.

Jufureh is the home village of Kunta Kinte and visitors on a tour can sometimes meet the members of the Kinte clan.

James Island was used to hold slaves for several weeks before they were shipped to other West African ports for sale. A dungeon still remains intact, where slaves were held for punishment.

Tours which focus on the novel "Roots" are popular for visitors to the Gambia and will cover all the slave sites listed above. You can also meet descendants of Kunta Kinte's clan.

More Slave Sites

Lesser known slave trade sites but worth visiting in West Africa includes:

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/country_information/ 04 July 2011

Sam and Cynthia

Africa

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Monday, July 4, 2011

Facts About Ghana

Our New African Apartment

Total Pageviews