With over 750 different species of birds, Ghana is an ideal birdwatching destination. We use highly experienced tour leaders and guides with expert knowledge of Ghana’s birds and their habitats.
Day 1 You arrive at Kotoka International Airport, Accra, Ghana. Accra is situated on the Gold Coast of Western Africa. This is the start of what will be an amazing journey that will live with you forever. After passing through immigration, you proceed to the conveyor to collect your baggage before heading to customs. We will meet you on the other side, just look out for our sign as you come out of the terminal building. Make yourself known to us and we will take care of you from here, and for the duration of your stay. We will board our air-conditioned vehicle, your mode of transport for the duration of your stay, before setting off.
Our first stop, the Dutch hotel, is 20 minutes outside of Accra. Located in a quiet area on the coast, the Dutch hotel is our accommodation during our stay in Accra. Once we have checked you in, Mark and the two local guides, who will be accompanying you for the duration of your tour, will offer you Akwaaba (Welcome). We will brief you on all aspects of your holiday during complementary drinks (first evening only) at the hotel bar. In the evening you can relax on the hotel terrace overlooking the Gold Coast.
Day 2 Our first full day in Ghana, and an early start to what should be a wonderful 14 day birdwatching tour. We head west leaving the busy city of Accra behind. Our destination is Cape Coast where we find the amazing Kakum National Park. En route, we will be stopping at various Ramsar sites including lagoons, mud flats, saltpans and a grassland reserve. Today, we hope to find siffling, croaking, black necked cisticola, copper sunbird, flappet lark, red winged prinia, yellow shouldered widowbird, black necked weaver, African quailfinch, orange cheeked waxbill, moustached grass-warbler, displaying orange and black winged bishops and the much sought after blue quail and quail plover. Around the lakes and lagoons, we aim to see common paleartic tern, royal tern, African pygmy-goose, western reef egrets, herons, yellow bishop, preuss’s, swallows and many more species before our arrival at Hans Cottage, our base for the next 4 nights whilst we visit Kakum National Park. Our hotel is a very comfortable establishment built over a lake, which contains Nile crocodiles and is teeming with birdlife including vieillot, village and orange weavers, night heron, striated heron and the highly sought after white crested tiger heron. We will retire to our air-conditioned rooms after discussing the day’s sightings over dinner.
Day 3-4 Early start as we head for exclusive patronage of the world famous canopy walkway at Kakum National Park. Over the next two early mornings and evenings, we will be spending the most critical bird viewing hours 40 meters above the forest floor on the canopy walkway, which platforms are large enough to support Telescopes. The 607 km² Kakum National Park protects critically endangered primary guinea tropical rainforest and the species we expect to see from the canopy includes green hylia, violet backed hyliota, the rare yellow footed honeyguide, yellow bellied crombec, little grey flycatcher, grey headed, white breasted and chestnut breasted negrofinch, grey longbill, white headed and forest woodhoopee, West African batis, western bluebills, blue cuckoo shrike, chestnut bellied helmetshrike, large billed puffback, sharpes apalis, rufous-crowned eremomela, brown cheeked, black and white casqued, piping, yellow casqued and black dwarf hornbill, beautiful preussus weaver, red headed and red vented malimbes, rosy bee eater, yellow spotted and hairy breasted barbet, red fronted, brown necked, and grey parrots, velvet mantled drongos. The raptors we are likely to see include red necked buzzard, palm nut vulture, African cuckoo hawk, banded snake eagle, cassins hawk-eagle to mention just a few. During the heat of mid afternoon, we have the option of resting around the hotel pool and bar or you could choose to go on a cultural excursion to Cape Coast to visit Cape Coast and Elmina castles. These wonderfully preserved colonial fortifications are recognised as UNESCO world heritage sites. They are both steeped in history and played a major role during Ghana’s tragic slave trade era. We will tour these castles and embark on a fascinating and thought provoking journey. Both of these monuments have an excellent museum and information centre. We head back to Kakum National Park for a late afternoon birding, adding more species to our rapidly growing lists. The parks headquarters has an excellent information centre that offers a very informative overview of the parks flora and fauna. Over 40 different mammal species have been recorded within the park, including forest elephants, leopards and 6 primate species to mention just a few. Our evenings will be spent at Hans restaurant and bar discussing the day’s sightings, adding to our checklist and enjoying the atmosphere of our surroundings
Day 5 Another early start. This morning we will be concentrating our attention on the many trails within and surrounding the park, which should prove to be very productive. We can expect to find fire crested alethe, common and grey headed bristlebills, collared and olive bellied sunbirds, blue headed wood dove, red rumped tinkerbird, African and white browed forest flycatchers, black headed paradise flycatcher, finches flycatcher, blue shouldered robin chat, olive long tailed cuckoo, pale breasted illadopsis, forest robin, red chested goshawk, yellow billed and guinea turacoú, long tailed hawk, black bee eaters, fire bellied woodpecker, black throated coucal, spot breasted ibis, western black headed oriole, African finfoot and if we are lucky we may spot congo serpont eagle, African pitta, forest francolin forest scrub robin, spotted honeyguide and the legendary, critically endangered white breasted guineafowl, the forest streams support shining blue and white bellied kingfishers.
We will return in early afternoon after relaxing at the hotel and search the forest edge for bristle nosed and yellow billed barbet, yellow throated cuckoo, green crombec, ahanta francolin, black winged oriole, buff spotted and brown eared woodpecker, yellow throated cuckoo, kemps longbill, splendid and copper tailed glossy starling, yellow browed and olive green camaropterg. After a wonderful day of birding, we return to the hotel for our evening meal and to discuss the days birding over refreshments.
Day 6 Our final day at Kakum, we start the morning with a final visit to the park hoping to add some new species we may have missed previously. On our return to Hans, we have a leisurely breakfast, load up our vehicle and depart for Kumasi after a wonderful time at Kakum. During our journey, we will add some species we may have missed whilst at Kakum. We arrive in Kumasi at our hotel for a 1 night stay. On our arrival you will have the option of heading to Bobiri forest for evening birding or you can relax at our hotel.
Day 7 We awake early to visit Bobiri forest reserve which is actually a butterfly sanctuary. Upon our arrival, we will search this lush forest for swamp palm greenbul, bronze naped pigeon, red chested cuckoos, green headed sunbirds, red billed dwarf and white crested hornbills, white headed. Woodhoopee, brown illadopsis, western nicator and some of the many raptors present include, cassins hawk eagle, red thighed sparrowhawks, African cuckoo hawk, great sparrow hawk to mention just a few. During the heat of the afternoons, you have a choice of either relaxing in the hotel around the pool or going on an excursion to the National Cultural Centre and the Prempeh II Jubilee museum. The Cultural Centre and Prempeh museum offer an excellent overview of Ashanti history. And the wonderful craft market in the grounds offers an opportunity to buy traditional Ashanti crafts at reasonable prices. We return to Bobiri in the late afternoon trying to add some species we may have missed previously. This evening, you will be invited to our private house for complementary drinks and an evening meal whilst we discuss the day’s bird viewing before heading back to our hotel.
Day 8 The day starts with a buzz and after a leisurely breakfast we leave Kumasi heading north towards Mole National Park. We can expect to see different bird species en route as we gradually enter the Sahelian Savannah plains of northern Ghana. During our journey, we will be stopping at riparian forests and woodland trying to add different species to our list. On our arrival at Mole National Park, we check into the Mole hotel, which is the only accommodation in the area. Situated on a 250 metre high escarpment over looking this 4840km² park, it offers breathtaking views. It is an amazing feeling to be sitting around the pool on the hotel terrace watching African savannah elephants bathing in the two nearby watering holes which are inhabited by crocodiles. After our evening meal, we shall set off for an evening of birding around the Mole Airstrip which is particularly productive for nightjars.
Day 9-10-11 We awake early and move to the hotel terrace, which is an excellent spot to set up our Telescopes and watch the dawn activity where we aim to see chestnut-crowned sparrow weaver, lavender and orange cheeked waxbill, red throated bee eater, grey woodpecker, red billed and bared breasted firefinch, Senegal batis, stone partridge, freckled nightjar, beautiful and pygmy sunbirds, abyssinian ground-hornbill. The watering hole attracts Senegal thick knee and greater painted snipe, wolly necked stork and hadada ibis. Raptors are common in Mole and we should add to our list white headed, hooded, and white backed vulture, African hawk eagle, ayres’s hawk eagle, bateleur, short toed and brown snake eagle, lizzard buzzard, African hobby, lannar falcon and several species of harrier. We will take guided walks into the woodland that surrounds the waterholes in the cooler early mornings and late afternoons and we will expect to encounter bruces green pigeon, purple and longtailed gloss starlings, white shouldered black tit, Senegal eremomela, oriole warbler, violet turaco, golden tailed and grey woodpecker, blackcap and brown babbler, snowy crowned robin chat, yellow breasted apalis, spotted creeper, northern puffback, rufus cisticola, swamp and lead coloured flycatchers and yellow fronted tinkerbird. During the heat of the afternoons, we have the option of a nearby cultural excursion to Larabanga and the 14th century mud and stick mosque. This wonderfully preserved traditional Sudanese style mosque dates from around 1421 and reportedly houses one of the original copies of the Koran; alternatively we can relax on the terrace around the pool.
Day 12 After a final mornings birding on the hotel terrace and a hearty breakfast, we set off for Kumasi retracing our journey of a few days earlier. En route we will stop at the beautiful Kintampo waterfall to relax. Some of our more adventurous guests use this opportunity to experience the best shower in Ghana, an invigorating experience and a great way to cool off. After our refreshing stop, we set off on our final leg to Kumasi, on our arrival we will check into our hotel and enjoy our evening meal around the pool.
Day 13 This morning we have the option of a revisit to Bobiri or to the nearby Bomfobiri forest reserve, a very productive reserve where we aim to find species we may have missed during our previous visit to Kumasi. We return to our hotel to refuel before setting off for Accra. If time permits, we will head off for the Sakumona lagoon. One of our lead guides knows Sakumona lagoon very well as he lives a short distance away. This gives him the opportunity to bird there most mornings which can only enhance our group’s chances of a productive visit. As it is our final evening in Ghana, we will head back to our hotel to freshen up before an evening out at one of Accra’s beach front restaurants and bars.
Day 14 Sadly our final day with you in Ghana. The day starts early as we visit the nearby Shai Hills reserve, an expanse of Savannah, grassland and woodland. The bird viewing here is excellent and we hope to find grey hornbill, African hobby, violet and green turacos, mocking cliff chat, Senegal parrot, croaking cisticola, white crowned robin chat and many more species. After lunch, and if time permits, we shall revisit Sakumona lagoon.
Depending on your flight departure time, we will visit a nearby beach hotel to relax and enjoy an early evening meal before your sad departure and flight home after an unforgettable 14 days experience.
All our tour prices include Accommodation: range from air conditioned hotels with en-suite facilities to traditional village homestead All meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks Transportation around Ghana in an air conditioned vehicle Cultural excursions Park entrance fees Guide fees: fully escorted by professional and expert Western and local Ghanaian guides 24/7 care and attention
Price does not include International Flights Visa Items of a personal nature or not mentioned in the itinerary above
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It's been a month since we returned from our 10-day wildlife/birding tour of Ghana, we're putting the finishing touches on our photo album, and we still marvel and how perfectly everything went.
The naturalist guide, James, is a world class birder who worked very hard to eke out every additional species sighting for us. Just as importantly, he worked hard to see that we were well taken care of by the hotels and restaurants. He and the driver, William, were very congenial as well as professional, and we shared many laughs as well as thought-provoking discussions on long drives and at dinner.
The itinerary -- custom designed for us to maximize time spent experiencing nature at different venues -- could not have been better. The timing worked out great, William drove us safely on rough back-country roads and through incredible traffic (to us, since we're from a small town in the western U.S.) in the cities.
The hotels were clean and comfortable, the food was quite good, and it's impossible to say enough about James' keen eye and ear. While we were still struggling to find a bird in a far-away tree, James would say, "In the scope." and there it was at high-power magnification for us to admire and study in detail. Kakum's canopy boardwalk and Mole's beauty and abundant wildlife were wonderful.
If we are fortunate enough to visit Ghana again someday, we would like to see the eastern region with its waterfalls and hike to Ghana's highest point. But for this first visit, we wouldn't change a thing. If we do return, we would hope to travel with James and William again. We will never forget them, the amazing sights of Ghana, and the excellent service provided by Mark, Lydia, and the other staff.
The 14-day birdwatching tour was very rewarding. Going from location to location allowed us to see quite a bit of the country in addition to our 250+ species. I was very pleased with all of the accommodations -- they all had aircon and hot water.
The highlight of the hotels, however, was the proprietors. Ghanaians are supremely friendly! I especially liked the cook/owner of D&A Guest House in Shama. Very delicious buffet dinner.
Our guide, Robert Ntakor, amazed me. A bird would flit by and he'd identify it in a split second. He was also excellent at spotting birds in the dense brush and canopy. He seems to have the calls of every bird in Ghana on his iPod and we had great success attracting beauties such as the long-tailed hawk, great blue turaco, emerald cuckoo, and the list goes on.
It was great fun seeing and photographing the exotic birds.
Our family of four recently completed the Walking with Elephants tour. The detailed itinerary was very appealing to us. From the wildlife to the villages and markets, from a mosque to museums, and even a bead factory - everything exceeded our expectations!
Yaw and Kawawa (our guide and driver) were both outstanding! Yaw is extremely knowledgeable and was quick to customize the schedule to meet our needs. Kawawa always had a smile on his face, even while driving on some of the bumpiest roads we've ever encountered.
Even before the trip, Janet and the administrative staff were very responsive to our needs. When the airlines canceled certain flights, with a smile, Janet rearranged all of the dates and hotel accommodations to fit our needs.
In 10 days, we traveled over 2000 km circling the diverse country of Ghana but we wouldn't have given up any of our destinations. We would highly recommend this tour operator.
Our holiday exceeded our expections! from the moment the beaming smile of our driver and guide greeted us at the airport things just got better and better.
The whole experience was delightful, we have so many memories and photos that I could go on for ever! The services of Yah and Kawawa were fantastic. Nothing was too much trouble for them and they looked after us very well. The 2 safaris we had at Mole National Park were just wonderful. To come across an elephant is something to be experienced, feeding monkeys from my hand was amazing! The stay at Talawano lodge was an experience that I would not have wanted to miss, and the last night stay at Anamobo beach resort was lovely.
I would, without hesitation, recommend this operator to anyone.
My wife and I had a 12 day birdwatching trip to Ghana in December and enjoyed it enormously. We could be called veterans of such trips having travelled to many countries and dealt with numerous travel companies who organise these kind of holidays.
This organisation was up with the best of these and their prices are very reasonable, much lower than any UK based organisation could offer. The quality of the tour was equal to if not better than any other organisation and I would wholeheartedly recommend their services to anyone planning such a holiday.
They were fully supportive and informative throughout the planning process and the whole holiday went smoothly, which is quite unusual for this kind of holiday in our experience. We originally found the operator via the Africa Guide web site and regard ourselves very fortunate to have done so.
We covered a number of the key birding sites in Southern Ghana focussing particularly upon the Guinea rainforest endemics, successfully locating 275 species of which 127 were new birds for us and also observing the majority of the target species.
Transport and driving services were excellent and the accommodation was generally very good. The sites that we visited were evocative and in some cases spectacular: the Kakum walkway has to be experienced at least once by everyone, although in my case once will be quite enough (no head for heights). As anyone with a real interest in nature would know the experience of being in rainforest away from the crowds and the hurly burly provides a real insight into what any country has to offer.
Ghana is really an excellent country to visit, quite unlike many others in Africa where we had been previously and, whilst we had expected this to be our sole journey to this country. We are now inclined to return and experience its special atmosphere once again.
I had a fabulous time in Ghana on the Tribal Trek Tour in October.
The organization was very good and our guide, Yaw Asimoah, is most knowledgeable.
Although I could have done with fewer shopping opportunities (not the usual complaint, I expect) the wildlife viewing, historical experiences and social interactions were superb.
The trip met my family's expectation. We had professional, experienced and friendly guides. Itinerary was super. Changing hotels frequently made it more fun.
We saw many things, explored the history culture and vast areas of Ghana. Accra,Cape Coast, Kumasi, Kitampo, Mole, Water falls, Elmina Castle, Canopy walk way, Volta dam etc ,etc. We met the people, ate their food, felt their warmth and smiles, made new friends and shared their feelings.
Ghana was hot, but with the wonderfully airconditioned hotels with swimming pools that we enjoyed nightly and often during a pm break, we Northerners survived.
Our guides were personable, knowledgeable, and excellent at finding the birds we had gone to see. The ever present bottled water was a real plus as that was not something we needed to worry about. Price was not only very reasonable but it included everything(which isn't always true), even trying local treats from car vendors.
No one bugging us for tips, local food was a treat, locals were friendly and interested in us as we were in them.
We had a great vacation and I would recommend this company for any tour of Ghana, as they will take you whereever you want to go. They went out of their way to make us comfortable and to do the things we wanted to do and to find the birds we were most interested in.
9
Client:
Christine Lane - from United Kingdom
Trip:
currently unavailable
Rating:
rating 9/10
Comment:
Five of us travelled to Ghana on their 15 day Culture and Wildlife tour.
Our itinerary was excellent and we covered 8 out of the 10 regions in Ghana.Our 2 guides and 1 driver were all Ghanaian, they were informative, flexible and fun and took us to places of interest not included in the itinerary.
We started on the coast visiting the Castles and learning about the Slave Trade, we visited the largest market in West Africa, completed the amazing Canopy walk, visited various villages,learnt and watched Kenti Clothes being produced,also Palm Oil, Cocoa, Fufu and Garri. At Mole National Park we walked within 20 yards of Elephants, we went in a dug out up the Black Volta so close to Hippos and wonderful bird life and spent 2 days and 1 night living with the Lobi tribe on the border of Burkino Faso, sleeping as they do on the roof of their houses-----no electricity and water from one bore hole.
So many highlights but for me the greatest higlight was the Ghanaian people. I have lived and travelled all over Africa but never before have I met such friendly, welcoming and smiley people.
On the downside we were asked to use Paypal to pay the balance of our trip--they were a nightmare to deal with and we found other means of paying,we passed this on to the opeator.
There are a few long drives and don't always expect showers etc to be in good working order.
The tour operator was extremely helpful when we were planning this trip, nothing was too much trouble.
Finally I have no hesitation in recommending them and Ghana.
They provided any and everything we needed. The guide was very knowledgeable and was able to provide great insight into the history behind all the sites we visited. All the food and hotels except the Afia African Village were great.
The management of the African Village was not very helpful and would not except anything except Cedi's but that was not told to us until we where to check out.
I would recommend the operator to all that want to see the historical side of Ghana. I am a history teacher and I thought it was informative and insightful.
