ACCRA | CAPE COAST | TAMALE |
Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north and Togo to the east.
Ghana is a very friendly country, ideal for first time travellers to Africa, the people are generally very helpful and welcoming. While their laidback attitude and lack of organized tourist sights/trips can be a little annoying to begin with, before you have been there for very long you realise that it is one of the delights of this country.
Tourism in Ghana is growing very quickly, and more tour operators are seeing increased requests for Ghana as a travel destination.
Ghana is also rich in Gold. Their people have a very rich culture and they have a very stable country with great potential for growth.
HOW TO REACH
By plane - All International flights are through Kotoka International airport at Accra (ACC), it is very central and there are always lots of taxis available, a taxi ride anywhere in the city shouldn't cost more than 4 cedis. North American Airlines flies non-stop once a week from New York City (JFK) and Baltimore (BWI) through May 20th, 2008. Delta Air Lines serves Accra from New York City (JFK) with four flights per week. British Airways flies from London Heathrow, and Ghana International Airlines and Astraeus fly from London Gatwick. The Royal Dutch airlines (KLM) flies daily from Schiphol, Amsterdam. Lufthansa and Alitalia maintain daily direct flights from Frankfurt and Milan respectively, with a short stop in Lagos, Nigeria. Emirates flies daily non-stop from Dubai in the Middle East (with connections to Asia and the Far East). Ethiopian Airlines flies four weekly non-stops from Addis Ababa (with stopover, you can visit another African country). Also, South African Airways flies four times a week non-stop from Johannesburg. If coming from Brazil or nearby, the flight from Rio to Luanda, Angola on Angola Airlines would be the shortest. From there, you can go non-stop to Accra.
By car - The border at Aflao with Togo is an entertaining scene. It appears very disorderly and human traffic seems to flow freely. However it is unlikely that a caucasion person can pass through without all the formalities. The process of filling out forms and checking visas can take quite a while for non-diplomats. Soldiers on the Togo side are likely to ask for a bribe but need not be paid if all of your documents are in order. Border officials on the Ghanaian side in contrast are much more difficult to bribe. A visa into Ghana can be bought at the border at double the normal cost (because of the speedy delivery) for some GH110.
The border with Cote d'Ivoire at Elubo takes less time to cross but Ivorian guards seem much more keen on the rules.
By bus - Ghana's national bus company, Metro Mass Company, run services within the capital city, Accra, and within other regions in Ghana. STC run bus services to & from cities within Ghana and some nearby countries.
ABC Transport, based in Nigeria has a daily air conditioned bus to Lagos for about GH45.
STAY SAFE
Ghana is currently a very safe, stable country with relatively low crime levels compared to other West African countries. Take sensible precautions but be assured it is quite safe.
Bywel's bar in Osu is a frequent hangout of expats on Thursday nights meaning that it is target for muggings. Be sure to leave in a large group and enter a taxi immediately upon exiting the bar.
Cases have also been reported of people snatching cell phones in the streets. Avoid using your cell phone out in the open if you do not absolutely need to. You may run the risk of having someone snatch it from you.
RESPECT
Do try and pick up on respectful practice (such as not eating or offering with your left hand), but in general Ghanaians are quite accepting of tourists getting it wrong. Greetings are very important. Ghanians are not forgiving of people who do not take time to greet others. Sometimes greetings come in the form of a salute accompanied by a "good morning" or "good afternoon". The expected response is the same (a salute with a "good morning or afternoon").
