Ghana is the most convenient and safe country in West Africa in which to see a significant number of the upper guinea endemics. It has been a stable and safe destination for many years and combined with a good road and tourist infrastructure makes it the obvious choice for any birder wanting to visit the region.
There is a 'tried and tested' route around the country that virtually every tour follows. Ours with the main birding tour company Ashanti was no different. This route takes in the following sites:
Shai Hills
Winneba Lagoon
Kakum NP (including the canopy walkway)
Ebi River
Ankasa
Bonkro (for Yellow-headed Picathartes)
Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary
The White Volta river at Daboya (for Egyptian Plover)
Mole NP
Atewa Range
plus a few roadside stops en-route
Our guide from Ashanti was Foster Frimpong one of their most popular guides. He truly did go the extra mile to help ensure we had the best possible chance of getting the birds. This meant 05.00 starts each morning with the days often ending with night birding after dark. As such it was a full-on and intensive trip that left me ready for a holiday when I got home!
There were 4 of us on the trip and becuse of that number Ashanti offered us a private tour for the same price per head as a scheduled tour which was about GBP2925 each.
Transport was in a very comfortable small minibus which had plenty of room for us all (and a great aircon system!). At Ankasa the entrance road to the lodge and beyond is in really bad condition so we transferred to battered ancient landrover for 3 days there. The same level of comfort was not forthcoming with up to 7 of us plus luggage crammed in! There were quite a few long drives on the trip (especially to and from Mole) with progress slow due to traffic, numerous pot holes and speed bumps the size of small hills!
We flew with KLM from Norwich to Accra via Amsterdam which was very convenient and relaxed.
Accomodation was in mid-range hotels and lodges which were all adequate and clean. Some obviously better that others.
Worst ones - Mole Motel and Nelsban Palace Hotel
Best ones - Rainforest Lodge, Ankasa Guesthouse and for entirely different reasons the Picathartes Guesthouse.
Food was reasonably good but a little repetitive in the end. Certainy better than we had feared. As well as the local staples of plantain, a bean stew called 'red red', peanut soup, rice etc there was also plenty of 'western' food on the menus inclusing pizza, fries, fish, pasta, etc. We certainly didn't starve!
The following screen grab from my eBird shows the birding spots we visited
No comments:
Post a Comment