Unique Places in Ghana

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Many people may know the beads market that takes place every thursday in the capital of the Eastern region, Koforidua. It's something almost every guidebook talk about... what many people don't know, though, is that less than 40 minutes drive from Koforidua there's a wonderful place, hidden in the forest, where you can have a great stay, hike, swim in the river, enjoy village life and eventually have some nice dancing and drumming classes. The bungalows (5) are simple but clean and cool, thanks to the thatch roof, same applies to outside toilettes and showers. The huge summerhut serves alternatevly as kindergarten for village kids, training ground for local artists, restaurant and bar for the guests. The food is delicious, whether you choose local dishes or italian (!!!) ones (yes, the place belongs to a Ghanaian-italian couple and wow, having a yummy capuccino in the middle of the forest is a great experience!!!).

The guide books aren't lying when they say this isn't a cruise, the volta ferry is a cargo ship that carries passengers to suplement it's income. It travels once a week from Akosombo to Yeji and back with a few stops in between and one-way takes about 36 hours.

It supposedly leaves Akosombo at 4pm Monday arriving into Yeji Tuesday evening from 8pm onwards and sets off again at 3am to arrive in Akosombo early in the afternoon on Thursday. However, delays are far from unheard of when I travelled on it we left Akosombo at 7pm arriving at Yeji at 11pm and the boat was still there at 9am the next morning so don't plan your time too strictly.

There is limited cabin space at 30 Cedis (about 15 pound or 27 dollars) if not for 7.5 Cedis you can sleep in the dining room or on deck. The food sold was decent and suprisingly honestly priced. There is one sit-down toilet two squat toilets and a shower. Do be warned that affordable accomodation in Yeji is pretty grim but i found a place where the sheets were clean and for six hours sleep that's all i needed.

From Yeji you can either travel to Kumasi or cross the lake and travel on to Tamale. I had an amazing time and met an ecclectic mix of people to swap stories with.

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This village was purpose built in the 60's to house the dam builders, but it isn't that special.
BUT the dam!
It measures 370m. across and 124m. in height and turned the Volta into a lake of 850.000ha. with several islands in it.
The surrounding area of Akosombo is also very attractive.
For instance, the town of Atimpoku, a small but very lively place along the Accra<-->Ho road, near the suspension bridge.
Over here you can always find transport, a bus to the east, a car to the south, a pirogue to go down river and near Akosombo you can find a boat to go up north

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The spectacular Bamboo Cathedral at Nkwanta about 8km from the Ankasa N.P. gate. Though not a church building and has no human Bishop, a priest nor a creed, the site showcases nature’s perfect architectural design. The giant and suppliant bamboos bow and criss-cross at their apex as if in a handshake to form a dome. The bamboos plants forming a canopy give the semblance of a cathedral over which the breeze presides a perfect habitation for relaxation.

Take a day tour to Wli falls next to Hohoe at the Togo border. This is an easy couple of hours back and forth through a forest with a guide to take you and explain about vegetation and animals. Very cool and relaxing place.

S h i t o is a typical Ghanaian sauce.
You will receive it in all restaurant to accompany rice.
It is made of dry fish, dry shrimps, dry hot red pepper, mashed onions, mashed ginger and some red oil for cooking.
Everything is mixed in a powder and cooked longly with oil.
The best one are more expensive because they don't use too much oil and then use more expensive stuffs.
It is special but very good.
Don't forget to buy some to go back, it is one of the flavours of Ghana

Millet is grass-like grain grown throughout Ghana for use as food for humans and animals. Millet is separated from the husks, then washed and toasted. It can then be eaten more or less as it is, just boiled with water (used as an accompaniment to meat in the same way as rice may be used), flour can be made from the grain, as well as beer.

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The ubiquitous goats are found everywhere – every village has them and every available pieces of land, be it beside the road or between the buildings in the town had one or more goats grazing on it. Goats are one of the oldest domesticated animal species, being kept for their milk (of which you can also make cheese), meat (which is more nutritional than mutton), hair (there is less fibre per goat than per sheep) and skin. Goats are favoured over cattle as they are easier to manage, cheaper to purchase, more versatile in their diet and they have multiple uses.

For some time I did have a real problem distinguishing between sheep and goats in West Africa. Goats, however, have a coarser, straighter coat than sheep and the ears are often different.