Ghana Warnings Or Dangers

 
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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Taking photographs of people

by IoannaE

Ghanaians don't like foreigners pointing cameras at them, and who can blame them? Some, in the more touristy places, will ask you for a considerable sum of money as a way of dissuading you. When people are this good-looking and photogenic, this can be frustrating, but I think it's best to respect people's feelings - and avoid turning this into another commercial transaction. That said, not everyone feels the same. I was taking some shots of Aburi town when I noticed an older woman coming into the frame and lowered my camera to avoid offence (still, she shook her finger at me and said 'no pictures, be careful'). Then I discovered that a young charmer had also wandered into the frame a few seconds earlier - her attitude was very different!

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Traffic

by grets

Generally speaking, rural Ghana suffers very little in the way of traffic jams. We did see quite a few bits of traffic congestion in urban areas however. There are many police road checks along the way, which often cause tailbacks, Make sure that your papers are in order at all times. Road works are common, causing traffic to build up, or complete road closures making long deviations necessary. Often these are not signposted, and at one stage we had to rely on the knowledge of a local bus driver to find our way around a closed road. It is all part of the fun of driving in Ghana.

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Snakes

by grets

There are many poisonous as well as non-poisonous snakes in Ghana, but you are very unlikely to encounter any. So we were told. And believed. Until one day in Tamale…..Just as we were finished our lunch, there was a bit of commotion outside the walls of the restaurant, with a crowd gathering and throwing stoned at the ground just by the wall. Being curious creatures, we went to investigate, and found that it was a snake! The locals had managed to kill it by the time we got there (thankfully) and we never did find out whether it was poisonous or not (again thankfully). A bit of excitement for the day though. We think it was probably the non-venomous mole snake, but we didn’t want to take any chances.

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Putting your hand in your pocket

by grets

The local expression for ‘wishing to use the bathroom’, ‘spending a penny’, ‘powdering your nose’ or whatever the delicate expression is in your neck of the woods, is ‘putting your hand in your pocket.’Be aware that public toilets are few and far between in West Africa. Where they do exist they are most usually the squat variety and may not be to your desired standard. It may be preferable to use the ‘bush toilet’. Sometimes there is a small charge for using public facilities.

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Dust

by grets

During the dry season, dust can be a major problem for visitors to Ghana. Not only is dust unsettled by passing vehicles, at this time of year you get the very unpleasant Harmattan – a dust laden wind from the Sahara. If you drive in a vehicle with the windows open, every time you pass another vehicle, you will be covered with dust, as you can see from picture five. It is not just the fact that everything you wear becomes filthy, cameras really don’t like dust, and as for what it does for your lungs, time can only tell. I slept under the stars a couple of nights while in Ghana, and on the second night I woke up with the driest mouth I have ever had, which later developed into an extremely sore throat. I had in effect lost my voice completely when I woke up – all due to the dusty air. Sometimes you don’t even realise just how dusty the atmosphere is – I didn’t think it was at all dusty...

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Road conditions

by grets

Many of the roads in Ghana are not paved and some are really no more than dirt tracks. There are lots of pot holes, and we were there in the dry season, so I should imagine it get a whole lot worse in the wet season. Allow more time than you think it will take, even to travel short distances. There are also many road works, as well as road checks by traffic police. We must have been stopped two or three times AT LEAST, every single day by police checks.

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Water shortages and cuts

by grets

Water shortages and cuts are common and in many hotel bathrooms were buckets that you were advised to fill at any opportunity you happened to have running water. Which in some places wasn’t very often. Many a time we had cold bucket showers, but they are very refreshing after a hot, dusty walk in the savanna. Often when we got in to a hotel and turned on the tap there was nothing coming out. You just have to keep trying until something does. When you do get water, you are lucky to get hot water.

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Begging

by grets

Many places where tourists frequent, the children, will beg for money, pens or sweets. Please do not give directly to the children as you do not want to encourage begging. If you want to help, give a donation to the village elder or a school. Sometimes the children will ask for your used water bottle. This is OK to give, as long as there are not two water bottles and fifty children, as it will cause a fight. The older children and adults are more crafty in their approach, and will make friendly opening questions such as ‘where are you from?’, ‘what’s your name?’ etc, but the end result is usually the same: a request for a gift or some money. By all means engage in conversation - some of my best memories from Ghana are talking to the local people - most of them will happily continue talking to you even if you don’t give them anything.

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Beware of pick-pockets

by grets

Many places in urban Ghana can be crowded to the extreme and you could very easily fall victim to pick-pockets. Although Ghana is not a dangerous place per se, take care of your belongings - don’t leave wallets sticking out of your back pocket for instance. It only takes one bad apple to seize the opportunity and then disappear in the crowd. You’d have no chance of following or ever finding them again.

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Ghana - Togo Border closes at 9 PM

by ajayzener

We were travlelling from Ghana to Togo by car, we reached the border at 9:15 PM to realise that the border is closed. We were warned initially that the border closes at 10 Pm. But to our surprise we found it closed. We had no choice but to stay back. In the night we hunted around the area for a good hotel, none was to be found. Finally we landed in a small hotel which charged us 20,000 Cedis for a double room, needless to say that the rooms were stinky and the bathroom door did not close. Also the main door had a latch which was just coming off. We spent a sleepless night here.

Safety Tips in Ghana

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65 Hotels in Ghana
 
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Reviews and photos of Ghana attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Ghana sightseeing.

Experience Ghana
Warnings Or Dangers: Cities in Ghana
  1. Accra Warnings Or Dangers
  2. Kumasi Warnings Or Dangers
  3. Cape Coast Warnings Or Dangers
  4. Mole National Park Warnings Or Dangers
  5. Tamale Warnings Or Dangers
  6. Bolgatanga Warnings Or Dangers
  7. Aflao Warnings Or Dangers
  8. Ankasa Warnings Or Dangers
  9. Yendi Warnings Or Dangers
  10. Busua Warnings Or Dangers
  11. Tenzugu Warnings Or Dangers
  12. Abrafo Warnings Or Dangers

More Cities in Ghana

 

Popular Regions in Ghana

Greater Accra Region Warnings Or Dangers  Ashanti Region Warnings Or Dangers  Central Region Warnings Or Dangers  Northern Region Warnings Or Dangers  Western Region Warnings Or Dangers  Upper East Region Warnings Or Dangers  Eastern Region Warnings Or Dangers  Volta Region Warnings Or Dangers 

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Questions and Answers

Raskent profile photo

Q:  I'm planning my trip for Ghana for next year and I'm want to bring some food items such as can foods. Is it ok, and if so is there... 

rashepard profile photo

A: Why do you want to carry can goods? You can go to a number of grocery stores in Accra. Although I have carried some specialty items, the Accra airport does not usually... 

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