Ghana travel guide

Accra doesn't feel very much like a capital city. Too spread out, without a central business district or another obvious centre. Most interesting for travellers are probably the area around Independence Square with its Black Star Triumphal Arch. Here visitors will also find the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park for Ghana's first president, and the National Cultural Centre – a glorified collection of craft stalls. To the west are Jamestown and Ushertown, known as Old Accra, and to the east Osu (or Christiansborg) Castle, which will eventually open as a museum. North of Independence Square is the central government quarter with governmental and administrative buildings as well as the National Museum. Foodies and party people will want to head northeast where nightlife and the restaurant scene is concentrated around Oxford Street.

For anyone with an engineering degree or a technical interest, the Akosombo Dam is a must. Finished in 1966, standing 114 metres tall, 660 metres long, and built with local material only, the hydroelectric dam is a technological masterpiece. Politically it's been more problematic as the construction of the dam created what was then the largest human-made lake in the world, resulting in the relocation of 80.000 people. Tours are available and explain both the history and the more technical details of the dam. They are arranged by the Tourist Information & Publicity Unit of the Volta River Authority and leave from their office in town rather than at the dam itself.

The Ashanti Kingdom provided some of the fiercest resistance to European colonisation anywhere in Africa. The British didn't manage to "pacify" this proud kingdom until 1902, when much of ancient Kumasi was burned to the ground and most of the Ashantis' royal family exiled on the Seychelles. And while the royal family has since returned, and still rule the most important traditional chiefdom in Ghana, not many physical traces have been left behind. The exception is a dozen or so sacred Ashanti shines dotting the greater Kumasi region. Built in white and red, with four elevated buildings around a closed courtyard it's easy to mistake the design for something influenced by European architecture. Nothing could be further from the truth, as illustrated by the first European travellers who marvelled about the designs in their journals. Today travellers can to the same.

Beads have for a long time been important in Ghanaian history. They have been used as currency and was one of the primary forms of payment used by Western slave traders. Those original beads, called trade beads, are still found around the country, but if you're interested in buying some, you should tread carefully, be wary of fakes and remakes, and buy from a reputable dealer. More common are beads made from different forms of recycled materials, such as old broken trade beads that are burnt into new beads or beads made of recycled glass - pellets of recycled coke and beer bottles are particularly popular. If nothing else, beads are also made from clay. The industry is centred on the town of Krobo Odumase, a handful kilometres from Kpong, where it's possible to visit the workshops and see how the different beads are made. Places to aim for in the area include Agomanya and Koforidua bead markets, Cedi's Bead Industry and TK Beads. Otherwise, there are plenty of beads for sale on markets around the country.

Cape Coast is blessed with many things. A beautiful palm lined beach, another fishing beach filled with pirogues, a charming worn town centre, but the star attraction is, of course, the magnificent UNESCO enlisted slave fort positioned right between the two beaches. Due to Cape Coast's popularity with travellers and volunteers alike, there are plenty of hawkers and "artists" congregating at the fort. Some find the rasta guys at the beach a bit pushy, but they mostly prey on the western NGO girls, who don't seem to mind too much. With a god selection of accommodations and restaurants, Cape Coast makes a nice base for while doing day trips to Elmina (another slave fort town) and Kakum National Park (canopy walk).

It was the Portuguese, who first established a trading post in Cape Coast in the early 17th century. Later both Swedish, Danish and Dutch hold the post, but it was the British in late 17th century, who expanded the post to the fort you see today. It played a key role in the transatlantic slave trade and thousands of slaves have been sold here and shipped off to the Americas. There is a fine little exhibition explaining the history of the fort, slavery, and Ghana culture in general. As you explore the fort, you get amazing views over Cape Coast, particularly the two beaches and the small fishing community below. Here high up you can take in life below, a sight that almost rival the one of the fort itself. Together with the other fortified buildings along the Ghanaian coast, they're enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Most visitors to Ghana visit the Castles in Elmina and Cape Coast. But the Ghanaian coast is dotted with gold and slave trade era forts, which together are enlisted as one joint UNESCO World Heritage site. No less than two-thirds of all Western forts built in West Africa are constructed in what is today Ghana. Built by the British, Dutch, Danes, Swedes and Portuguese, the forts ended up in the hands of the former three after power struggles during the 17th century. Most interesting of the 29 forts that are standing today are Fort Metal Cross (in Dixcove), Fort Leydsaemheyt (Apam), Fort Amsterdam (Abanze), Fort William (Anomabo) and Fort Prinzenstein (Keta). Fort Amsterdam doubles as a basic guesthouse.

In Ghana they have this wicked tradition that you can get buried in a custom made coffin looking like anything: Cola bottle, airplane, camera (Canon is preferred), cinema projector, lobster, shoes - only the imagination is the limit. Some are made by the coffin maker just to have on stock, while others are ordered to size and style. People choose either something related to their profession in this life or something they want bring into the afterlife. A colourful full size coffin (or casket as they are called) cost from USD 500, and then comes the shipping - unless you plan to use it right away.

Have you always wanted to eat and cook like a local, or maybe you're simply looking for a chance to get a glimpse of local culture? Wait no longer. In a small restaurant in Cape Coast named Nice'n'Rice, Global Mamas – a local NGO working to improve women's livelihood – has set up cooking classes teaching how to prepare and cook Ghanaian classics like red-red, fufu, fried plantain and more. These dishes are often limited to street kitchens and private homes, so half the fun is eating what you've made afterwards. Classes are informal, informative and fun, and regardless of your skills in a kitchen, your teacher/chef will ensure that the end-result is eatable.

We normally don't encourage travellers to have their picture with captured wild animals, but this is a different - and wicked - story. The crocodiles in the pond in Paga is considered sacred and have an unspoken agreement with the caretaker, that they will get a chicken, if they do not eat the tourists, who pose for photos with them. So besides the entrance fee, you also have to pay for a live chicken, which the caretaker will cycle down to the market to buy. Inside the enclosure the caretaker will lure one of the crocodiles onto dry land. You will then get placed at the back legs of the full size crocodile, while you have your photos taken. The crocodile seems to know the routine, for (thankfully) it doesn't move much. Well, that's until the photo session is over and the crocodile gets its reward. The chicken gets thrown in its direction and with lightning speed catch it and swallow it whole.