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Mole NP is Ghana's largest game reserve park. If you want to see big wild animals like elephants, antelopes and as some say, even lions and leopards, then this is the park you have to visit. But it is quite a (bumpy) ride to get there.
When you go to Mole, remember to reserve a room; there is only 1 motel and when we arrived, it was fully booked.
Luckily we brought our tent. But only to find out that camping alongside the motel was not allowed anymore (2 years ago it still was possible).

What an adventure! Well it is now, sitting here with a warm cup of coffee in my livingroom in safe and relaxed Holland.
What happened? Let me tell you about it.

When they told us that there was no room in the motel, and camping was not allowed there anymore, they advised us to go to a nearby village. But, the woman at the reception suggeted another, more interesting, option: Camping in the park!

All we had to do was find a ranger who was willing to accompany us to get there. The nearest campsite was 12 km away and could only be reached by foot and by 4 wheel drive.

Since it already became dark we had to hurry.
We found a ranger and after he picked up some things at his home we were on our way. So far..so good.

Well, as you can see on the pictures, we got stuck with our 4 wheel drive. It took us almost 2 hours to get out of it. But we did, and thanks to our ranger with his big gun, we are still alive and not eaten by the lions or hyenas.

After visiting Mole NP, Kumasi was the next destination on our list. Kumasi is the second city of Ghana and the capital city of the Ashanti region.
It is a very lively city, crowded with people and lots of traffic (jams).

The main centre of this town is one big marketplace.
Some told us that all of Kumasi is one big market.
If you ever go to Ghana, Kumasi is something you have to experience, even if it is only for 1 day (which is enough).

Every holiday somes to an end and the last week we decided to take a look at the coast of Ghana. The ocean in the south of Ghana is the Gulf of Guinea (part of the Atlantic Ocean). Our first stop: The Green Turtle Lodge at Akwidaa (near the southernmost tip).

Although the beach looks inviting, beware of the ocean and the undertow, it is dangerous, even to experienced swimmers. Some lost their lives in this part of the ocean.

Only a few places in Ghana provide a save environment to swim, they call it ............. the swimming pool.

The Green Turtle Lodge was a great place to stay. They have nice self-contained bungalows but also simple tents to rent, but book in advance when you are planning to go there in the weekend, or do like we did, bring your own tent: the beach is big enough.

We had a great time there, playing beachvolleyball with a basketball ... and spent the evening with all the other guests from all over the world.

The raod to the logde is a challenge, but worth to take it.

Have fun ... We certainly had.

One of the main attractions in the south west of Ghana is this little town on stilts. I wonder what the attraction is. The footballfield is underwater in the rainy season (somebody should learn them waterpolo)? The fact that their houses are build on stilts? The canoe ride getting there? Well actually, this one-hour ride was entertaining.

But once we were in the village, it was just a typically African village. People sleeping on the boardwalks, listening to the radio, children playing around and smelly because of the pollution in the water.

This beautiful park is easy to find and only a 1 hour drive to the north from Cape Coast.
It has a modern information centre where you can read about the park, its history, the parks fauna and flora and how all is connected to each other. Certainly worth while a visit.

The main attraction is the 350 long canopy walk.This path made out of wood and rope is located between the 40 m high tree tops. So I can't advise it to any out with a fear for heights. But for those of you who have the courage to go... do it.
Even though it is much smaller than the one we walked in Malaysia's National Park, it is worth the climb you have to make to get there.

Another advise: Try to get there as early as possible, preferably at 08.00 am. The reason? So you prevent yourself getting caught up in a traffic jam (groups of more than 20 people) on the canopy walk.

This little fisherman's town will be one of Ghana's major tourist attractions in 5 years. At the moment they receive money to restore several historical buildings.

Elmina is a nice easy going little town, where you will hear a lot of:

"Obruni - how are you - I am fine - Thank you"
(Obruni means "white man" in Twi).

Just walk around this town and especially enjoy all the colours of the fishermans boats and the lively fish market. And of course..... the fort. Built by the Portuguese, conquered by the Dutch and sold to the British after 250 years.

Take the tour around the castle and learn about the slavetrade!

The castle of Cape coast. With the same sad story as the one in Elmina ........ A part of our history that we cannot be very proud of .............

We travelled around Ghana for 4 weeks and even though we had our doubts during the first 3 days, we both must say that Ghana was a great experience. Whenever you want to go to Africa and you have never been there .... we very much recommend you to go to Ghana to meet the African culture. There is a little something of everything: beautiful nature, parks, reasonable good public transportation, but the main thing: Wonderful people. Seldom have we met such a nice, polite and kind people as the people of Ghana.
Well with one exception.... the police.

Thank you.