Since the December to February season is the cooler of the two, it is the best time to visit Ghana and excellent for getting away from harsh winters if you are traveling in from the west. July/August does not benefit from the dry northeast Harmattan wind that blows almost continuously in January and February.  Be sure to have your chapstick in tow as it can be extremely dry in the mornings.

The worst time to visit is during the months of April to June, during the rainy season. If you do have to visit during this time be sure to have your umbrella in tow. It can be sunny and all of a sudden cloud covers appear from nowhere resulting in torrential downpour.

Regardless of the season, tropical lightweight clothing works throughout the year with maybe a sweater required for the early mornings of December and January, depending on your location in the country.

Blog By:

Lawrence Nuku

Diamonds are not too far from the surface either, also mined by young boys and girls in many centers.
For fun, while going to Ghana on holidays, buy yourself a metal detector and go the beaches where people swim, and verify how much gold rings & earrings you will find, two inches below the sand, but why no one really cares is because there is a lot more where these came from. To buy these metals  & precious  stones however, it is always best to visit THE DIAMOND HOUSE- in central town Accra, and you will be sure you have a piece of genuine Ghana in your pocket!- “A take-away Ghana”

Blog by:

Lawrence  Nuku.

We all love to bring back souvenirs from our travels, generally a t-shirt of some kind. What could be better you ask? How about authentic  Ghanaian clothing? Buy some beautiful fabric from Makola Market (or my favorite, Medina Market), and have some custom made clothes. Instead of a lame t-shirt you’ll have a colorful dress or tunic. The fabric available in the markets comes in a wide array of colors and patterns and is relatively inexpensive. You won’t have a hard time finding a seamstress or tailor in Ghana either! There are some very talented women and men who can make an outfit with very little effort.  I was measured once, dropped off fabric and a few days later returned to find two beautiful outfits.

If you don’t have the time for custom made clothes than there are ready made pieces available in the markets. The art market in Accra has some lovely pieces of clothing, just remember the first price is not the final price!

Regardless of what you buy everyone will be sure to ask where you got that beautiful outfit.

Though there are various incarnations of this tasty soup (it can be had with goat meat, beef, chicken or even fish) the general rule of thumb is if a foreigner is able to eat the soup without crying then it isn’t hot enough (ok there’s a little exaggeration in there somewhere, but you get my point). Occasionally, if you are singled out as a “visitor” and you place an order for Light soup, you might get a giggle or two as a hint as to what you are getting into. The soup is usually made from Scotch bonnet peppers which have a rating of 100,000 – 350,000 Scoville Units. For comparison, jalapeno peppers have a heat rating of 2,500 – 8,000 on the Scoville scale.

The soup is accompanied with Fufu as the main starch. Fufu is a dish where you pound cassava yams and/or plantains together into a doughy ball. The dough is placed in the scalding pepper-hot soup and served hot, temperature wise. The rules are that you don’t chew the Fufu. You just let it roll down your throat.

My word of advice for eating Pepper soup is to man it out and finish before you take a swig that ice cold beer to cool your tongue off, or else each morsel seems to escalate on the heat index if you plan to cool off between mouthfuls.

made by fermenting the sugary sap from palm trees. The sap is collected from the top of mature trees; typically from the cut flower of the palm tree. A container is fastened to the flower stump to collect the sap. The white liquid that initially collects is very sweet and will be used in the fermentation process. An alternate method is the felling of the entire tree. Where this is practiced, a fire is sometimes lit at the cut end to facilitate the collection of sap.
The sap can be distilled to make a stronger alcoholic drink. In Ghana, this locally brewed alcohol is known as akpeteshie. In part, the rise in its consumption is not just down to taste, it’s inexpensiveness or the fact that it is readily available from ’spots’ or bars everywhere. Apketeshie is said to have strong medicinal values for all sorts of diseases in the form of bitters. Just pour it over some roots and herbs but don’t take my word for it. Please do your own research.

Having said all this, the beverage is a very important ceremonial drink. A sort of Ghanaian schnapps, it’s a popular guest at weddings, funerals and other get-togethers where it’s used in symbolic fashions.

Every visitor to Ghana should try this unique wine! You’ll quickly learn why it is a favorite among all Ghanaians.

This is the Cape Coast Castle, which was the main British hub in the transatlantic slave trade in West Africa, from 1665 to 1807. It is one of Ghana’s key tourist attractions. It was originally built as a fort by the Swedes for timber and mineral exportation. Then the Dutch took over but then lost it to the English, when it’s morbid past set root in history. With each occupation, the castle was enlarged both in terms of slave exporting capacity and military defense. At that time Cape Coast, now a city of about a million people, was called Cabo Corso and was the capital of Ghana, what was then known as the Gold Coast. The British moved the capital to Accra in 1877.

The white paint has since faded to almost gray over time and the beautiful orange-tiled roofing sheets have lost their color. However the site grounds are still quite stately withblackcannons and mortars placed strategically on the concrete deck facing the ocean and on the rooftops of the towers on each side of the three-story main building. The dungeons are as horrid as they were centuries ago yet mesmerizing, with the men’s “quarters” probably going below sea level, as it goes down rather deep into the bedrock on which the castle is built.

With excellent guided tours and $10 million dollars worth of ongoing restoration work (complete with its own museum) as a sign that its world heritage status  as a historical landmark is being taken seriously, definately add the Cape Coast Castle to your check list of places to see during your travels to and across Ghana.

It is also promising to see leading American Hotel chains (Hilton, Holiday Inn, and now Marriott) beginning to set up shop in Ghana. This can only be good for the Ghana economy and business in general. It means that American business travelers will now find accommodation standards they are familiar with when they come to Ghana.

I am personally excited about the Accra Marriott because Marriott is my favorite hotel brand. Regardless of which Marriott hotel I stay in, I am always assured of some basic services – Clean rooms, reliable internet access, and easy check in and check out. And this applies to even their 2 star brands. So having their flagship hotel in Accra is great.

Of course, with the arrival of well known brands like Marriott comes competition, which will be good for the customer. Other top hotels in Accra will have to improve their services, especially those targeted at business travelers. Check back to see my other posts about the other American hotel chains in Ghana.

If you are in a hurry or just want to see more of Ghana, there are four airlines which provide inter-city flights. These airlines are Muk Air, Fun Air, Air Link, and Airlink Ghana Airforce. Airlink Ghana Airforce has limited operations with flights from Accra to Kumasi and Tamale. These airlines have regional offices in Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale.

The service on these regional carriers can be unreliable. Flights can often be overbooked or be changed on short notice.  Give yourself plenty of time and keep in mind you may have to come up with alternate plans.

Yes, these tickets can be expensive but when time matters it is definitely the best way to go!