Ghana: Wildlife, Markets, Forts, Beaches and Waterfalls

We started our northbound trips in Accra at the beginning of February, and it felt good to be back on the road after a few sweaty weeks in southern Ghana getting Aminah and her equipment ready for the return journey north back to the UK.

A warm welcome to John, Pooley, Nathan, Douglas, Steve, Spencer, Alice, Alice, Alexi, Zoe, Jess, Pauline and Emilia, who joined us and Jan who had been with us since our Accra to Ouagadougou trip a few weeks ago.

Above is the Kwame Nkrumah memorial which some of our passengers visited in Accra, built in memory of Ghana's first President, an influential pan-African independence campaigner.

Above is a primary school class some of us visited in the district of Nema, as part of a tour to see daily life in this residential suburb. Below, chameleons for sale in the local market.

Many of us went on to visit Jamestown, and saw the fort, fishing boats and the lighthouse .

We also went to see the world famous coffin makers at work, and saw more on our first drive day, along the coast to Elmina. These coffins are real works of art; some reflect the profession of the deceased, others are clan totems, whilst some are representative of African proverbs.

The coffins are traditionally used by the Ga people, and are occasionally made to order to be exported worldwide!

Below are pirogue makers whom we saw on our way along the coast to Elmina. The base is made from a tree trunk, often with planks added along the sides to increase the size.

Elmina Castle, also known as St Georges Castle, was built by the Portugese in the 15th century and is thought to be the oldest European building in sub-Saharan Africa. It has a long and tragic history as a slaving fort, though it's setting is stunning nestled among a busy fishing community. 

We also visited Cape Coast Castle, again a former slaving fort, and the first centre of British administration in what was then the Gold Coast. Another brutal history, with a stunning sea front setting.

Kakum National Park protects one of the few remaining belts of pristine rainforest in Ghana, which we visited on the canopy walkway, above. 

Below, the beach we camped on for a few nights, a truly beautiful spot .

A days drive north brought us to the Ashante stronghold of Kumasi, dominated by Kejetia Market, one of the largest open air markets in West Africa. It sprawls across the city as far as the eye can see; its hustle, bustle, noise, colour and smells providing a real assault on the senses. Every product imaginable is available, as can be seen above! 

The truck below has unloaded empty crates, ready to be filled with produce. 

Below are some fabrics for sale in the market, some of it Kente cloth. It's made locally, predominantly by the Akan ethnic group, and was initially worn only by royalty, though it is now much more widespread. 

Above is Fuller Falls, where we camped for the night and enjoyed washing off the sweat and dust from the drive day up from Kumasi, though its flow has been much reduced by a dam above.

Below, ladies who came to the falls to do laundry and collect water during our visit.

We also visited Kintampo Falls on our drive north through Ghana; Alexi is pictured below.

Above and below is Larabanga Mosque, believed to be the oldest mosque in Ghana located close to the entrance for Mole National Park. Locals believe the mosque dates from the 15th century.

Above is the main waterhole in Mole National Park, located just below where we camped for 2 nights. During our time at Mole we went on guided walking and vehicle safaris, and also had the chance for some down time by the camp swimming pool. The elephants in the park are well habituated to groups on foot, allowing for some very close encounters!

Above, Pooley, Jess, Nathan, Alice, Douglas, Steve and Zoe. 

The dry season is a great time to be in Mole National Park; with the countryside dry and dusty, and temperatures climbing, the wildlife comes regularly to the waterholes to drink or cool off. 

A hot and dry drive day from Mole took us further north in Ghana for our last bush camp before the Burkina Faso border. We visited leather tanners, basket makers and a mud brick cathedral.

Our last stop in Ghana was a visit to the crocodiles in Paga, though they were feeling the heat, too and not willing to come out of the water to feast on a live chicken like they usually do!

Our next blog post, through Burkina and into Cote d'Ivoire, will be out in about a week's time. 

Many thanks to passenger Alexi for the photos, some great shots!

Bookings For Trips In 2015/16 Are Now Open!

Hi everybody,

We hope you're all well wherever you are in the world at the moment, and that this post brings as much of a smile to your face as it does to ours!

Many of you have been in contact with us over the past few months asking about our trips in 2015/16. We're pleased to let you know that we are now ready to take bookings!

Typical Market Scene Full Of Friendly Faces In Guinea, West Africa

What's The Latest Situation?

It has been a very tough year for us at Overlanding West Africa as you can imagine, though nothing compared to the tough year that the region we know and love so much has experienced. It has been truly heartbreaking to see so many communities we visit on our trips affected by the awful Ebola outbreak.

Thankfully the situation has now drastically improved!

Liberia has pretty much beaten the virus, with less than 5 cases since February. The East and South of Sierra Leone has been Ebola free for many months, and finally the rest of the country has caught up and started to report just a handful of cases a week for the last 6 weeks. Guinea has been more complex, with much lower numbers overall, but geographically more widespread. Thankfully that trend has reversed since February with only a handful of cases persisting around Forecariah and Boffa in and around Conakry.

Ivorian Stilt Dancer In Action At An Incredible Ceremony We Get To Witness!

Our Freetown to Dakar Group Bush Camping Between Guinea and Guinea Bissau

But Isn't There Still A Risk?

It's important to put the outbreak into context and remember the following:

- Well over 6,000 people have managed to recover from Ebola, and the continued advice from all sensible authorities remains clear - travellers are considered to be at very low risk, it is predominantly health care workers and those who care for infected loved ones who become infected themselves.

- We have to remember that Ebola is actually quite difficult to catch, being considered a highly infectious virus but not a highly contagious virus, unless you come into contact with the bodily fluids of a victim who has to be displaying symptoms of the virus.

- Senegal, Nigeria, and Mali all had outbreaks of varying degrees and managed to prevent it from spreading. Remember, there has also been numerous major outbreaks of Ebola in Uganda, Sudan, Gabon, and DR Congo over the past decade or so, and it hasn't deterred travellers from visiting these countries.

A good article that helps put the risk that the Ebola outbreak presents into context can be found here: Ebola: What Are the Risks?

Ali, Liz, and Lindsay Jumping For Joy In Guinea Bissau!

What Next?

Aminah (our truck) is ready to go for next season. Just 6 months to go before she heads out of the UK with Al and Jason for another adventure through West Africa with a seasoned bunch of travellers!

If you are still interested in booking a trip with OWA please email us via our ENQUIRY FORM or simply reply to the initial form you sent us so we know what trips you want to book onto. Many of you who were booked onto the season we had to cancel already have a deposit with us which means some of our trips have limited availability!

We will endeavour to respond to your emails within 24 hours of making contact with us, often much sooner, but please bear in mind we are expecting a lot of bookings in a short space of time so we appreciate your patience!

Remember we have a discount structure in place if you book more than one trip with us. All dates, prices and itineraries can be seen on our website HERE

We really hope you can join us for the adventure later in the year, please do email if you have any questions at all, and please do share the message on social media and with anybody you know who might be interested in travelling through West Africa with us.

Help us promote a more positive image of the region and play a small role in helping rebuild the tourism industry there!

Dave The Hat, Al Goodridge, and Jimmy C Overlanding West Africa

The Countries Of West Africa Where We Operate Our Trips

Exploring and relaxing in Senegal's Casamance region, and onto Guinea-Bissau

After a couple of nights in the regional capital Ziguinchor, soaking up the fading colonial charm (or chilling by the pool), we headed to Kabrousse, near the popular French resort town of Cap Skirring. 

We enjoyed a couple of nights of luxury camping in the grounds of a smart hotel, where we enjoyed beach time and a great pool. John B, Peter and Robert went on a successful fishing trip in the morning, providing us with some fantastic fresh fish for dinner, while most of the rest of the group hired bikes to explore the local area at a relaxed pace. 

We then had a very short drive to stay at a beautiful campement in a rather forgotten corner of Casamance. The profits made by the campement are ploughed back into the local area to contribute towards education and healthcare. It is set on the banks of the Casamance river, shaded from the sun by lots of palm trees, with plenty of hammocks to lie back in and enjoy the peace and quiet on the sandy river bank.

Sunset over the river on our first night.

A member of staff catching our dinner.

Will (Arnold) posing with his look-alike in the bar.

Most of us went on a days boat trip to a local wildlife reserve among the mangrove forests which supports a number of river dolphins, or manatee. We weren't fortunate enough to see them this time, though enjoyed a relaxed day on the river with plenty of bird life. We also met the campement's pet monkey who had been given the name Nicholas Sarkozy!

On our final night here, we enjoyed  a fantastic meal of fresh fish with rice, before settling in to an evening of drumming and dancing with our hosts, who seemed to enjoy the evening just as much as we did. The evening ended with a limbo competition, a local tradition.

Warming the drums on the fire prior to our drumming performance

Tania, Ina and Warren take to the drums.

Sascha takes over the percussion, Jane and Ina in the background.

Will (Arnold) takes his alter-ego for a dance!

The dancers give a demonstration of the limbo, a local tradition.

Sascha doing the limbo

Double limbo, local style!

This was our last stop in Senegal's Casamance region. The whole group has really enjoyed a relaxing time soaking up the local culture, countryside and beaches.

A short drive from here led us to the border with Guinea-Bissau, the least-visited country on this leg of our overland adventure from Dakar to Freetown.

Our group just after entering Guinea Bissau. From back to front: Chris, Will, Connor, Ian, Ant, John B, Phil, Al, Tania, Daniel, Warren, John C, Robert, Jane, Peter, Narelle, Birgit, Janet, Sascha and Janet. Nev is taking the photo.

We are now in the capital, Bissau, enjoying the laid back feel of the place, the fading Portugese architecture in the older part of town, the busy fishing port, and a few luxuries before we set off on some entertaining roads to spend a week in the the Fouta Djalon, Guinea. This is one of the most beautiful parts of West Africa, with some great opportunities to trek amongst the and waterfalls, mountains, escarpments, and traditional Fula villages. 

Internet is hard to come by here, so the next blog update will likely be when we get to Freetown in a couple of weeks time. Stay tuned for some shots of Phil's latest pair of outrageous shorts, now that his pink pair have a very incriminating brown stain...

Aminah arrives in Dakar with Al and Nev, ready for more adventures

18 days and 7,500 kms since leaving the UK, we are in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, ready to start our trips on Monday.

Aminah cruised easily down through France on the autoroutes, to visit our friends at CREER (Centre de Reinsertion et d’Education pour les Enfants de la Rue - Centre of Reinsertion and Education for Street Children).

We support their valuable work in Cote D'Ivoire, and stopped by their French base, in the beautiful medieval town of Alet Les Bains, to pick up some supplies that we are taking to Cote D'ivoire for them. Many thanks for the endless cups of tea, and supplies of tasty French food that fuelled our journey south!

Below, Al is on the roof of Aminah loading up the supplies, much to the surprise of local onlookers!

We then sped down through Spain to Malaga, where we waved goodbye to Dave (Hatter) who flew back to the UK to pursue a more settled life. Hatter will continue to work for OWA as the company admin and marketing man. We met Nev Kelly in Malaga, who will driving with Al this season.

As we headed past Gibraltar, we couldn't pass up the opportunity for a quick photo of Aminah in front of the Rock of Gibraltar, before stocking up on supplies in the supermarkets of Algeciras to keep us going on the long drive south.

Nev with Aminah in front of the Rock of Gibraltar

We then put Aminah on the ferry from Algeciras to Ceuta, and waved goodbye to Europe, along with several other overlanders heading south for the winter, including a rowdy bunch of German bikers.

Aminah back in West Africa- just into Morroco, with Nev

Aminah made quick work of Morocco; we had little time to spare to see the sights of Morocco, but we did take a couple of nights in Rabat to give her a little tlc. Then on south across the vast emptiness and soaring temperatures of Western Sahara, with some beautiful coastal scenery.

Aminah in Western Sahara

The border with Mauritania is never speedy, but it was fun to see the 3D scan of Aminah that Moroccan customs took before we left- shame we couldn't get to keep it! The no mans land between Western Sahara / Morocco and Mauritania is an eerie place, bombed out vehicles testament to the many land mines, and it seems to be a dumping ground for a variety of exhausted motor vehicles and electrical equipment.

We received a very warm welcome on the Mauritanian side, and were soon on our way to Nouakchott.

We took a couple of nights in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, to catch our breath and clean up after some long, hot drive days across the desert.

Al with Aminah in Mauritania

The main land border between Mauritania and Senegal, at Rosso, has a fearsome reputation as the most difficult and frustrating border to cross in West Africa, corrupt officials ready to hold you up at every turn, if you believe the reports. As the rainy season has only recently finished, we didn't want to take the difficult muddy road to the quieter border at Diama, so tried our luck at Rosso. After the short ferry crossing of the Senegal river, we actually had a fairly easy time of it at Rosso, and were soon on our way again to St Louis.

We stayed for 3 nights with Martin and Ursula at Zebrabar, just south of St Louis in the Langue de Barbarie National park, where we gave Aminah a thorough spring clean after days of driving through the desert, enjoyed the peaceful setting on the Senegal River, and had a few well deserved cold beers with other overlanders.

Aminah in the Langue de Barbarie National Park 

A short drive day from Zebrabar bought us to Dakar, via several comical encounters with the Senegalese traffic police. A kind interpretation would be that Senegal has some of the most thorough traffic police imaginable, but many overlanders relieved of their small change for the most marginal of offences may beg to differ. Fortunately our wallets were unscathed by our encounters. It always brings a smile to my face when the police in Senegal ask to see either a fly swatter of fly spray in the cab. I would love to see this 'traffic law' in writing! Luckily we've played this game before and were well equipped!

Al and Nev now have a weekend in Dakar to relax, ahead of our Dakar to Freetown trip which starts on Monday. We have 19 passengers booked on to this leg, who we're very much looking forward to meeting over the next few days. We still have a couple of seats remaining on this trip in the other direction next spring, please do get in touch asap if you want to join our adventures.