Ultimate Ghana Self-Launched: Savannah, Rainforest & the Ashanti Kingdom

Fly into Kotoka International Airport (ACC) — British Airways flies direct from London, or connect via Lisbon, Paris or Amsterdam. Skip the overpriced airport taxis: walk out to the main road or use a Yango/Bolt app ride to Osu or Airport Residential for around £4-6. Check into a budget hotel or hostel in Osu, where most of Accra's guesthouses and backpacker-friendly spots cluster. Spend the evening acclimatising over grilled tilapia and banku at a local chop bar on Oxford Street, and draw cash from an ATM (Ghana is still largely cash-based outside hotels).

🚌Airport transfer by Bolt/Yango app taxi ~£5

🛏Budget hotel/hostel in Osu, Accra

• →Settle into Osu
• →Evening street food on Oxford Street
• →ATM and SIM card setup (MTN/AirtelTigo data bundle ~£4)

Take an early shared taxi or tro-tro from Accra's Tema Station toward Dodowa and ask to be dropped at Shai Hills Resource Reserve (~1.5 hrs, ~£2-3). Pay the modest park entry and guide fee at the gate (~£8-10) and hike the marked trails through savannah and granite outcrops for 3-4 hours — antelope, baboons and plenty of birdlife, plus the Obonu Tem caves. From the reserve gate, pick up a tro-tro or shared taxi onward to Akosombo (~£3). In the afternoon, hire a kayak or join a short boat trip on the Volta River through your riverside guesthouse (arrange directly the night before, ~£15-20 for a few hours).

🚌Tro-tro/shared taxi Accra-Shai Hills-Akosombo ~£6

🛏Riverside guesthouse in Akosombo

• →Shai Hills Resource Reserve self-guided hike
• →Obonu Tem caves
• →Volta River kayaking or boat trip

Base yourself in Akosombo again and do the Volta Region day by tro-tro: take a morning tro-tro to Hohoe or directly to Wli (~2.5 hrs, ~£4-5 return-ish). At Wli, hire a local guide at the trailhead (~£6-8 plus small entry fee) and walk 45 minutes to the lower Wli Waterfalls — West Africa's tallest, with fruit bats wheeling overhead. Stronger hikers can push on to the upper falls. On the way back, stop at Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary (~£5 entry with local guide) where sacred Mona monkeys move freely through the village. Plenty of small guesthouses and chop bars in Wli village for lunch.

🚌Tro-tros Akosombo-Wli-Akosombo and local shared taxis ~£10

🛏Riverside guesthouse in Akosombo

• →Wli Waterfalls hike with local guide
• →Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary
• →Volta Region village lunch

Break up the long journey north: take a tro-tro from Accra (or Akosombo via Koforidua) to Aburi in the cooler highlands. Wander Aburi Botanical Gardens (small entry fee) and the Aburi craft village, then continue by tro-tro to Koforidua (~£2) for lunch and a browse of the lively bead market. From Koforidua, catch an STC or VIP intercity coach to Kumasi (roughly 3 hrs, ~£6-8) or a shared taxi. Arrive in Kumasi in the late afternoon and check into a guesthouse near the city centre or in the Adum area. This is a long travel day — keep bags light and leave early.

🚌Tro-tros via Aburi/Koforidua + intercity coach to Kumasi ~£12

🛏Guesthouse in Kumasi

• →Aburi Botanical Gardens
• →Aburi craft village
• →Koforidua bead market

Time your trip to an Akwasidae date (roughly every six weeks — check the calendar in advance and build the rest of the itinerary around it). In the morning take a tro-tro to Adanwomase (~£1) for a kente weaving workshop with master weavers (book direct, ~£6-10), then on to Ntonso for an Adinkra cloth stamping session (~£5). Back in Kumasi, visit the Manhyia Palace Museum (~£3-4) to set the context, then head to the palace grounds for the festival itself — entry is typically a modest fee or donation, and the drumming, dancing and kente-clad chiefs are free to watch from the crowd. Later, dive into Kejetia Market, one of West Africa's largest, with an informal local guide if you want orientation.

🚌Tro-tros and shared taxis around Kumasi ~£5

🛏Guesthouse in Kumasi

• →Akwasidae Festival at Manhyia Palace
• →Adanwomase kente weaving workshop
• →Ntonso Adinkra cloth village
• →Kejetia Market wander

Leave Kumasi early (6:30 am) by tro-tro or shared taxi heading south toward Bekwai/Asamankese-adjacent rural roads, then arrange a village bike hire or hop on a moto-taxi for the last stretch into Bonkro (~2.5-3 hrs total, ~£8-10). Book a community stay direct with the Bonkro guesthouse or through a local community-tourism contact — the cocoa farm walk, black soap demonstration and village herbalist visit are all arranged locally for a modest fee (~£10-15 total). Late afternoon, walk into the forest with a local guide to the white-necked Picathartes nesting rock overhang (~£10-15 guide fee, plus a community conservation contribution) — sit quietly and wait for these prehistoric-looking birds. Evening: choose a guided night walk for pangolins and pottos or an open-air film night with villagers.

🚌Tro-tro/shared taxi and moto-taxi Kumasi-Bonkro ~£12

🛏Community guesthouse, Bonkro

• →Kuapa Kokoo cocoa farm walk
• →Black soap making demonstration
• →Picathartes rock overhang with local guide
• →Optional guided night walk for pangolins

Start with a short walk to the community reforestation site near Bonkro and plant a few native trees with the local team (small donation ~£5). Then head south by tro-tro via Assin Foso toward Cape Coast (~3 hrs, ~£5-6). Book a guide at Cape Coast Castle on arrival (~£6-8 entry with guided tour) — the dungeons and Door of No Return are the sobering heart of the visit. After lunch, take a tro-tro or shared taxi to Kakum National Park (~45 min, ~£2), pay the entry and canopy walkway fee (~£10-12) and walk the famous hanging bridges above the forest floor — go late afternoon for fewer crowds and birds and monkeys in the canopy. Overnight in a beachfront guesthouse between Cape Coast and Elmina.

🚌Tro-tros Bonkro-Cape Coast-Kakum ~£10

🛏Beachfront guesthouse near Cape Coast/Elmina

• →Community reforestation tree planting
• →Cape Coast Castle guided tour
• →Kakum National Park canopy walkway

Take a morning tro-tro or shared taxi from Cape Coast to Takoradi/Agona Nkwanta, then on toward the Ankasa gate (~4-4.5 hrs total, ~£9-11). Pay the Ankasa Conservation Area entry fee at the gate (~£8-10) and settle into the basic rainforest lodge or resthouse inside or at the edge of the reserve. In the afternoon, walk forest trails with a local ranger-guide (~£10-15) — Ankasa is home to elephants, bongos, primates and over 200 bird species, though wildlife is shy, so focus on tracks, calls and butterflies. After dark, head back out with a guide and a headtorch for pottos, bush babies and, with real luck, pangolins.

🚌Tro-tro/shared taxi Cape Coast-Ankasa ~£10

🛏Rainforest lodge/resthouse, Ankasa

• →Ankasa forest trail walk with ranger-guide
• →Guided night walk for nocturnal mammals

Hire a mountain bike locally at the reserve gate or through your lodge (~£8-10 for the day) and ride the forest tracks to the Bamboo Cathedral about 7 miles from the main gate, where towering bamboo forms a natural tunnel. Alternatively arrange a 4x4 lift through the lodge if you'd rather not ride. Take your time in the silence, listening for bird calls, then ride back for lunch. In the afternoon, walk to a nearby farming village — meet residents, drop into the local school with a small donation of pens or books, try pounding fufu, watch gari being processed from cassava, and stop at a chop bar. Dinner back at the lodge.

🚌Local mountain bike hire ~£9, on-foot village walks

🛏Rainforest lodge/resthouse, Ankasa

• →Mountain bike ride to the Bamboo Cathedral
• →Village visit and school stop
• →Fufu pounding and gari processing demo
• →Local chop bar dinner

Head east along the coast by tro-tro via Takoradi and Cape Coast to Brenu Akyinim (~4.5 hrs, ~£10). Check into a beach guesthouse, swim and eat lunch by the ocean. In the afternoon, hire a kayak through the community or a local operator (~£10-12) and paddle the still waters of Brenu Lagoon past fishermen in wooden canoes and through birdlife-rich wetland. Land near the fishing settlement of Ampeyin and walk through Brenu village — painted boats, hand-mended nets, traditional fish smoking. Continue along the beach to Elmina on foot or by shared taxi as the sun drops, then check into a budget beach resort near Elmina. In the evening, join or arrange a small beach bonfire with local drummers — many guesthouses can hook you up with a drumming group for ~£10-15 each.

🚌Tro-tros Ankasa-Brenu ~£11, shared taxi to Elmina ~£2

🛏Budget beach resort near Elmina

• →Brenu Lagoon kayaking
• →Brenu fishing village walk
• →Beach sunset walk
• →Bonfire and traditional drumming

Start slowly: swim, walk the beach and enjoy breakfast. Mid-morning, visit Elmina Castle (St George's Castle), the oldest surviving European building in sub-Saharan Africa — entry with a guided tour is around £6-8 and traces its grim role in the transatlantic slave trade. Then wander Elmina on foot: the colourful fishing harbour, fish-smoking ovens and canoe builders shaping hulls by hand. After lunch, take a tro-tro or VIP/STC coach from Elmina/Cape Coast back to Accra (~3-3.5 hrs, ~£7-9), arriving at Kotoka International Airport in the late afternoon for your onward flight.

🚌Tro-tro/coach Elmina-Accra ~£9, airport drop-off ~£3

🛏None (onward flight)

• →Elmina Castle guided tour
• →Elmina fishing harbour walk
• →Canoe builders and fish smoking ovens