Ghana, 16 days
Ghana is your dreams come true! Our Bird Safari to Ghana offers superb birding opportunities in the Gold Coast of West Africa, with sunshine, fantastic scenery, extremely friendly people, abundant wildlife and hundreds of exotic butterfly and bird species. The trip explores many superb habitats from the coastal wetlands of Sakumono Lagoon and Panbros Saltpans, through lush broad-leaved Upper Guinea forests at Kakum, Bobiri and Atewa, and the dry savanna of the Sahel at Mole. Sought-after species found here include White-necked Picathartes, Congo Serpent-Eagle, Black and Blue-headed Bee-eater, Pel's Fishing Owl, Standard-winged Nightjar and Blue Cuckoo-Shrike. In addition, Mole offers a good variety of African savannah mammals including African Elephant. It is the most secure country of the region, due to the extreme friendliness and goodwill of its people and the political stability over the last decades. The relatively fast development of its infrastructure and the fact that English is spoken everywhere makes this country an excellent choice for your African birding holiday.
Itinerary
1
Evening arrival to Accra and transfer to our hotel.
2
Starting from Accra we visit Panbros coastal salt lagoons for Black Heron, and a nice array of waterbirds. At Winneba Plains we look for Lizard Buzzard and Green Turaco. On the way to Hans Cottage we stop at a lily-covered pond in search of African Pygmy Goose, African Jacana and Malachite Kingfisher.
3-5
We spend 3 days in Kakum National Park. We visit the world famous Kakum Canopy Walkway and the Antwikwa section, and hope to see enigmatic birds including Black-casqued Hornbill, Black Bee-eater and Blue Cuckoo-shrike. We also explore coastal grasslands, woodlands, mangroves and wetlands searching for Preuss's Cliff Swallow and Giant Kingfisher.
6
After a morning birding in the Kakum area we drive to Assin Fosu and during late afternoon we visit the White-necked Picathartes site.
7
In the morning we visit the Aboabo section of Kakum, where we hope to see Long-tailed Hawk, Yellow-billed Turaco among the many interesting forest species. Later we drive north to Owabi Sanctuary to search for African Finfoot.
8
We travel far north to Mole National Park. On the way we look for Grasshopper Buzzard, Abyssinian, Rufous-crowned and Blue-bellied Roller.
9-11
We spend 3 days in Mole looking for birds including Saddle-billed Stork, Hamerkop, Bateleur, Violet Turaco, Pel's Fishing Owl, Standard-winged Nightjar and White-crowned Robin-Chat. We will enjoy the views over Warthogs, Olive Baboons and Elephants from our hotel pool. We also visit the local village of Larabanga and its famous 'Stick Mosque'.
12
13-14
We depart Mole and head back to Kumasi stopping on the way at the Kintampo Waterfalls.
Just East of Kumasi lies Bobiri Forest Reserve famous for its abundance of butterflies and birds. We spend a morning here looking for specialities including Narina Trogon and Shining Drongo. In the afternoon we drive to Atewa Hills where we spend next morning searching for Blue-headed Bee-eater and other forest birds. In the afternoon we return to Accra visiting Aburi Botanical Gardens on the way.
15
We visit Shai Hills Reserve where Senegal Parrot, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Vieillot's Barbet, Piapiac and Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike can be seen. In the afternoon we discover Sakumono Lagoon for Black Heron, African Spoonbill, Royal Tern and Yellow-throated Longclaw. We have an evening flight back to the UK.
16
We arrive back to the UK in the morning.
