10 Most Visited Tourist Attractions In Ghana
10 Most Visited Tourist Attractions In Ghana
1. Cape Coast Castle
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| Cape Coast Castle |
Arguably, Cape Coast Castle is the most visited post-colonial European monument in Sub-Saharan Africa. The castle is part of several forts and castles built by the Europeans, it is situated on a promontory in Cape Coast, the central region of Ghana. Cape Coast is also the first capital and commerce city in Ghana.
The Castle is said to be a Portuguese trading post established in 1555, and they named it Cabo Corso which means short Cape. However, in 1653 the Swedish Africa Company constructed a timber fort there. It was erected as a center for the trade in timber and gold.
In 1652, the African, Asiatic, and American Company of Sweden employed Henrik Carlof, a Polish merchant, to negotiate a land agreement with the authorities of Efutu, the small African kingdom that controlled the Gold Coast. Henrik and his crew successfully gained permission to construct a trading post along the coastline, so the Swedes established the Carlusborg Fort and named it in honor of the Swedish king Charles X.
The fort later became the structural base for the Cape Coast Castle. It didn't take long when the local Fetu chief seized it but later the Danish West India Company usurped the establishment. The castle changed hands between the Danish, Dutch, and Swedes in the early 1660s. In 1664, an English fleet seized the Castle in a brief battle led by Captain Robert Holmes.
On the contrary, Thousands of enslaved Africans, and others from hundreds of miles away, were brought to Cape Coast Castle to be sold to British slave ships. During that period, Africans were imprisoned in dungeons in the basement of the Castle that had little ventilation and no windows.
Location: Cape Coast. Central Region2. Elmina Castle
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| Elmina Castle |
Elmina Castle was the first castle built in Ghana, it was built by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina or St. George of the Mine Castle, in present-day Elmina. The name of the castle signifies the amount of gold and natural minerals that attracted the Portuguese. The trading post as it was first known was under the command of Diogo de Azambuja, it was said that Christopher Columbus was part of those who made the voyage to Elmina.
During the seventeenth century, most traders in West Africa concentrated on the sale of slaves. São Jorge da Mina played a significant part in the West African slave trade. The castle acted as a depot where enslaved Africans were brought in from different parts of West Africa. The Africans, often captured in the African interior by the slave raiders, most of them Africans were sold to Portuguese and later to Dutch traders in exchange for goods such as textiles and horses.
In 1637, the Dutch captured the castle from the Portuguese. During the period of Dutch control a new, smaller fortress was built on a nearby hill to protect St. George's Castle from both local and foreign attacks. The Dutch continued the slave trade until 1814 when they abolished the slave trade. In 1872, the British took over the forts and castle from the Dutch.
Location: Elmina, Central Region3. Kakum National Park
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| Kakum National Park |
Kakum National Park is located in the Central Region of Ghana. The national park covers an area of 145 square miles (375 sq km). The park is named after the Kakum River. The National Park is regarded as one of three places in Africa that features a canopy walkway through the trees. It covers a distance of 1,150 feet (350 m) while connecting through seven different trees.
Kakum National Park was Established in 1931 as a reserve but gazetted as a national park in 1992. It has various Wildlife including buffalo, elephants, civet, Colobus monkeys, red river hog, giant forest hog, pangolin, dwarf crocodile, and the North African crested porcupine. There are also 266 species of birds including white-breasted guineafowl, hornbill, and the grey parrot. There are also some Diana monkeys, giant bongo antelope, yellow-backed, and duiker but are endangered.
Location: Abrafo, Central Region4. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
Kwame Nkrumah was one of the greatest Pan-Africans, he was the first black president to lead Ghana to attain independence from the British colonial rule in 1957. The Memorial Park was erected in 1992 but the idea started earlier and it is situated on the site of the former British colonial polo grounds in Accra. It is also the exact place where Nkrumah made the historic declaration of Ghana's independence. The Park houses the bodies of Kwame Nkrumah and his wife Fathia Nkrumah.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was born on September 21, 1909, at Nkroful in the Western Region of Ghana, he died on April 27, 1972, in Bucharest, Romania. His mother's name was Maame Nyaniba and father Egya Kofi Nwia Ngonloma. Nkrumah's real name was Francis Nwia-Kofi Ngonloma. He started school at a Roman Catholic elementary school in nearby Half Assini and proceeded to the Achimota College before furthering it in the USA. After completion, he started his career as a teacher at Roman Catholic junior schools in Elmina and Axim and at a seminary.
Location: Greater Accra Region5. Assin Manso Ancestral Slave River ( Ndunko Nuo)
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| Assin Manso Slave River |
The Assin Manso Ancestral Slave River, also known as Nnonkonsuo was a slave market during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It is located in the Central Region of Ghana. A place where the slaves take their last bath before transporting to the unknown. Thousands of innocent Africans were packed in a ship and transported to Europe and the Americas. They include women, men, and children.
The slaves were mainly brought from the interior parts of the country such as Salaga, Gowllu, and as far back as Nigeria. They initially rest, bathe and check those who can make it to the coast, and those who couldn't are disposed of. During the emancipation day, two skeletal remains of Samuel Carson and Mother Crystal were returned home for re-burial, at Assin Manso.
Location: Assin Manso, Central Region.6. Nzulenzo Floating stilt Village
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| Nzulenzu stilt village |
Nzulenzu is a thriving and magnificent village built on stilts on Lake Tadane in the Jomoro District in the Western Region of Ghana near Benyin. "Nzulezo" in the Nzema language means "water surface". According to oral tradition, the village was built by a group of people from Oualata, a city in the ancient Ghana Empire, and in present-day Mauritania, which came about from following a snail. The snail is, therefore, a totem and revered by the people of Nzulezo.
Another oral history also has it that, the village was formed in the eighteenth century as a place local people could go to escape from slave raiders. The people of the village are estimated to be a population of around 400-500 people.
What makes Nzulenzu a magnificent place is that one could get anything from shops, schools, churches, market place, a children's playground, and many more surprising scenic views. etc. The houses are built on silts that are made from coconut trees and other hardwoods.
Location: Nzulenzu, near Benyin, Western Region7. Mole National Park
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| Elephants and warthogs grazing at Mole National Park |
The Park also has some of the noted African trees such as wild syringa, African baobab, and a number of different trees. There are some 94 mammal species, over 300 bird species, 9 amphibian species, and 33 reptile species that have been recorded in Mole.
The large and commonly seen mammals include elephant, buffalo, kob, roan antelope, hartebeest, waterbuck, bushbuck, warthog, buffalo, duikers, baboon, roan, kob, hartebeest, and waterbuck. The rest are lion, leopard, spotted hyena, caracal, aardvark, genet, civet, and mongoose.
Several Birds can also be seen at Mole, these birds include; kites, Bateleur eagles, rollers, kingfishers, Egyptian geese, egrets, pelicans, and storks. Ground hornbills, flycatchers, malachite kingfishers, guinea fowls, and rock partridges. There are also more than 300 bird species and 33 identified reptile species within the national park. The park is located on a grassland savannah and its entrance is near the town of Larabanga.
Location: Mole near Larabanga, Savannah Region.8. Boti Waterfalls
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| Boti waterfall |
The fall takes its course from a river known as Pompon. History has it that the fall was hidden in the forest until it was discovered by a white Catholic priest. There are actually two falls at Boti: The upper falls and the lower falls. The Boti fall is also close to the umbrella rock, and the three-headed palm tree.
Location: Yilo Krob, Eastern Region of Ghana9. Wachiau Hippo Sanctuary
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| Wachau Hippo Sanctuary |
Wachau hippo sanctuary is one of the few hippo hideouts in Ghana. The place is an amazing community-based project, protecting and preserving the wildlife and the environment of a 40km stretch of the Black Volta River, located in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The hippo river sanctuary is home to one of the two remaining hippopotamus populations in Ghana and was created by local chiefs in 1999.
There is also Birdlife with over 200 species on record. One can experience river safari in a dugout canoe and see the resident hippo group, birds, and mammals.
Location: Wachiau, Wa, Upper West Region
10. Lake Bosumtwi
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| Lake Bosumtwi |
There are many amazing places of scenic interest in Ghana and Lake Bosumtwi is one of these places. This wonderful place has a serene and natural atmosphere that makes it a place to visit. Lake Bosumtwi is located in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the only natural lake that can be found in Ghana, formed by a meteorite impact crater with an area of 19 square miles (49 square km) and a depth of 230–240 feet (70–73 meters).
Bosomtwe is caused by a meteor impact a million years ago. The sides rise steeply, covered with trees and bushes. There are various settlements, fishing, and farming villages around the Lake.
In Ghana, especially to the Ashantis, Lake Bosumtwi is recognized as a sacred lake. According to traditional belief, the souls of the dead come to the lake to bid farewell to the goddess Asase Ya or the Earth goddess. Among the fish species in the lake is the endemic cichlid Hemichromis frempongi, and the near-endemic cichlids Tilapia and T. discolor.
History
According to oral history, in 1648 a hunter named Akora Bompe from the village of Asaman was chasing an injured antelope through the rainforest. Suddenly, the animal disappeared into a small pond.
It was as if this body of water wanted to save the animal's life. The hunter never got the antelope, though he settled close to the water and started catching fish. This place he named "Bosomtwe", meaning "antelope god", at that time the lake level was very low.
Location: Bosumtwi, Ashanti Region
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