report & photos by Don Roberson
  
 
 
 

This is a trip report from 24 days in Ghana during Nov-Dec 2013. I was a participant on a Rockjumper Mega Ghana tour that took in all the major habitats of the country; I expect Rockjumper Tours will post their own trip report in due course. I put this one together to illustrate sites, birds, mammals, and sometimes herps or odes in my own way. All my bird data has been entered in eBird, so I do not attach an annotated trip list. Rather, you can use the links to eBird to view our list from any site on any day. Ghana is a colorful and vibrant country — both its people and its birds are charismatic.

 
 

ITINERARY

27 Nov — after 2-day flight, arrive Accra in evening
28 Nov — Shai Hills Reserve, Kpong, Kalakpa Reserve
29 Nov — Kalakpa Reserve
30 Nov — Kalakpa Reserve, Sukumono Lagoon
1 Dec — Winneba Plains, Coast Castle, Brimsu Reservoir
2 Dec — Kakum NP canopy walkway
3 Dec — Kakum (Antwikwaa, Abrafo), also Pra River
4 Dec — Kakum (Abrafo, Stingless Bee forest), Sekondi
5 Dec — Nsutu Forest
6 Dec — Nsutu Forest, Amanzure, drive to Ankasa NP
7 Dec — Ankasa NP
8 Dec — Ankasa NP
9 Dec — Ankasa NP, afternoon stop in grasslands Brenu Beach
10 Dec — Kakum NP (Aboabo), Bonkro Village
11 Dec — long drive Kumasi to Mole NP, stop in Opra Forest
12 Dec — Mole NP
13 Dec — Mole NP
14 Dec — Mole NP in a.m., long drive to Tongo Hills, stop at Nasia wetlands
15 Dec — Sapelinga area of White Volta, also Tono Dam
16 Dec — long drive Bolotanga to Kumasi, stop at Nasia wetlands
17 Dec — Bobiri Butterfly Reserve, also Atewa 'farm bush'
18 Dec — hike up Atewa Ridge
19 Dec — Atewa 'farm bush' then drive to Accra for late night flight
20 Dec — fly home

On the Ghana map to the right, you can view our generalized route along our intinerary. You will note that most locations are near the coast in the humid zone (hot and humid all day, every day!) and you can see that it is a very long drive to the dusky, arid north. My bird report is segregated by regions and is not strictly chronological.

 
 

In colonial times, today's Ghana was known as the Gold Coast. Cape Coast Castle (belwo) is one of thirty "slave castles"built on the Gold Coast by European traders. It was originally built by the Swedes for trade in timber and gold in 1650, but later was used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It was captured at various times by the Danes, the Dutch, and the British, who rebuilt it in the 18th century. Underground dungeons (one of men, one for women) held hundreds of slaves before they were loaded onto ships and sold in the Americas. The “gate of no return” was the last stop before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Barak and Michelle Obama unveiled a plaque inside the fort during their 2009 visit.

 
 
 
 

Today the "gate of no return" opens out onto a thriving scene of fisherman on a colorful beach (above). During our visit we find bustling cities, thick lowland rainforest, rainforest being logged, secondary 'farm bush' on back roads (in our comfortable bus), savanna woodland being burned, and long stretches of the Volta River in arid thornscrub (all below).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
 
 
  The tour leaders were Rockjumper guide David Erterius (above left, from Sweden) and local Ashanti guide Paul Mensah; the other participants — none of whom knew each other before the trip — are shown above right (sitting L to R): John Baker (from Illinois), Janet Schumacher (from New York), and Dotty Robbins (from Florida). The links below are to pages featuring (mostly) the birds, but also the few mammals that were encountered, and some habitat shots.  
     
 
or use these links
 
 
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page created 2 Mar 2014
© Don Roberson 2014