Greater Accra

Our expert local tour guides will meet with you on your arrival at the Kotoka International Airport Accra, which is situated on the beautiful gold coast of Western Africa. Look out for the Ashanti African Tours sign when you leave the main terminal building after passing through customs. Make yourself known to your guides who will be accompanying you for the duration of your time in Ghana and they will take care of you from here. We make the journey (approximately an hour’s drive depending on traffic) to your hotel which is located close to Shai Hills Reserve. After checking you in your guide will brief you on the following days activities and answer any questions you may have. Depending on your arrival time, you can enjoy your early evening meal whilst acclimatising yourself to West Africa.

Shai Hills Resource Reserve

Our first full day with you in Ghana, after an early breakfast we visit the Shai Hills reserve, an expanse of Savannah, grassland, and woodland. The focus of our time here will be seeing the Egyptian Tomb Bats which are not a common species. Other species of bat have also been recorded in the cave network found here, we dedicate quality time looking for bats, rodents and other mammals that include Olive Baboon, Red-fronted Duiker, Kob and Bushbuck. Shai Hills also has an interesting local history; we can visit one of the many traditional shrines found near the bat caves and learn the history of the Shai people who moved here to escape the slave raiders during the colonial period in Ghana’s history. Birds and butterflies are also common at Shai Hills and your local guide will know all these species and happily focus on any area of interest you may have.

Kakum National Park

After a full morning dedicated to Shai Hills, we enjoy lunch in a nearby restaurant before setting off towards the upper guinea rainforest habitat at Kakum National Park. Our aim is to reach here in the late afternoon and early evening where we have a choice of setting off to the forest before or after our evening meal. Our focus will be on seeing Bats, Rodents and we will also be looking for the more difficult to see species that include Potto, Duikers and Pangolins before we set off back to our hotel to rest for the evening in preparation for the following day.

Kakum National Park

An early breakfast as we head for the world-famous canopy walkway at Kakum National Park which is approximately a 15-minute drive from our hotel. We aim to get there for first light enabling us to spend the most critical nature viewing hours 40 meters above the forest floor on the canopy walkway, which platforms are large enough to support Telescopes. The 360 km² Kakum National Park protects secondary upper guinea tropical rainforest and the focus on the canopy will be Long-tailed Pangolin as we have enjoyed several sightings of this species during our time here. Squirrels are also possible as we look for African Giant Forest, Gambian, Red-legged, Green, Fire-footed Rope and Slender-tailed Squirrel amongst other species. Birds and butterflies are in abundance here and would be difficult to ignore with almost 600 butterfly and more than 300 bird species recorded in the park.

Kakum National Park

During the mid-afternoon heat we will need to rest at our hotel for a few hours as our nights will be dedicated to walking for several hours in the forest habitat at Kakum National Park. We re-visit the canopy in the evening when our main targets will be the endangered Olive Colobus, Lowes Mona, Geoffrey’s Pied Colobus and Lesser Spot-nosed Monkeys. Long-tailed and Tree Pangolin are also possible as is Lord Derby’s and Pels Anomalure and some of the many squirrels recorded in Ghana. Bats are in good numbers and we will be focusing our time on seeing as many species as possible here. We can return to our hotel for our evening meal before returning to the forest or retiring to our rooms for some rest.

Kakum National Park

Two full days dedicating quality time in and around Kakum National Park looking for all your target species. All species of Pangolin, Bossmans Potto, Demidoffs Galago and Common Cusimanse are on our lists as are Bush Baby, Tree Hyrax, Giant Pouched Rat, Monkeys and both species of Anamolure in addition to Royal Antelope and Maxwells Duiker amongst others.

Kakum National Park

We wake before first light and enjoy several hours of night walks spot lighting hoping for a bit of luck in seeing the more secretive species this habitat is protecting. Nocturnal birds are in good numbers here in Kakum and we can keep our eyes open for Akun and Frasers Eagle Owls and any other species you may be interested to see. In the evenings we will discuss the main target species we still need and focus on these the following day.

Another early start this morning as we visit a different habitat than Kakum National Park as we head westwards towards Ankasa Reserve. Our morning stop is along the Brenu Akyinim beach road where our main targets will be Slender Mongoose and Ground Striped Squirrel along with other rodent species. Birding is good at Brenu and we can also enjoy a walk to one of the best beaches in Ghana. After enjoying our lunch, we set off for Ankasa in the western region of Ghana for what should be a major highlight of your time with us.

Ankasa Conservation Area

Ankasa and the adjoining Nini Suhien National Park cover a continuous forested area of over 509 square kilometers and is Ghana’s only pristine wet evergreen upper guinea rainforest, a rarely visited beautiful forest protecting some wonderful mammal and bird species. We arrive in the late afternoon where our camp will already be set up by one of our team members. There are showers, flushing toilets and electricity at this remote location and our camp leader will be looking after our every need during our time here. An evening walk in this beautiful habitat is a must on our arrival as we search for Demidoffs Galago, Common Cusimanse, African Palm Civit and some of the many bat species found her in Ghana that include the awesome hammer bat and its exceptional call. We enjoy our evening meal at our camp enjoying the atmosphere of being so close to nature surrounded by the sounds of this beautiful rainforest.

Ankasa Conservation Area

An exceptionally beautiful upper guinea rainforest where we have the privilege of dedicating 2 full days and nights looking for the mammals and birds that it protects. Our time here is dedicated to early morning walks getting up before first light, late afternoon in addition to night walks spotlighting hoping to find the many mammals this habitat is protecting. Bongo have been seen here although rare we can stake out the waterholes in the evening where their tracks are often seen which also gives us a chance for Red River Hog.

Ankasa Conservation Area

Many species of bats are recorded here and the most spectacular is the Hammer Bat, quality time will be dedicated to looking for these along with the many rodents found here. Pels and Lord Derby’s Anamolure are seen on several of our tours here and our guides will work hard to ensure this is a productive trip. The rare Dwarf Crocodile is a regular at the waterholes and during our time here although birds are not our priority, we still have the chance of seeing some spectacular species. Our camp leader will look after us, keeping us well fed and watered and we also have 4x4 landrovers and drivers based here getting us deeper into this difficult to access forest.

Ashanti Region

Today we're traveling to the Ashanti Region of Ghana to visit a remote community protecting a small Upper Guinea Forest. Our goal is to reach the forest by late afternoon, where we'll settle in and prepare for a night walk. One of the most difficult animals to spot in the wild is the pangolin, an endangered species that is also the most illegally trafficked animal in the world. This forest is a popular location for seeing pangolins, and we're also involved in a conservation and community project here to protect the habitat from illegal hunting and logging. We'll be looking for mammals on our night walk, and enjoying a meal at the restaurant before preparing for the next day's activities.

A full day dedicated to searching this forest for our target species. Our relationship with this remote community is excellent due to our commitment to them and we will ask a couple of locals to assist us in our search for the Pangolin (if we still need this species) and other targets. Butterflies are particularly abundant here and our day will be filled with some of the several hundred species recorded here. Our evening will again be spent with the local community as we enjoy our final evening experiencing life as a local.

Mole National Park

After an early breakfast we set off northwards towards Mole National Park. Today is mainly a travel day as we head northwards the habitat changes to the drier broad-leaved guinea woodland and savannah. Lunch is enjoyed in Kintampo before we continue our journey to Mole which is Ghana’s largest National Park protecting an area of 4847 square kilometres of habitat, almost 100 species of mammal and 330+ species of birds. Our accommodation is situated on a 250-meter-high escarpment overlooking this 4847km² park, offering breathtaking views. It is an amazing feeling to be sitting around the pool on the hotel terrace watching African savannah elephants bathing in the two nearby watering holes which are inhabited by crocodiles. After our evening meal, we shall set off for an evening of driving and walking in the park spotlighting and aiming to find our first mammals in this habitat.

Mole National Park

We will be spending 3 full days and nights exploring the exceptional wildlife at Mole National Park in Ghana. After breakfast, we will set off on foot and by vehicle to search for African mammals like elephants, kobs, bushbucks, waterbucks, hartebeests, roan antelopes, warthogs, and buffalos. We will also be on the lookout for Olive baboons, patas monkeys, and yellow-winged bats. In the evenings, we will be driving and walking through the park, spotlighting for more elusive species like hedgehogs, galagos, mongooses, civets, genets, duikers, hares, aardvarks, porcupines, and various rodents and bats. Our goal is to provide you with the best possible experience at Mole National Park, and your guide will be available to discuss the species you've seen, help you get better views of any animals you'd like to see more of, and point out species you haven't yet spotted. The activities for each day will be tailored to give you the best chance of seeing as many different species as possible.

Mole National Park

Day 2 - Mole National Park

Mole National Park

Day 3 - Mole National Park

Accra

After a wonderful 4 nights in Ghana’s premier wildlife viewing park, we enjoy a relaxed breakfast prior to setting off to Tamale capital of the Northern Region of Ghana for our flight south to Accra. Taking an internal flight will save us nearly 2 full days of travelling by road. On our arrival in Accra, we visit a local restaurant close to the airport to enjoy an early evening meal and final checklist. You arrived strangers and are now part of the Ashanti family leaving as friends, we take this opportunity to say goodbye before we transfer you back to the airport after a wonderful 15-day Mammals of Ghana Tour with Ashanti African Tours.