Ghana in Focus: Tourism in Afrika - Accra Re-visited

Accra, the bustling capital city of Ghana, stands as a vibrant hub of African tourism, seamlessly blending rich cultural history with modern marvels. In this podcast episode, we explore why Accra is a top travel destination, particularly during the festive "Detty December." This period, spanning from December to January, transforms the city into a lively center of festivities and cultural experiences, attracting both locals and international tourists.

One of Accra's unique charms is its blend of colonial architecture and contemporary infrastructure. Accra is  a 2 hour drive from significant historical sites such as the Elmina and Cape Coast slave castles, which provide a poignant reminder of the past. These landmarks are easily accessible thanks to improvements in road infrastructure, like the Kasoa and Kwame Nkrumah Interchanges. Such developments have made navigating the city more convenient for tourists eager to explore its rich history.

Accra offers a myriad of transportation options to suit every traveler's needs. Whether you prefer the convenience of Uber, the local flavor of minibuses, or the affordability of state-sponsored electronic buses, Accra's transportation network is designed to make your journey seamless. For those looking to explore the city at their own pace, car rentals are readily available, offering a range of vehicles from sedans to SUVs.

Culinary enthusiasts will find Accra's food scene to be a delightful adventure. The city boasts a diverse array of dining options, from international cuisines to traditional Ghanaian dishes. Notable mentions include the popular Buka restaurant, renowned for its authentic Ghanaian flavors. Accra's malls, like A&C Mall and Accra Mall, offer a blend of shopping experiences, from high-end fashion brands to traditional crafts, catering to every shopper's desires.

The leisure and entertainment scene in Accra is nothing short of exhilarating. Labadi Beach and upscale resorts like Sandbox and Allure provide perfect spots for relaxation and enjoyment. As the sun sets, Accra's nightlife comes alive, particularly in the Osu district, known for its trendy bars such as Republic and Sky Bar. The city's vibrant music scene is highlighted by events like Afrofuture, an Afrobeat extravaganza that lights up December, drawing music lovers from around the globe.

As we conclude this episode, we also offer a glimpse into future explorations of African travel destinations. STAY TUNED!!

Sources:

(12) Why GHANA is Becoming AMERICA’S Greatest Escape | PassportHeavy.com - YouTube

Chapters

• 0:02 Exploring Tourism in Accra, Ghana
• 10:14 Transportation, Cuisine, and Shopping in Accra
• 17:17 Exploring Entertainment and Leisure in Accra
• 28:52 African Travel Destinations Review

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Akwaaba. Welcome to this week's edition of Ghana in Focus with myself, kwame, ghanaian writer, broadcaster, journalist, entrepreneur and podcaster, and this week's version or edition of Ghana in Focus. We are continuing our Tourism in Africa series, this week Revisiting Accra. So that is the topic for this week's discussion Tourism in Africa, revisiting Accra. And so if you like what you hear, please share it to your friends, family, social media networks. Subscribe to Ghana Africa in Focus on YouTube. Subscribe to Ghana Africa African Focus on YouTube. Subscribe to Ghana African Focus on on Spotify. I want to get as many followers on both Spotify and YouTube as you can, so please subscribe to Ghana African Focus on YouTube, give a notification bell and you will get a message from YouTube every time I upload a new podcast. Similarly for Spotify, just look out for Ghana African Focused Podcast on Spotify and click the follow button and Spotify will notify you every time I upload a new podcast. Alright, so let's get into this podcast.

Speaker 1: 1:20

Looking at tourism in Africa Looking about Accra revisited. So, as you may or may not know, I did do Accra, looked at Accra about a year, a year and a half ago must have been about a year and a half ago, but I lost change in Accra since then, and so I thought it'd be best to revisit Accra. Give it some more flavour of the dynamic African city. So Accra, it's the capital city of Ghana. Give us some more flavour of the dynamic African city. So Accra, it's the capital city of Ghana and it's on the west coast of Africa and it sits on the GMT, the Greenish Meridian Zone time, so it makes a perfect getaway, particularly if you are looking at a different destination than your Europe or or America's or the you know Grand Canaries, or the Mediterranean, or even Asia. This December, january, so many of you are going to be off in that period, and so I like to promote African tourism because you know, we, we all know about Europe and Asia and North America and even South America, but very few of us know about the marbles and the blenders and the African continent, and so this is why, over the next few weeks, we'll be looking about tourism in Africa, highlighting some African mechanisms that you need to put on your bucket list when you decide to book your holiday for December through January. So right now in Accra, this vibrant, bustling metropolitan city, 30 December, and Accra is going to be the centre of 30 December in Ghana, again last year.

Speaker 1: 3:03

This time I did a special about Dirty December. There's loads and loads of events in Accra during Dirty December, where many, many tourists and even, you know, ghanians from the diaspora come back to Ghana, but specifically Accra, to spend the holiday season with their friends and family, and you know there's a lot to do in Accra to spend the holiday season with their friends and family, and you know there's a lot to do in Accra all December, every December, and you know this December is no case in point. So if you want to know what is happening for 30th December, I can probably leave you a link to 30th December and you can look out for yourself what is going to be happening for December in Ghana. But my main point of this podcast is to let you know about Accra City and why you should visit this great city of Accra. Before I backtrack a little bit, let me backtrack a little bit just to say that within Accra, or Ghana itself, in December, at least 1 million Africans come to Ghana for that period. So, particularly during the right over 10 year of 2019 and also beyond the return 2020, more than 1.5 million people came in each of these years 19 and 20. And even last year alone. You know there's about 300,000 people that came to Ghana and Accra last year. So it is a very, very high tourist season at the summer of January where many people, particularly Ghanians from abroad, the Ghanaian diaspora, come to Accra in December. So there's a lot to see and do within Accra. So let's get straight into it. Why you must put Accra on your bucket list for travelling.

Speaker 1: 5:03

So, like I mentioned, accra is the capital city of Ghana. It sits on the very southern tip of the country, has a very, very tropical climate all through the year. Right now, as we're talking to you, ghana has entered the dry season and it can get very, very hot in that dry season. If you don't like the heat, you know, please beware that in Ghana this time of year, december, it does get very, very hot. So an average temperature is 29-30 degrees in the daytime, making it very, very hot. If you go over parts of Ghana, particularly the north, it can get up to 35 to 40 degrees centigrade this time of year. So if you don't like the heat, be mindful of that.

Speaker 1: 5:50

And so, within Accra specifically, accra is a very, very cosmopolitan city with a mix of colonial buildings and also African-type construction, weaved amongst the tapestry of modern day architecture, infrastructure within Accra. And so, in terms of infrastructure, when we look at the real network within Accra, it has improved significantly within the last two years, well, even the last three or four years. So, within Accra there's the Krami and Krumah Interchange. There's also the Kaswa Interchange that links Accra to the Basin City of Kaswa, which is a gateway to the Central Region, where again you can go to the slave dungeons, slave castles of Elmina and Cape Cod, very, very powerful sites and edifices there.

Speaker 1: 6:57

And I would implore that you take, particularly as a diasporan African-American, african-caribbean, african-jamaican, African-British, that you take time to go to Amina and the Cape Coast castles to see for yourself at first hand the damaging effects of the so-called Translator Slave Trade. I like to call it the Mangamizi. The Mangamizi, which means in the Kis-Hidi language a genocide and a nightmare that happened to Afghan people between the 15th and 19th centuries. So those you know, you will see, particularly if there's a good tourist guide within Elmina and Cape Coast. And, by the way, those two slave captivity or slave dungeons are about two hours drive from Accra, cape Coast. And, by the way, those two slave captivity or slave dungeons are about two hours drive from Accra. And so if you do have a good tour guide who knows history properly, of those slave dungeons, slave captivities, you would have a very, very spiritual, emotional and cultural journey of how the Europeans treated African ancestors, you know, in their slave captivities before they were shipped and transported to the so-called New World. So that is a very, very. You have a very powerful and unique experience, particularly if you've not been before, of those Elmina Castle and the Cape Coast Castle and, like I said, that's about two to three hours drive from Accra.

Speaker 1: 8:34

But let's get back to Accra in terms of infrastructure. So, like I said, I mentioned the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, which is a very, very spectacular piece of infrastructure. I've mentioned the Kaswa Highway as well. There's also the dualisation of the Accra-Winnebar Road, making your time or your trip to Cape Coast and Elmina in a very, very short indeed. You've also got the Obecheby-Lamteenschein, which is a very, very fantastic piece of engineering that links the southern parts of Accra with the western and northern parts of Accra. Again. There's also the Flowerpot Jones Interchange that was recently inaugurated by the President, nana Adedam Kwekufa, again another fantastic piece of road network that links Spintex Road to East Ligon and also to parts of Northern Accra, particularly where you have the Accra Mall and I'll come into some of our malls in a minute and so you know there's been a lot of road improvements, infrastructure within Accra over the last three, four years. So Accra today is not Accra where it was even, you know, four years ago. There's been a lot of infrastructure, a lot of developments within this bustling metropolis of Accra. So that's the wedding for Georgia. You know we also.

Speaker 1: 10:14

There's also the in terms of transportation. There's obviously there's Uber. You can get Uber, you can get boats, you can get Django, you know, aside to the Georgia, which are mini buses, and also the current government of Ghana has introduced electronic buses. So these operate mainly from Tama to Accra and from Amasaman to Accra and also from Atamu to Accra. So if you are in that facility of Accra, then I recommend that you get the state-sponsored e-buses, which are very, very convenient to use and they've got Wi-Fi as well and they're also pretty cheaper when compared to the Churchill or minibuses and even the Uber, the Django and both. So that's a bit about the transportation.

Speaker 1: 11:04

To get yourself about and about in Accra you could also hire, you know, a car for vehicles. So a bat and a car. You could also hire a car for vehicles you can hire a car. You can hire whether it's a 4x4, a SUV, or you can hire your traditional 4-seater, 5-seater car and that can go for individuals between 50 to 100 US 100 you know, us dollars a day. So you hire a car, you get a driver as well and you obviously have to buy the picture for the car, but for the for driver services, you know, and to hire a car, you're looking at between 50 to at least probably even 150 us dollars a day, depending on on the size of the car and also the make of the car as well. So, for example, if you got like a 4x4, if you hide that for a day, you're going to pay more for the 4x4 SUV than you are for, say, like um, you know, like a car, like a, a Kia or a Pronto Kia or even a um, um, a Toyota Corolla or a Toyota Yaris. So just be mindful that if you're begging a car that you want to hire for you and your contingent, you know, the more you'd be expected to pay for that particular transportation side. So we talked about the transportation, how to get move around Accra and some of the great infrastructure in terms of roads that have been developed in Accra in the last three to four years.

Speaker 1: 12:38

So, like I mentioned, accra is a very, very bustling metropolitan city and if you are a foodie like me, then you will enjoy the numerous international restaurants and local Ghanaian restaurants that serve, you know, international cuisine as well as local Ghanaian cuisine. So, in terms of you know, non-african cuisine, there's obviously Indian, chinese, lebanese, italian, mexican, french, etc. And also local Ghanaian food or restaurants that serve local Ghanaian delicacies like jollof rice, like red red, like emutio and nikatekwine, which is basically rice balls and peanut butter soup. Red red is basically fried plantain with black eyed bean stew, obviously the world famous jollof rice, plain rice with cabbage stew or spinach stew. You've also got an array of delicacies. So, again, if you want to know more about Ghanaian cuisine, you can look into the archive that we have here on Ghana African Focus, where I did a Ghanaian cuisine part one, two, three, four and, I think, five, where I gave you a feel and a yeah, a feel for the array of Ghanaian cuisine that we have.

Speaker 1: 14:12

And so one recommender on that Ghanaian cuisine that I would recommend is Buka. That's B-U-K-A. That's a very, very popular Ghanaian restaurant based in Usu area I will come on to Usu in a minute based on Usu area. I will come on to Usu in a minute, based in Usu area of Accra, and that's a very, very popular with both tourists and also indigenous Guyanese and so on. So Buka B-U-K-A and they serve an array of fantastic Guyanese cuisine and also fantastic Guyanese drinks, like palm wine, like also sobolu, which is, like you know, made from hibiscus plant, and also coconut juice and also an array of fresh fruit juices, like pineapple and ginger, like pineapple, like orange. These are fresh, organic juices. So I definitely recommend Buka B-U-K-A as a place to go to to eat traditional Ghanaian cuisine. So we talked about the cuisine.

Speaker 1: 15:22

Now let's look at the mouths Now again. In the last three to five years there's been an explosion of shopping malls in Accra, and so these shopping malls in Accra can rival anything in Lagos, abuja, maybe not as the shopping malls in Nairobi, you know Johannesburg, cape Town, et cetera, and so in Accra alone there must be about 12, at least 12 shopping malls. So I'll name you three or four which are, for me, very, very top-notch, high-end, high-quality malls. So there's the A&C Mall in East Legon, very, very popular with Ghanaians and also very, very popular with tourists as well. A&c Mall in East Legon. I will leave you a link to all these places, but if you Google A&C Mall, you should be able to get that, because it is a very, very. It was actually the first shopping mall in Ghana that was built in 2004. Yeah, so the AAC Mall at East Legon in Accra is definitely somewhere that I would recommend that you go to do your shopping. That offers a mix of, you know, cultural Ghanaian clothes and ornaments, along with the modern, you could say, modern attire, modern wear that we come to use too in Africa. So, aside from the ANC Mall, I'd recommend also the Accra Mall that was built in 2007. Accra Mall has become a popular shopping mall in Ghana with both Ghanians and tourists.

Speaker 1: 17:17

There's a lot of array of things within the Accra Mall. There's top-notch restaurants within the Accra Mall. There's also ice cream parlours within the Accra Mall Pizza eateries, restaurants. There's also ice cream parlours within Deer Crown Mall pizza eateries. You know restaurants. There's lots of. You know, clothes shopping. You know clothes accessible companies. Within Deer Crown Mall, you've got companies like Adidas. You know. Within there, you've also got traditional Ghanaian fabric clothes wear shops within there, kramal. You've also got a cinema within there, kramal, and you've also got companies like Samsung, lg and others that sell top range white and brown goods. So your fridge freezers, your fridges, your TV, your LED TVs, et cetera, et cetera. So you know, within the Accra Mile there's a lot to see and do within the Accra Mile.

Speaker 1: 18:18

Another mile that I recommend is the Atamata Mile. Atamata Mile is a very, very beautiful shopping mile and that's again another shopping mile that's been completed in the last six, seven years Achimota Mall, and that's in the, you know, the south of the city, going to the in Sawambo. It's on the Achimota Ofanko stretch of the road. So just look out for Achimota Mall, and that's another great shopping mall that I recommend that you go and visit. And the shopping mall that I recommend that you go and visit, and the last one that I recommend is another mall called Medina Mall. So this mall called Medina Mall is not far from the airport. It's actually literally about two minutes from the Accra International Airport, accra International Airport, and so again, that's another upscale, you know, top end, top of the mile that Accra has to offer.

Speaker 1: 19:16

So we talked about the miles, so now we move on to the beaches and, again, you know there's been a lot of, you know, developments within the sort of beach life. So if you are somebody that likes the beach life, likes the outdoor life, you like to surf, you like to, you know, go for a swim on the rivers, on the beaches, then Accra is definitely the place for you in terms of, you know, beach life. So, apart from the world famous Labadi Beach, which is very popular with tourists and Ghanaians, you've also got other established beaches like Krokobiti Beach, which is just outside of Accra. You've also got Bojo Beach, which is in Wedja district of Accra, and you've also got these kind of luxurious, high-end sort of beaches. So places like Sunbox, places like Tills and also places like Allure L sorry, a-double-l-u-r-e Allure so these are like very, very trendy upmarket beach resorts that has grown up in Accra, particularly Accra, over the last five years, and I would definitely recommend that you go to Sandbox, allure and also Tills. So a very, very, you know, modern and you know, different beach experience than you would have at Kokubiti or Labadi beach, and so you know both those. Like I said, those are very luxurious and high-end and so be mindful of the prices when you go to those you know luxurious beach venues.

Speaker 1: 21:05

All right, and just let me backtrack a little bit. You know, one of the key events in Accra this year as part of December is Afrofeature. It used to be called Afrocella, but it's called, it's been renamed Afrofeature, and that's where you get a lot of big name stars within the Ghanaian and also the Afrobeat music industry playing this massive, massive gig called Afrochella. You know formula called Afrochella, now called Afrofeature. So if, like you know, afrobeat is popular around the world right now because of Ghanaian and Nigerian artists, then definitely you need to come to Accra and look out for the Afrocella or the Afrofeature gig that will be taking place in Accra during December.

Speaker 1: 21:58

And so we move on from the the beaches that I've just mentioned. We now move on to the nightlife. So you know, 10th of December is just like one massive party after another. And if you are, you know, a nightclub person, if you like to experience the nightlife, then Accra can compete with other mega cities like Nairobi, like Johannesburg, like Lagos, like Abidjan, like Marrakesh, like Cairo, like Dar es Salaam, like Kampala. Accra is definitely a city that has a very, very vibrant and effective nightlife. So, in like a nightlife, osu is definitely the place to be in terms of nightlife, because Osu has a lot of trendy bars, like Republic and others that you can go to to have a very, very good time and also, you know, experience a lot of great Ghanaian nightlife with Daphne, beats and other portions of African music.

Speaker 1: 23:15

Now, some bars that I recommend these are not necessarily in Osu, but they're very, very great, popular bars that have sprung up in Accra in the last few years. So you've got Sky Bar, you've also got Enigma. So you've got Sky Bar, you've also got Enigma and you've also got Transaco. These three are basically like rooftop bars and those rooftop bars give you stunning, stunning night air reviews of Accra. So if you like your trendy bars, particularly on rooftop, then those three bars, you definitely want to go to one of those three bars in Accra to get those, to get that vibe and also the stunning aerial night views of Accra. And so you know there's a lot that what I've mentioned is just a macrocosm, you know, of what there is in Accra in terms of the beaches, in terms of the, of the, of the, of the, of the malls, in terms of the um, the nightlife, the cuisine, etc. So what, what, what more I'll add is that you know, accra is not Ghana is not just Accra.

Speaker 1: 24:30

There's other bits and pieces to do in Ghana in December. So, like I mentioned, there's also you know, before the slave dungeons, that you can go to Almena and Cape Coast Spring to Mind, which are, like I said, between about two hour drive from Accra. You know, on the coast there's also, while you're in Accra during December, I'd recommend that you go to the Ebiri Gardens, very, very stunning, a picturesque place where you can go with your friends, your family, and have a chilled out, great barbecue there or a great picnic. The Ebiri Botanical Gardens. There's also the Legon Botanical Gardens as well, where, again, you can chill out and relax and just have a great serene time with your friends and family, and that's in the mountains. So that's about an hour from Accra. The Ebre and Botanical is about an hour from Accra and the Legon Botanical Gardens is within the Legon district of Accra. So that's probably about, you know, half an hour drive from the Accra Mall. So, yeah, you know, I definitely recommend that as well.

Speaker 1: 25:44

And for those of you who are more adventurous, you know you want to look at some great wildlife that we have, you know, not far from I'm not mentioning the northern region. I mentioned shy hills. So shy hills is about an hour, an hour and a half drive. You know east of accra, so you know the shy hills, particularly the monkey sanctuary, is something that they is developing and also it's popular with tourists. You know it is also like a game, a game park within the vicinity of Shire Hills. So if you like, you know your animals, like your wildlife, then I definitely recommend going to Shire Hills and also the monkey sanctuary within the Shire Hills vicinity area, hills, um, uh, the salinity area. So hope you've um, hope that's given you some food before.

Speaker 1: 26:39

As to why you must visit this metropolitan, this vibrant city called Accra, because there's a lot to see and do and before I go it is also, you know, I'd recommend that you go to Jamestown as well. Jamestown has a very, very, very colonial feel, built by the British, and it also houses the famous Jamestown Lighthouse. So Jamestown is a very, very unique part of Accra because it has a very, very colonial and, you could say, british feel to that district of Accra and if you look, you may see the old post office there as well, or rather sorry, see the old post office, uh, there as well, or rather sorry, the old post boxes, those red ones that the uk used to have. You know, or still has the red ones. You may you may be looking to see one or two in the jamestown district of a crowd and uh. So I definitely recommend that you also go to Jamestown as well, as well as the art centre.

Speaker 1: 27:33

So, if you're looking for some traditional Ghanaian arts and crafts, I definitely recommend that you go to the art centre on the. It's not High Street, but it's like it's en route to Labade Beach, the art centre. And again, you know there's a lot of traditional garments that you can buy. You can buy drums, you know you can buy special spiritual and cultural ornaments at the art centre as well. You can also buy, you you know, handcrafts and basically, if you're into art and in particular, african art, yeah, then definitely the art center in Accra is somewhere as well that I definitely recommend, highly recommend, that you go to while assuming, accra in December, straight join me.

Speaker 1: 28:30

So I hope this has given you some ideas as to what you can expect in this African megacity called Accra, and hopefully you'll be able to, you know, go to some of the places that I've recommended, and I will put some of the places in the footnotes to this show, all right.

Speaker 1: 28:52

So, uh, that's it for me for now and next week's edition of Ghana in Focus, we'll be looking about another fantastic African destination that you must go to, uh, or you must consider uh, during the holiday period, all right, and we will also. Later this month We'll also do our review of the year, whereby we'll also review the Ghana election, which has happened and also the results have been counted right now, and we know that there's a new government Place in Ghana, but we'll tell you more about that In our end of the review, alright, so thank you very much for listening to Ghana In Focus. With myself coming this week. Please subscribe to the Ghana Africa In Focus podcast on YouTube, subscribe to Ghana Africa In Focus on Spotify and, you know, let's try and get as many subscribers as we can before the end of the year. So until next week, where we look at some more tourist destinations in africa, is. Thank you for listening and we'll see you next week for some more tourism in focus.