Ghana's Highlights

Home to over 750 species of birds, and some of the region’s healthiest populations of mammals, Ghana is rapidly becoming West Africa's premiere wildlife destination.  This small tropical country - known in the past as the 'Gold Coast' - is now widely recognised as a friendly and safe destination to visit and is blessed with a diverse range of exciting habitats, from the lush tropical rainforest of the south to the more classically African bushveld of the north. This 14-day tour, focusing on birds primarily, as well as mammals and other wildlife, will take you through the best of these habitats, concentrating on the rich Upper Guinea forests of Ghana’s south-west, and the savannahs of the vast Mole National Park in the north.

Amongst an exciting range of birdlife in the vicinity of Kakum National Park, which may include Rosy Bee-eater, Congo Serpent Eagle, Black Dwarf Hornbill and the little known Brown Nightjar, we will be looking for the bizarre and elusive Yellow-headed Picathartes. This remarkable bird – one of the world’s most sought-after species – was only discovered breeding in Ghana in 2005, but the country is now the best place in the world to see it.

Ankasa Forest, near the border with Ivory Coast, protects some of West Africa’s most exciting rainforest birds, including Hartlaub’s Duck, White-bellied Kingfisher and Great Blue Turaco, while Ghana is also one of the last strongholds for a variety of threatened mammals, including Potto and the extraordinary Long-tailed Pangolin, although they remain elusive. In the north, Mole National Park is home to West Africa’s largest mammal herds – Kob, Waterbuck and African Bush Elephant amongst them – as well as an abundance of savannah birds, including Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Greyish Eagle-Owl, Standard-winged Nightjar and the sought-after Forbes’s Plover. Nearby, the White Volta River supports a population of Egyptian Plover, another of Africa’s most desirable birds.