Ghana

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Trip Report – September/October 2024

Ghana is an interesting country, the roads are horrendous, mostly unpaved with crater sized potholes and speed bumps meaning even relatively short distances take hours to cover with old cars and trucks all over the road trying to find a way through the maze of potholes. Although Ghana still has large tracts of primary rainforests, the birding in the forests is not easy requiring early mornings and long, 5-6 hours treks in 35-degree temperatures with high humidity, but that’s what you have to do to see the birds!

We arrived in Accra late one night and so spent 3 nights in town to relax and get over our jet lag.

Nights at Kempinskis Hotel

Day 1 – Our guide, Kwame, met us at 6am at our hotel and we drove out of Accra to the Shai Hills Reserve. Quite an easy drive but nothing (especially the roads) is finished in Ghana so it makes short distance time consuming.

Shai Hills is a combination of shrubs and grassland. It was very hot and humid, but we managed a good number of life birds. Splendid Sunbird, Stone Partridge, Guinea Turaco, Violet Turaco, Veillot’s Barbet, Bearded Barbet, Simple Greenbul, Yellow-throated Leaflove and Black-capped Babbler.

We drove about an hour towards our next destination and stopped at the Adi Lake Resort for lunch. This was a great choice because there were White-throated Blue Swallow on the lake.

At a roadside stop we had African Golden Oriole and Purple Glossy Starling.

When we arrived in Ho, we decided to do a late afternoon trip to Kalakpa Reserve and just birded the road into the reserve – which was great. Double-spurred Francolin, Blue-bellied Roller, Senegal Eremomela, Senegal Parrot and Ethiopian Swallow were all added to the list.

Night at Volte Serene Hotel.

Day 2 –  We drove back up to Kalakpa Reserve and went into the forest – it was the usual tough forest birding but we worked hard, walking for about 5 hours which gave us 7 lifers- Ahanti Francolin, Spotted Honeyguide, West African Wattle-eye, Red-cheeked Wattle-eye, Grey-headed Bristlebird, Swamp Palm Bulbul & Baumann’s Olive Greenbul.

Spent the rest of the day driving to Koforidua.

Night at the Mac-Dic Royal Hotel

Day 3 –  This was a great day because of the 2 significant different habitats. We were heading to Atewa. The first part of this 6 hour walk was through scrub. There were lots of birds here but only Western Bluebill was new for us. They are doing (illegal??) gold mining here but currently there is still enough scrubby habitat to be worth a visit.

Then it was into the forest and the 4.5 hours delivered many lifers for us – although none of it was easy. Luckily our guide, Kwame, was excellent and we saw Yellow-browed Cameroptera, Black-capped Apalis, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Grey Longbill, Finsh’s Flycatcher Thrush, Red-Breasted Goshawk, Maxwells Black Weaver,  Buff-throated Sunbird, Square-tailed Sawwing, Fanti Drongo and Golden Greenbul.

We had lunch at a restaurant nearby and were going to go back out in the afternoon but we were tired and the chances of anything much more that woud have been new was slim so decided to return to the hotel and relax.

Night at the Mac-Dic Royal Hotel

Day 4 – Enjoyed a blissful lie in and breakfast and left at 9 am to drive to Rain Forest Lodge and Kakum National Forest. It took about 5 hours because of the roads and the traffic but when we got to the lodge we were quite pleased to see the quality of the accommodation – not fancy but fine.

After lunch we went up to the forest where we found a clearing and stood there for about 3 hours watching the bird fly over and land in the trees around the clearing. White-crested Hornbill, Brown-cheeked Hornbill, Western Bearded Greenbul, Black Spinetail, Blue-throated Roller, Black Winged Oriole, Copper-tailed Starling, Chestnut-winged Starling and Johanna’s Sunbird. Wow!

It was getting dark, so we drove back down and at the entrance to try for Akun’s Eagle Owl. We could hear it calling but it didn’t show –  we did get amazing views of a Fraser’s Eagle Owl, so it was definitely worth it.

Night at Rain Forest Lodge.

Day 5 – Today was the Canopy Walk at Kakum Forest and it was fabulous. It is not for the feint of heart as it is quite high ( and I am not good with heights) but it was worth suffering because the birds were amazing. Luckily, we got there before the crowds because it got very busy later in the morning.

On the way in we were blessed with a Rufous-sided Broadbill but for the rest of the birds being up in the canopy was really the only way to get good views of them – Blue-headed Wood-dove, Congo Serpent Eagle, Forest Wood-hoopoe, Fire Bellied Woodpecker, Blue Cuckooshrike, Black-winged Oriole, Sharpe’s Apalis, Violet-backed Hyliota, Little Grey Flycatcher, Tessman’s Flycatcher, Ussher’s Flycatcher, Fraser’s Sunbird, Superb Sunbird, Preuss’ Golden Warbler and Chestnut-breasted Nigrita.

It was so great we decided to go back in the evening, but the crowds were still there, so we didn’t stay long.

Night at Rainforest Hotel

Day 6 – We went to Abrafo this morning and started in the agricultural area before the forest. Lowland Sooty Boubou, Melancholy Woodpecker and Red-winged Prinia were all new.

The forest itself is quite degraded because logging is allowed – it also made walking the trails a bit tricky because they are so carved up. It was hard work but we eventually managed Blue-Headed Dusky Flycatcher,

Icterine Greenbul, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, White Tailed Alethe, Yellow-billed Turaco and Rosy Bee-eater.

After lunch we went to the Stingless Bees Centre which was quite interesting and worth a visit. There was also some good birding further along that road and, apart from a ton of swallows and swifts, we had great views of Red-throated Buzzard and Brown-necked Parrot.

Night at Rainforest hotel.

Day 7 –  A quick morning visit back to the Canopy Tower still delivered more lifers. It wasn’t as birdy as before and we called it a day by 10.30 but by then we had already added West African Batis, Little Green Woodpecker, Sabine’s Puffback, Forest Penduline Tit , Naked Faced Barbet and Black Dwarf Hornbill.

It was then a lazy afternoon before giving the Akun Eagle Owl another try at the Kakum Park Reception area near the Canopy Walk – unfortunately the result were the same – no Akun’s but another Fraser’s Eagle owl.

Night at Rainforest Hotel

Day 8 – Left Rainforest Hotel and started working our way west. Our first stop was Brenu Beach Road with was quite birdy and we had great views of Oriole Warbler and Yellow-crowned Gonolek.

We then went into Elmini to look at the castle – we saw it from the outside but we were side-tracked by an amazing market that was happening by the fishing docks. It was quite a spectacle with dozens of boats and thousands of people. Really worth a visit.

There are salt ponds just before the harbour which we walked around but nothing new there for us.

The day went down-hill from there – we continued west but the roads were terrible and filled with massive trucks going at 5kms per hour – it took hours for us to get anywhere. When we finally arrived at Nsuta it was quiet on the bird front. There were lots of people and the forest is becoming very degraded. Pretty much all we saw was Piping Hornbill and then it started pouring so we retreated to our hotel.

Best Western Plus Atlantic

Day 9 – Disastrous – went back to Nsuta and did even worse than yesterday – called it quits and decided to enjoy the hotel gym instead!

Best Westen Plus Atlantic.

Day 10 – Started with a Long-tailed Starling in the car park as we left the hotel before working our way further west to Ankasa. Once again, the roads were a nightmare so it took us hours. A couple of stops at ponds beside the road didn’t give us much but we were thrilled to get Reichenbach’s Sunbird and Red-vented Malimbe off the deck at Ankasa Forest Lodge ( what a great place) while having lunch.

For our afternoon excursion we drove 11kms into the forest to a beautiful pond – it had been raining quite hard but stopped when we arrived and we spent several hours enjoying the antics of a colony of Blue-billed Malimbe at the pond. There were a number of other birds around and we added Red-billed Helmetshrike and Red-Fronted Antpecker to our list.

We waited there until it got dark and quickly got to enjoy Spot-breasted Ibis. Then we heard the Nkulangi Rail calling and ran to find where it was calling from. After an adventure through the forest, our guide turned up a pair roosting about 25’ off the ground. What a bird – and a great way to end the day.

Night at Ankasa Forest Lodge

Day 11 – A tough day – the forest was very quiet and we struggled to get anything at all – we did manage Black-capped Illadopsis and Yellow-bearded Greenbul but that was about it for our 5 hours in the morning.

Little did we know that the afternoon would be worse! We walked down beside a beautiful river just past the forest entrance hoping for White-crested Tigerheron – but no luck – in fact the only bird we saw all afternoon were some Cassin’s Flycatchers ( not new for us) on the river.

Time for beer instead.

Night at Ankasa Forest Lodge

Day 12– A quick walk along the forest road before breakfast finally gave us views (although very high) of the Blue-breasted Kingfisher. Then we started working our way back east.

A short detour into the town of Eikwe immediately gave us fantastic views of the Carmelite Sunbird in the flowers right beside he road in town. That was a treat.

The rest of the day was spent getting back to Kakum Forest

Night back at Rainforest lodge.

Day 13 – Decided to check out Kakum forest one more time before leaving but it was very quiet. Only new bird was Long-tailed Hawk.

Next stop was for the Picathartes. It was a fantastic experience. We hiked in from the village where we parked to their roost – it was about 30 minutes and we arrived quite early.  We waited about 1.5 hours and then the birds started to come in. It was spectacular – they bounce around the ground and the trees and they are really curious. There were 4 of them and they really seemed to come over and check us out. What a great experience – a definite birding highlight.

We returned to the village and made sure to buy things from the store as well as tip our local guides. This village makes money from protecting the forest and the birds in the area. It is so important for them to see that saving the birds can be lucrative for them.

Night at Oak Plaza Suites.

Day 14 –

We went to the Bobori Butterfly reserve for the morning. It was quite but we did manage one new bird – African Piculet before calling it a day.

Took advantage of a lazy afternoon before our long drive tomorrow.

Night at Oak Plaza Suites.

Day 15

Most of the day was taken up with the long drive to Mole Park. We were staying at Zaina Lodge and by the time we arrived it was late afternoon so we decided to stretch our legs and walk around the grounds. Glad we did because there were lots of birds. Bush Petronia, Vinaceous Dove, Pied Cuckoo, Yellow Penduline-tit, Goslings Bunting and Senegal Batis.

Night at Zaina Lodge

Day 16 – it was back to some great birding after the tough forest birding down south. There had been an unusual amount of rain so the park was quite wet annd getting around was interesting but it was very birdy – our lifers were Western Violet-backed Sunbird,

White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Black Scimitarbill, Red-headed Weaver and Lavendar Waxbill. There were tons of signs of elephants but we didn’t actually see any. Just made it back to the car before the heavens opened and it poured with rain.

An afternoon drive to different habitat was also productive – African Creeper, Fanti Saw=wing, White-fronted Chat, Forbes Plover, Rufous Cisticola and Yellow-bellied Hyliota.

Night at Zaina Lodge

Day 17 – a lovely rest day AND we had fabulous views of Togo Paradise-Whydah in the grounds.

Night at Zaina Lodge

Day 18 – Back at it and eager to see more birds in this fabulous park. This is great for birds but really isn’t the ‘safari location’ they talk about because there is very little here in the way of animals.

The morning wasn’t as busy and we are now looking for the trickier species that we need but we did add Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Black-faced Fire-finch, Bruce’s Green Pigeon and Sun Lark.

The park is very, very wet which has had a bit of a negative effective on the birds and our afternoon outing really gave us nothing so we went back and enjoyed a beer on the deck. We tried for Long-tailed Nightjar but no luck with that either.

Night at Zaina Lodge

Day 19 – We left Zaina Lodge and drove over to the Mole Motel which is supposed to be good for birds. It actually wasn’t that morning but we did see  couple of elephants on the way over. To be honest the Motel is a dump!!

Started the long drive towards Bolgatanga. Between the roads and the trucks, driving continues to be quite challenging. Took a LONG detour to try for Egyptian Plover but the river was so high due to a the rain that there was nothing around. The detour did give us opportunities for Red-headed Quelea, Fox Kestrel, Grasshopper Buzzard and Pygmy Sunbird – so it certainly wasn’y wasted but it had added a great deal of driving time to the day.

Once back on the main road we continued north and had another couple of roadside stops for Chestnut-bellied Starling and Abyssinian Roller.

Checked into the Akayet Hotel.

Day 20 – Headed over to Tono Dam – this area is very birdy and we had a great morning. Lots of good views of birds we had already seen plus White-crowned Robin Chat and Black-backed Cisticola. We spent a fair amount of time searching for Four-banded Sandgrouse but all we got was one that we flushed – a bit disappointing but that’s birding for you.

In the afternoon we drove ( another long, bumpy drive) to the White Volta river just south of Bawku. We parked just before the bridge and took the scope onto the bridge. Almost immediately we had Egyptian Plover. We decided to climb down from the bridge to get a closer look – it was a bit of an adventure but we managed it and were rewarded with great up close views of 4 of the plovers. We were there for some time and there were tons of other birds as well. It was another highlight.

Night at the Akayet Hotel

Day 21 – Our last day of birding. The plan was to go to the Nasia Wetlands on the way south but when we got there it was flooded. We birded from the road and the bridge for a while and there was a fair amount around – the only new thing was Heuglin’s Masked Weaver. The traffic seemed a bit dangerous so we moved on and headed to the airport in Tamale for our fight to Accra.

Night at Labadi Beeach Hotel

Hotels

We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the hotels we stayed in – even more impressive when you see the state of the roads and other infrastructure. On average, probably some of the best accommodation we have had on a birding trip.

Accra – Kempinski Goad Coast. Over priced but a safe choice

Ho – Volte Serene -. Rooms were excellent – the restaurant is a bit strange.

Koforidua – Mac-Dic Royal Hotel. Best choice in town

Kakum Forest – Rainforest Lodge. Pretty good – just make sure you get a room with the electric hotwater heater and not solar.

Takaradi – Oak Suites Hotel. Very clean – good choice

Ankasa – Ankasa Lodge. Excellent

Kusami – Oak Suites hotel – slightly strange but excellent – don’t we put off by the exterior.

Mole – Zania Lodge – overproced but the only choice really – the Mole Motel is a bit of a dump

Bolgatanga – Akayet Hotel – safe choice

Accra – Labadi Beach – great place – better ( and cheaper) than Kempsinskis.

Guides & Resources

Guides:

Adventure Birding Tours – Kwame Brown – excellent one of the top 3 guides we have used and a high recommend!

https://adventurebirdingtours.com/

Field Guide:

Field Guide – Birds of Ghana – Nik Borrow & Ron Demey

Bird Lists: