PLACES TO VISIT IN GHANA
Kakum National Park
The Kakum National Park. Tucked away in the Assin Attandanso Reserve is the Kakum National Park and Canopy Walkway that offers visitors spectacular scenery and a fascinating wildlife experience along with modern camping facilities. The park’s best-known feature is undoubtedly its 7 suspension bridges which form a 333-meter long canopy walkway, suspended up to 27 meters above the forest floor from trees that are over 300 years old.
The canopy walk is only one of Kakum’s many delights. There are a variety of trails and guided walks that allow visitors to experience the solitude of the rainforest. It’s also a premier site for bird watchers, with over 300 species including eight species of global conservation concern. Mammals include forest elephant, leopard, bongo, bushbuck and many primates, but game viewing is difficult. Also, more than 600 butterfly species have been recorded.
The forest has wild life which can be seen in the night and professional guides are always available to take you on a guided night tour.
Black Star Square
Black Star Square, also known as Independence Square, is located in Accra, Ghana and is now the site for all the major military and civic parades in the Ghanaian capital. It was completed in 1961 to coincide with the state visit of Queen Elizabeth II.
From the first parades in honor of the Queen’s visit all the way up to the present day, Black Star Square has hosted all of the country’s major national public gatherings, national festivals, military parades, and concerts. The most important parade held in the square each year on March 6 is the Independence Day parades.
Accra Arts Center
The Accra regional centre for culture, “The Arts Center”,is better known simply as the National Center for Culture in Accra, Ghana. It is situated right next to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, where the Kwame Nkrumah Museum is.
There you will find what is virtually the tourist heaven of Ghana. It has got everything from woven Kente cloth, wooden sculptures, bead works, leather bags, earrings and other fashion accessories, the latest in African Attire fashion and good-quality handicrafts from all over Ghana.
Kwame Nkrumah Square & Mausoleum
Located in downtown Accra, Ghana is the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Mausoleum. It has a Mausoleum which is the final resting place of Ghana’s first President and Africanist. The park has a museum that hosts rare artefacts relating to Ghana’s independence and tours at the park give visitors in-depth history of the Sub-saharan struggle for independence.
The mausoleum designed by Don Arthur houses the mortal remains of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and his wife Fathia Nkrumah. It is meant to represent an upside-down sword which in the Akan culture is a symbol of peace. The mausoleum is clad from top to bottom with Italian marble, with a black star at its apex to symbolize unity. The interior of the Mausoleum boasts marble flooring and a mini mastaba looking marble grave marker surrounded by river-washed rocks.
Cape Coast Castle
Cape Coast Castle is the largest of the buildings which contains the legacy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like most ancient fortifications in Ghana, Cape Coast Castle played a significant role in the gold and slave trades. But also, two significant contributions were made here: the arrival of Christianity, and the establishment of the first formal education system through Castle Schools.
A guided tour of the Cape Coast Castle will acquaint you with its many interesting features including Dalzel Tower, the slave dungeons, and the cannons and mortars used in the Castle’s defense. The West African Historical Museum is located inside Cape Coast Castle and contains a growing collection of art and cultural objects, including ceremonial drums, old muskets, shackles from the slave trade and ancient pottery.
