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Ghana
is fantastic, with superb birding, and rich traditional cultures that
coexist comfortably with
modern development. Ghana offers all there is to see in the Upper
Guinea region, including savanna in the north and rainforest in the
south. Arguably, the main reason for visiting Ghana
is the Yellow-headed Picathartes (Rockfowl). This strange, communal,
cave-dwelling, forest bird is found only very locally and is therefore
highly-prized among world birders. Currently, Ghana offers the best
chance in the
world to see this incredible creature.
Day 1: Arrival. After your arrival in
Ghana’s capital you will be transferred to our coastal hotel,
just outside
Accra.
Day
2: Shai Hills to
Kakum. We
will spend the early morning enjoying the open savannas at Shai Hills,
looking
for Yellow-billed Shrike, Senegal Parrot, Violet Turaco and the strange
Stone
Partridge. Shai Hills is a
varied
savanna habitat just east of Accra. Mocking Cliff-chats can be found
hopping
around on the escarpment, Croaking Cisticolas can be heard buzzing from
the dry
grasslands, Double-toothed Barbets perch up in the open woodlands, and
Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters can be found along the lake shore. Thereafter we travel and bird to our
Kakum hotel, but not before visiting a bird-packed lagoon just a
stone’s throw
from our Accra hotel. There we will be greeted by the site of hundreds
of
birds, including shorebirds working the muddy edges like
Kitlitz’s Plovers and
Collared Pratincoles, herons and egrets wading in the deeper waters
that could
include Black Herons with their bizarre ‘umbrella’ fishing
style, and rafts of
terns out on the lagoon islands. The scrubby edges around the lake
should bring
us our first Western Plantain-eaters, and vermillion-red chested
Yellow-crowned
Gonoleks lurk in the brush. From there we will make our way to Hans
Cottage,
birding some savanna and wetland sites along the way. At the end of the
day
we’ll arrive at our base for the next few nights, complete with
great views
over the lake where weaver colonies crowd the islands and Nile
Crocodiles loaf
harmlessly along the shore.

Days
3-4: Kakum NP. One of the
tour highlights is visiting Kakum’s
famous canopy walkway, the finest example of its kind in Africa. The walkway is often
alive with
birds buzzing in the treetops all around, right at eye-level. Birds
such as
Sabine’s Puffbacks, Sharpe’s Apalis, Yellow-billed Turacos,
Fire-bellied
Woodpeckers, Red-vented Malimbes, Chocolate-backed Kingfishers, and
pink-breasted Rosy Bee-eaters hawking above the canopy, are all among
the
myriad of possibilities up there. Hornbills are particularly well
represented
at Kakum, with White-crested, Black Dwarf, Black-casqued,
Yellow-casqued,
Black-and-white-casqued, and Brown-cheeked all possible right from the
forest
walkway. Troops of monkeys move through the trees, with Monas and
Lesser
Spot-nosed Monkeys being the most regularly encountered species. On the
ground,
the park trails offer up such prize birds as Red-billed Helmetshrike,
Finsch’s
Flycatcher-Thrush, the beautiful Gray’s Malimbe, and the
spectacular
Rufous-sided Broadbill. A late afternoon trip back up onto the walkway
can be
good to search for Red-fronted Parrots and a number of hornbills
passing
overhead on their way to roost, while after dark a Brown Nightjar may
emerge to
call from the canopy beside us.
Day 5:
Kakum to Ankasa. After another early
morning’s activities at Kakum
we’ll set off for the mega reserve of Ankasa after a late
breakfast. Ankasa is
one of the new great finds in Ghana, supporting much extensive lowland
Upper
Guinea rainforest. A late evening arrival may yield Wood Owl, or
Fraser’s or
Akun Eagle-Owls.
Day 6: Ankasa Reserve. We have the better part of two full days
to explore
this beautiful forest park in western Ghana, near the border with Ivory
Coast.
It is in pristine condition, and offers a true experience of the unique
Upper
Guinea African rainforest. Special species that we will be pursuing
here
include Olive Ibis, Hartlaub’s Duck, Rufous-winged Illadopsis,
Green-tailed
Bristlebill, and Yellow-bearded Greenbul. The enigmatic and rare
White-breasted
Guineafowl has recently been seen in Ankassa, though our chances of an
encounter are slim. Nocturnal excursions may turn up the scarce Akun
Eagle-Owl,
or even the imposing Shelley’s Eagle Owl, along with Nkulengu
Rail.
Day 7: Ankassa to Kakum.
After some additional birding looking for Great Blue
Turaco, Black and Red-billed Dwarf Hornbills and Chocolate-backed
Kingfisher,
we’ll head to a site for Pruess’ Cliff-Swallow. We will
also explore the western
reaches of Kakum NP and Brenu beach that offers up the electric-blue
spangled
Black Bee-eater, White-spotted Flufftail, Blue Cuckooshrike,
Kemp’s Longbill,
and a whole host of other rainforest birds. In the afternoon we will
make a
trip out to a seldom-visited, wooded reservoir where will be on the
lookout for
the orange-footed African Finfoot, the African version of South
America’s
Sungrebe, in addition to Africa’s largest kingfisher, the
well-named Giant
Kingfisher. We will finish the day along a quiet beach road watching a
flock of
the localized Preuss’ Swallow swooping low beside us to roost
beneath an
overhang on the road before heading back to the Kakum area to overnight.
Day 8: Aboabo and Picathartes.
This morning we’ll bird the Aboabo sector of Kakum. This offers
great roadside birding, and the open forest allows great viewing
opportunities. We may find the spectacular Long-tailed Hawk,
Black-capped Apalis, Blue-headed Crested-Flycatcher, and a bunch of
cuckoos including the local Yellow-throated Cuckoo. Treetop flocks may
yield the strange nuthatch-like Preuss’s Weaver. In the afternoon
it is full steam ahead for the Yellow-headed Picathartes. A short hike
into some steamy jungle will put us in position. There we will wait,
scouring the rainforest vines and cave floor for the
“rockfowl”, which traditionally come into roost in the
afternoon. This is sure to be the tour highlight, as the Picathartes is
a truly odd, absolutely unique bird that bring people to Ghana from all
corners of the globe. We overnight in Kumasi.
Day
9: Kumasi to Mole
NP. This day will see us
emerge out
of the rainforest belt that dominates the southern half of Ghana into
the
Guinea savanna that stretches across the north. The switch in habitats
will
bring us many new species in the process. These should include some
widespread
savanna species such as Bearded Barbet, Abyssinian Roller, Senegal
Eromomela,
African Golden Oriole and Pearl-spotted Owlet.

Days 10-11: Mole NP. Mole
is northern Ghana’s flagship park. Some large herds of elephants
still roam in
the park and can often be seen right from our resort terrace, along
with some
other wildlife such as Kob, Waterbuck, and Bushbuck. The open
savanna
and woodlands hold some very different species from those found in the
rainforests of the south. Checking the few remaining waterholes at this
time
can be a boon for finches, with five species of firefinch possible,
along with
Red-winged Pytilias, Lavender, Orange-cheeked and Black-rumped
Waxbills, and
Village Indigobirds in addition to Cinnamon-breasted and Cabanis’
Buntings.
Aside from that, Mole is a great site for quality nightbirds. Checking
a
deserted runway may produce a few of the ridiculous male
Standard-winged
Nightjars, while Northern White-faced Owl and even the glowing
Pel’s
Fishing-Owl are all found within the park. Checking the densely leaved
trees
beside any of the small waterholes may lead us to a daytime roosting
Pel’s, and
right around our hotel Grayish Eagle Owls and Freckled Nightjars can
both be
regularly found.
Day 12: Mole NP to Tongo
Hills. We
will head north from Mole NP into the hot, dry Upper East region. Our
destination will be the Tongo Hills, where will seek out birds of the
hill
country such as Fox Kestrel and Rock-loving Cisticola. Passing through
some
good habitat along the way should also bring us some further quality
savanna
woodland birds such as roaming parties of White Helmetshrikes,
Rufous-crowned
and Blue-bellied Rollers, and Grasshopper Buzzards or Dark Chanting
Goshawks
may be found standing sentry by the roadside.
Day
13: Tono Dam. The savanna
woodlands that fringe this large dam hold
Chestnut-bellied and Long-tailed Glossy-Starling, Vieillot’s
Barbet,
Yellow-billed Shrike, often a day-roosting African Scops Owl, African
Quailfinch, and Long-tailed Nightjar, while the dam itself can be good
for huge
roaming flocks of the odd Spur-winged Goose.
Day
14: Bolgatanga to
Kumasi. We’ll spend
the day
traveling south from the Upper East region, returning to Kumasi for
another
night.
Day
15: Bobiri Forest
Reserve to Atewa. Bobiri
is a
secluded forest reserve just outside Kumasi that is a key site for the
diminutive Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill. The site also offers up
Africa’s smallest
bird, Tit-hylia, in addition to Africa’s smallest woodpecker, the
tiny African
Piculet. Other possibilities include Black Dwarf Hornbill,
Black-throated
Coucal, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, Gabon Woodpecker, Fraser’s
Forest
Flycatcher and the magnificent Long-tailed Hawk. The late afternoon
will be
spent birding the lower reaches of the Atewa Mountains, searching for
Red-cheeked Wattle-eye, Western Bluebill and Grosbeak Weaver.
Day
16: Atewa to Accra,
and departure. The
morning’s venue
will be the ridge-top in the Atewa Forest Reserve, an area that
preserves one
of the few remaining areas of Upper Evergreen Rainforest in Ghana. This
is a
key habitat for the Blue-headed Bee-eater that will be the focus of our
birding
that morning. Among the other birds in the area are Fire-crested
Alethe, Forest
Woodhoopoe, Blue-throated Roller, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, and
Ussher’s
Flycatcher. We return to Accra in the late afternoon where this tour
will draw
to a close.
Tour Info:
CLIMATE:
For the most part hot, and very humid also in the rainforest areas of
southern Ghana. The savanna areas of the north are pleasantly dry and
hot. There is a chance of rain at this time of year, though usually it
is concentrated in small heavy bursts that should not interrupt birding
too much.
DIFFICULTY:
The walking throughout is easy going. There is one moderately demanding
hike for the Picathartes that takes around an hour at slow pace. The
toughest part of this trip is the climate, being hot and humid in the
southern rainforest areas and dry and hot in the north of Ghana.
ACCOMMODATION:Moderate
to good throughout. In general, the food and
accommodations are
of a very high standard compared to most of the rest of West Africa.
Please note that hot water is not always available at Mole NP, but the
climate is hot and humid, so it is not
essential. All accomodation has private en-suite facilities.

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