Ghana volunteering & tour

country:	Ghana
departures:	This trip can be tailormade at a time to suit you and can be adapted to suit your interests, budget and requirements as necessary
price:	From £1210 (14 days) excluding flights

Ghana holidays

A taste of volunteering

the amazing things you'll be doing

Ghana offers the best compact trips in the whole of Africa, including spectacular beach stays with canopy walks and an incredible cultural experiences.

This trip focuses on the mind, body and soul experience. The sights and sounds will stimulate your mind, the fishing trip will test your body, the combination of wholesome experiences, the volunteering and the beach relaxation will complete the mind, body and soul experience.

This is a year round trip, although May is hot in Ghana (best for beaches) and whale-watching is best in Dec/Jan.

This trip has been designed to support the community based tourism being promoted in Elmina and other parts of Ghana. The home stays and the volunteering will directly benefit local communities. We believe in the conservation through promotion, and that the appreciation of traditional values and of nature through travel will preserve the rich cultural heritage and the pristine nature for years to come.

day-by-day itinerary

Day 1:	Accra. Arrival in Accra. Met by representative at the airport and taken to the hotel in the outskirts of Accra. Relaxation, trip briefing and welcome dinner in the tourist hotbed of Osu.
Day 2:	Accra. Plunge into the long history of Accra and a feel of Africa. Guided tours to the Usher Fort and the Osu Castle, James Town and the markets of Keneshie. Evening drive to the Shai Hills Resort. Overnight at the resort.
Day 3:	Game park. Visit the game park for a small hike and to see animals like the kobs, duikers, baboons etc. Later drive to Elmina. Overnight at Bridge House, a renovated colonial building.
Day 4:	Elmina & fishing trip. Visit to the Elmina Castle for a chilling explanation of the atrocities of the slavery trade. City Heritage Walk to visit the oldest colonial houses in town, and a lagoon boat ride Q&A session. In the evening, board fishing vessels for a overnight 12-14 hour fishing trip with local fishermen. This is optional.
Day 5:	Coast. One hour fishing boat trip along the coast to Cape Coast. Sights and sounds of Cape Coast. Optional tour of Cape Coast Castle. Overnight Cape Coast.
Day 6:	Kakum National Park. Drive to the Kakum National Park for one of the longest canopy walk through rain forests in the whole world. Lunch at a restaurant surrounded by crocodiles. After lunch, we drive to Putubiw, to start our cultural and volunteering experience. Trip starts by a courtesy visit to the chief of the village.
Day 7:	Putubiw. Volunteering at Putubiw. Details to be decided in consultation with the village and the requirement at the time.
Day 8:	Putubiw. Volunteering at Putubiw. Additional cultural activities.
Day 9:	Putubiw. Volunteering at Putubiw. This is the last day, so there will be a farewell ceremony in the evening.
Day 10:	Putubiw to Busua. After another courtesy farewell visit to the Chief of Putubiw, we drive through cape coast to reach Busua, to start our beach holiday.
Day 11:	Busua Beach. Busua Beach holiday. Drumming lessons, cookery classes, water sports etc… during particular times of the year, whale and dolphin watching.
Day 12:	Nzulezu Stilt Village. Day trip to Nzulezu Stilt Village, about two hours from Busua, and about one hour by canoe. This amazing village is built entirely on stilts and the inhabitants are thought to have originally come from Nigeria. Overnight back at Busua..
Day 13:	Beach. Drive through Takoradi to Anomabu for lunch and more beach. Later drive back to Accra. Overnight Accra and farewell dinner
Day 14:	Departure. Transfer to airport for departure

a taste of volunteering trip - what's it all about?

This type of trip is ideal for people who are unable to take very long periods off work but who are interested in volunteering to work with communities in need, or in wildlife conservation. These shorter trips combine volunteering with an opportunity to see the main sights in destinations. Find out more about 'taste of volunteering'

how this holiday makes a difference

This trip supports the Community Based Eco-Tourism developed around some of the tourism hotspots in Ghana. Prices are decided by the community and the benefits go directly to the community. Each trip that comes through will contribute in installing confidence in the communities about their abilities and this direction of sustainable tourism.

Being nature based, the trips also prove to local communities that environmental and cultural conservation can result in additional incomes thereby strengthening the perception of the need for conservation in the local communities. This has long term benefits. The three-day volunteering part of the trip contributes to a deep cultural understanding and cooperation between two cultures which has lasting consequences.

This trip is an effort to ensure a steady stream of income to these rural communities and provide the necessary supplemental income in their daily lives. All guides and support staff are local Ghanaians. Apart from this, we try to demonstrate the concepts of linked prosperity in tourism through this trip, ensuring a responsible spread of income (and to some extent training) to different players in the tourism scenario of Ghana.

Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people.

We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel.

'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left).

We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays.

We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism.

This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards.