Guide to Ghana (Country Guide) [Paperback]

Philip Briggs (Author)

Book Description

Series: Country Guide | Publication Date: August 1, 1998

Providing the most up-to-date and comprehens ive inside picture, this first in a series of guides to West Africa, brings to life Ghana''s unique attractions, from the animal rich savannah of Mole National Park to the stilt vil lage of Mzulezu '

Editorial Reviews

Review

The best guidebook to the country. The Sunday Times. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Ghana is a vibrant and alluring country, steeped in a rich tradition and a frequently tragic history. Free from the trappings of mass tourism, this former British colony has much to offer the visitor. Tropical beaches abound but there's so much more. Feed the sacred crocodiles at Paga, plunge into the waterfalls of the eastern highlands, marvel at the game-rich savannah of Mole National Park, or relive the chilling story of the coastal slave forts. This guide has been expanded and fully updated for this second edition. It contains information on where to stay, eat, and how to get around; Ghanaian culture, from social traditions to kente cloth weaving; natural history and national parks and over 50 clear maps and town plans. (5 1/4 x 8 1/2, 368 pages, color photos, illustrations, maps, charts)

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides; 1st edition (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1898323690
• ISBN-13: 978-1898323693
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,949,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #69 in Books > Travel > Africa > Coastal West Africa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Complete, Comprehensive Guide, March 30, 2000

By 

Patrick Nolen (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guide to Ghana (Country Guide) (Paperback)

Most Travel Guides just focus on the southern areas of Ghana, near Accra, Takoradi, Cape Coast and along the coastline. This book covers the entire country and every possible way of getting around.

For example, the Lonely planet's West Africa Guide did not provide information on how to get from Bolga to Wa. This book gave us the bus company, time and price of the trip. When arriving in Bolga we asked how to get to Wa and most of the people there were not really positive, but sure enough the book was completely accurate.

Another example was when we were in the Volta Region climbing Mount Afedzeto. There were no places to stay, but the guide says that if one asks for the Peace Corps on duty, that member will gladly give you a room. Sure enough we had a very comfortable place to stay for the night.

This book is well written and the best on the market. There is an incredibly helpful guide to the animals one will see in Mole national Park and a great general guide about how to get around and what to are "cultural taboos."

The author's writing style makes the book easy to read and allows you to know him well after only reading one section.

It is the only guide book that is fitting for such a diverse and delightful country.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Helpful if you were going to Ghana 5 years ago, June 10, 2008

By 

Elizabeth A. Poulsen (Lodi, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghana, 4th (Bradt Travel Guide) (Paperback)

This book is very detailed and helpful, the only problem is that much of the information has not been updated for quite some time. There are many places listed that are no longer in existance (restaurants, banks, etc) and many new places that are nowhere to be found in the book. It says it was updated in 2007 but I was in Ghana in early 2008 and most of these things I am referring to have been around (or not been around) for quite some time. Also, the prices mentioned in the book are about 50% lower than what can be expected when you go to Ghana, and perhaps even more given the rapid rate of inflation there; the prices of almost everything went up at least some amount during my 4-month stay there, from beach fares down to avocados at the fruit stands.

A few nitpicky details:
The book recommends against taking public busses without air conditioning (and therefore does not give schedules for them). However, on a tight schedule or budget (or even not) the non-air-conditioned busses are more than comfortable.
Also, the book says that a taxi ride to Mole National Park from Tamale should take about 2 hours (or 2.5, I can't remember). This is WRONG, it takes about 5 hours.
The fee to get into Labadi Beach was 2c on weekdays, 4c on weekends and holidays, not the .50c that the book cites. (This discrepancy is probably due to the general unreliability of prices/rapid inflation mentioned earlier.)
The book mentions Macumba nightclub as a popular place in Accra. I lived across the street from Macumba, and the only people for whom it is popular are hookers and the creepy men looking for hookers. To be fair, the book does allude to this. Other popular nightspots that aren't mentioned in the book include Cinderella's, The Office, Tantra, and Aphrodesiac.

Overall, the book is certainly the best on the market as far as Ghana travel goes, if not solely for the reason that it is the only book that I am aware of dedicated to Ghana and not just West Africa with a tiny section on Ghana. It provides reliable enough information to be able to get around the country, as well as valuable background information on Ghanaian culture and history. Travellers should simply be forwarned that not everything in this book can be taken at face value, and travel plans (and budgets) need to be flexible enough to accomodate for this fact.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some thoughts on Briggs' Second edition, guide to Ghana..., June 26, 2002

By 

Leverett R. Smith (San Pablo, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghana, 2nd: The Bradt Travel Guide (Paperback)

In that this follows a number of other reviews of Philip Briggs' "Ghana--The Bradt Travel Guide" (second edition), there may be a "coals to Newcastle" aspect to my comments. I found the first edition, recommended by a Ghanaian friend, very helpful on a trip to Ghana in February of 2001. I've since bought the second (updated and expanded) edition, and find it as readable as the first, as well as continuing to give a reasonable level of detail about getting around, places to stay, and things to see. There are some pet items that in my view would have warranted mention, such as the universities in Cape Coast and Kumasi, but it's not reasonable to expect everything about a country to show up in 354 pages. Having worked in Ghana years ago, I was not starting from zero when picking up Briggs' book. I had also been checking with a few Ghanaian friends, and had been looking into websites. Maybe that's the main point to make: No single source of information, even a very good guidebook such as this one, can be entirely complete and up-to-date.

From the U.S., at least, your visa application may be your first encounter with Ghanaian bureaucracy. Unless you live close to the embassy in Washington or the consulate in New York, get started at least two months in advance. Once in Ghana, you'll need to get adjusted to some third-world realities. Those used to North American and European infrastructure and scheduling efficiency may have to remind themselves that things really will typically take longer, that power and water outages can be frequent, that transportation will not always be fully predictable, and that breakdowns should not be a surprise. Get on the road early whenever possible, make sure that you fill that bucket in the bathroom promptly on arrival, and keep a flashlight handy. Ghana is not, in short, the sort of "autofocus" vacation area that we may tend to expect, but instead qualifies as your "grittier, more economical, more authentic African experience". Keep in mind that if you have travelled all day and arrived somewhere hot, sweaty, dusty and grimy, that your initial impression of a destination will probably not be as favorable as it will be a day later, once you have had the chance to clean up, rest up, and get calibrated to the place. Ghanaians pointed out to us, and our experience verified, that transportation functions more efficiently in southern and central Ghana than it does further north, and one should plan accordingly. Philip Briggs' guide to Ghana will definitely help in that planning.