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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some thoughts on Briggs' Second edition, guide to Ghana..., June 26, 2002
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.
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