• • • The Ashanti stronghold of Kumasi and Kejeita Market
    • Overnight stay at the beautiful Kintampo Waterfalls
    • Watch the artisans ply their trades in Korhogo, Ivory Coast
    • Visit and overnight stay at the beautiful Kpatawee waterfalls in northern Liberia
    • Explore the crumbling grandeur of Monrovia
    • Stay at a Liberian surf retreat in Robertsport and see the crumbling architecture of the early settlers
    • Overnight in a village in eastern Sierra Leone learning about the peoples culture, traditions, and everyday life, topped off with storytelling from the village elders and music and dance performances!

With visas in hand we’ll drive north east towards the stunning Lake Volta region, where we’ll spend the rest of this first week of the trip. Arguably the most picturesque part of Ghana, we’ll travel short distances over the next 4 or 5 days along the south eastern edge of the lake, basing ourselves between Aylos Bay, Rootsyard, Amedzofe and Wli, before heading to the northern town of Yendi.

We’ll leave it up to you to decide what you want to do on these days, but some highlights include the chance to climb Mount Gemi, trek to both Wli Waterfalls and Ote Waterfalls, visit a sacred monkey sanctuary, take a tour of the Akosombo dam, visit a drumming workshop, watch Kente cloth weavers at work or simply kick back and relax taking in the views of Lake Volta.

By the end of the first week we’ll be somewhere en route in the northern Volta region, where you’ll notice the change in the scenery and landscapes.

Leaving the park we’ll stop at the famous adobe mosque at Larambanga, built in a West Sudanese style similar to those found in parts of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Picking up the main highway south we’ll spend the night at the enchanting Kintampo Falls for the chance to have a refreshing swim to cool off.

The journey south continues to the Ashanti stronghold of Kumasi where there are a number of things to see and do, including:

• • Explore the sprawling Kejetia market – one of the biggest in West Africa
  • Look around Manhyia Palace museum to admire the exhibits and learn about the history of the Ashanti royal family
  • Stroll around the grounds of the national cultural centre and witness the crafts people at work making everything from drums to weaving textiles and crafting jewellery
  • Take a day trip out to the sacred Lake Bosumtwi

Our next stop is Ghana’s beautiful Atlantic Coastline. Here we will visit a number of sites including Cape Coast Castle, once the residence of the British governor until Accra became the capital of Ghana. Further west we will also visit St George’s Castle in Elmina. Originally built by the Portuguese as a trading post, it later turned into a holding fort to ship slaves across the Atlantic – a beautiful place yet one with such a disturbing and tragic history. Whilst on the coast we’ll camp at a beautiful golden sand beach.

Whilst on the coast we’ll also visit Kakum National Park, where we’ll have a chance to walk on the famous canopy walkways above the rainforest and hopefully see some of the wildlife within the reserve.

Next we’ll drive towards the Ivory Coast border, stopping off en route for the night to break the journey.

Depending on how we’re doing for time, we may include a nightstop in Ivory Coast’s bustling economic capital, Abidjan (or ‘Babi’ as the local people call it). With its stunning skyline and modern architecture, it’s a complete contrast to where we’ll be visiting over the next few weeks! In ‘Babi’ there are some interesting buildings and museums to visit as well as the chance to stock up on luxuries. Abidjan really comes to life at night, and we will spend a night here to sample some of the great local music, including Ivorian reggae and coupé-décalé.

We now head north and make for the capital of Ivory Coast in name alone, Yamoussoukro, the hometown of long serving post-independence President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who spent huge amounts of money to make it the new spectacular capital. Here we’ll stay just outside of town – giving you a chance to marvel at the Basilique de Notre Dame de la Paix and the grand hotel with sweeping panoramic views over the cities dramatic skyline.

Despite such a low percentage of the population actually being Catholic, the President spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a grand Basilica, almost an exact replica of St Peter’s in Rome! The town itself also boasts 6 lane highways that lead nowhere, grand hotels and various monuments, but all in a relatively small settlement of approximately 250,000 people. A surreal place that has to be seen to be believed!

The northern town of Korhogo is next, famed for cloth weaving, jewellery and antiques. Visiting the surrounding area will give you a fascinating insight into the life of the Senoufo people. It’s worth hiring a guide for the day and exploring the villages around Korhogo to see the craftspeople at work. Le Quartier des Sculpteurs in Korhogo is definitely worth a good look around for souvenirs – be prepared to haggle!

A real highlight now awaits us as we journey west on bad roads to Odienne. We’ll break the journey on the way with a bushcamp as it’s slow going in places, but once on the tar again we turn south towards the regional capital of Man. All being well we’ll turn off the highway and spend a night in a beautiful village in the west of Ivory Coast, where we’ll have the chance to watch a traditional dance ceremony with a stilt dancer! At the top of this page you can see a video Jeremy Hubbard made for us highlighting this stilt dance ceremony – a real privilege to get to see in such a stunning setting.

Stopping in the town of Man to get supplies, we’ll turn onto dirt roads and and drive towards the border with Guinea. This is perhaps the most beautiful part of Ivory Coast, situated near the borders with Guinea and Liberia. The surrounding mountains and tropical vegetation make for a spectacular back drop, a really beautiful drive in places!

As a very rough guide, we hope to do some or all of the following during this part of the trip:

• Walking in the Guinea Forestiere to find one of the vine bridges the area is famed for – walking on them is at your own discretion!
• Optional trekking to visit the wild chimpanzees the area is famous for
• Trekking in the beautiful Mount Nimba Nature Reserve in northern Liberia
• Explore the bustling markets of Nzerekore and perhaps look around the Musee Ethnographique, home to a selection of masks and fetishes

We will stop in small towns and villages to stock up on food and water as we journey between Guinea and Liberia. The roads can be very narrow, sometimes with deep ruts and corrugations, and we will have to ford rivers if the bridges are not strong enough for the truck.

This is truly off the beaten track travel – overlanding through a remote part of West Africa few others get to see!

To reiterate – this section of the trip is totally flexible. Whilst we hope to see some of the above, no guarantees can be made, and we may have to adapt the itinerary depending upon conditions when we arrive. Either way, by around the middle of week 5 of the trip, we will have driven from the Ivory Coast-Guinea border and arrived onto the coast of Liberia. A true overland adventure you will never forget!

You will be travelling through an area not accustomed to seeing a large group of overlanders before, so expect quite a welcome as we journey through this beautiful part of Liberia!

Arriving onto the Atlantic coastline of Liberia we will spend time in and around the capital Monrovia. The city is in a varying state of repair after so many years of trouble, but is very much moving on from a tragic past. The people in Monrovia are particularly welcoming and always pleased to see tourists coming to their city! Marvel at what remains of the Masonic Lodge, the crumbling and abandoned Ducor Hotel, as well as other reminders of Monrovia’s most intriguing history.

We will spend time at a surf retreat in the sleepy coastal town of Robertsport. Here you will have the chance to enjoy the beaches, or explore the interesting architecture from some of Liberia’s early settlers.

Leaving Monrovia we journey west towards the border with Sierra Leone. The road on the Sierra Leone side is pretty awful, so progress will be slow and we will have to find a bush camp in the tropical rainforest en route. Another hard days drive will bring us into the diamond dealing town of Kenema in the east of Sierra Leone. We will spend some time here to recharge and clean up after the drive through the forest from the border with Liberia.

Our next stop is the Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary. This unique reserve is an adventure to reach involving some dirt roads and a boat ride to the island. Once there, we’ll have the chance to see some of the best wildlife Sierra Leone has to offer, including 11 species of primate and, with luck, the rare Pygmy Hippo!

Leaving Tiwai Island, we head west towards the capital city of Freetown, where you’ll have an opportunity to explore and soak up the atmosphere in Sierra Leone’s dazzling metropolis. You could take a speedboat to Banana Island with its breathtaking views of the coastline, visit Charlotte Falls, the Tacaguma Chimpanzee Sanctuary or simply beach hop along the peninsula. Sierra Leone has some of the best beaches in the world – one of the famous 1980’s adverts for the Bounty chocolate bar entitled ‘A Taste of Paradise’ was filmed here!

When the sun goes down Freetowners’ like to party – so if that’s your thing you’ll find plenty of street parades, beach bars and nightclubs to dance in until dawn, a great way to end our adventure from Ghana to Sierra Leone!

To experience the many incredible sights on our Accra to Freetown trip, watch this video from made by Jamie Noel who joined us on a trip in 2013. This short film accompanied by an awesome soundtrack highlights the pristine beaches, friendly people, and stunning landscapes these countries are so famous for!