Quantumleap Travel Agency Ltd.

Overview:

The Western Region of Ghana us an integrated complex of beautiful safe beaches and African touch beach resorts. It has the largest collection of European trading forts (later used in the slave trade); the highest tropical jungles; numerous mines, picturesque villages and friendly people; and old architectural styles and vivacious festivals.

The region’s water villages on stilts are amazing to experience. A visitor can charter a local canoe out to the village and actually stay overnight in a guest house on the water.

The Beaches of Western Region

• Busia Pleasure Beach – only 5km from Fort Metal Cross
• Sports Club Beach – behind the Atlantic Hotel in Takoradi
• Ajua Beach – just 200metres from Dadowa Lagoon
• Princesstown Beach – off the Takoradi / Elubo highway
• Miami Beach – a secluded beach with rocky coves, perfect for picnics
• Akwidaa Beach: Akwidaa can be reached by a drive along the beach at Dixcove, 38km west off the Takoradi-Elubo road. Visitors may explore the ruins of Fort Dorothea.
• Dixcove and Butre beaches: These beaches can be reached by a short walk from Busua.
• Axim Beach is rocky but has recreational potential. Off shore is Boboayiyi Island on which a lighthouse is located. 
• Twi-City Beaches: Besides beachfront hotels, Takoradi has a Sports Club Beach (Takoradi) and Essikado Beach at Sekondi.
• Ankobra Beach has a lovely African style beach resort with purely local construction in a natural setting.
• Lake Broso is a lake near Wassa Akronpong also waiting to be explored in its natural state.
  
• Half Assini Area: The coastal area from Beyin through Half Assini to Newtown has excellent, natural beaches to be explored the Tanda Lagoon, Jawi Wharf and Alenda Wharf provide excellent opportunities for boating and water sport activities. They all lie on Ghana’s border with the ivory Coast.

Busua Beach

Busua Beach is an amazing stretch of beautiful sand and sea. It is located in a semi-cove only 5Km from Dixcove - just A short walk through the forest.

Just a little over 1Km off-shore is a small island that you can charter a small boat to get to. If you are adventurous, you can even swim there - just be sure to have backup.

Activities/Events

Sekondi Kundum

Oral tradition states that a hunter from Aboade saw dwarfs dancing to the rhythm of strange music while on a hunting expedition. The hunter watched these strange creatures perform their strange dance for one month and later brought the dance home. Another legend also says that there existed in the village of Aboade a palm tree, which is associated with the origin of the Kundum Festival. The fruits of this tree used to ripen once in a year, and with time, this period became a symbolic calendar in the lives of the people. The ripening of the palm fruit became the signal for the festival to begin.

The Nzemas later adopted Kundum. It is therefore not only the Ahantas who celebrate Kundum, but also the Nzemas. The Sekondi people also adopted Kundum when they settled at Sekondi. Although there are similarities in the way Kundum is celebrated among these people, there are some unique features in the way it is celebrated in every district. Through these festivals, the people remember their ancestors and ask for their help and protection. The festivals are also used to purify the whole state.
The Sekondi Kundum Festival may be regarded as a harvest festival, as well as a period for remembering the dead, cleansing the community and setting new goals for the coming year.

The unique feature about this festival is that it moves from town to town. If you miss it this week, you get another opportunity to see it at another place.

Sport Fishing & Whale Watching
For those who love the sea, you are welcome to sport fish as well as whale watch along our coast.

Cruise Destination
Apart from handling cargo vessels, Takoradi port is fast becoming an important cruise Port in West Africa. Takoradi Port is strategically located on the west coast of Ghana with most of the attractive tourist site lying in its backyard. The Port therefore serves as the preferred gateway and destination and destination for cruise vessels. Well-organised excursions are available from the Port to some of the most unspoilt tourist sites of the country, most of which are within close proximity to the port. These tourist sites includes castles and forts which were used during the slave trade, the renowned Kakum Canopy Walkway, the village on silts of Nzulezu, Egyambra crocodile pond, beautiful beaches, the goldmines of Ghana which earned the country the Ghana name “Gold Coast”, and the original grave of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah , the first President of Ghana.As a caring and friendly Port, Takoradi Port offers cruise passengers the unique opportunity to see the rich culture of Ghana through the display of chiefs in their traditional regalia and cultural dances at the Port. One-stop souvenir shop where cruise passengers can buy Ghanaian textile and artifacts are also available at this destination. In addition, Takoradi has world class hotels, restaurants and telecommunication facilities.The attractiveness of tourist sites around Takoradi, the stable political climate in the country and the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality makes Takoradi Port a preferred world cruise destination.

WILDLIFE AND NATURE RESERVES

Akatekyi crocodile pond:
30km west of Takoradi, at the Akatekyi Lagoon, you will find a pond where crocodiles are enticed from the water by the incantations of a fetish priest and the protests of a live fowl. You can observe this ritual every day except Wednesday (a sacred day).

Although there is no formal admission fee, you should bring a bottle of Schnapps for the libation ceremony and some cash (in cedis) for the cost of the fowl.

Ankasa Conservation Area
Ankasa Conservation Area is twin Wildlife Protected Area comprising Nini-Suhien National Park and the Ankasa Resource Reserve. It is about 500km2 situated in the Western Region of Ghana. Ankasa is the only area in the Wet Evergreen Forest Zoo. The Southwestern corner of the reserve is about 5 kilometres from the border town of Elubo. Takoradi is about 120 kilometres east.Being the area with the highest rainfall in Ghana, Ankasa is the richest forest in terms of botanical diversity in the Country. Its natural resources are enough to announce its presence on the world tourism map as haven and Ghana’s tourism address therefore, there is no wonder that Ankasa remains as one of the natural treasures of the nation.

Its attractions include:

Flora

About three hundred (300) plant species have been recorded in a single hectare. Notable among the plant is: Makore, Dahoma and Khaya. Ankasa is home to many well know plants including: Marantas, Glory bower, Bloody Lilly. There are also spectacular ferns and orchards.

Fauna

Charismatic and tourist-pulling animals such as the bongo and forest elephant as well as ten (10) primate species including the endangered Diana monkey and West African Chimpanzee abound in Ankasa. Bird fauna is also rich – at least 263 bird species have been recorded so far.

The Water Fall

The Ankasa rainforest serves as shed for many steams and rivers. Three of them from which the forest derives its name are the Ankasa, Nini and Suhien. The fascinating characteristics of these rivers are the rapids found on them. The breezes along the rivers and rattling noise of the rapids are a delight to tourists. The potential canoeing is been explored.

The Bamboo Cathedral

The spectacular Bamboo Cathedral is located at Nkwanta about 8km from the Ankasa gate of the Park. Though not a church building and has no human Bishop, a priest nor a creed, the site showcases nature’s perfect architectural design. The giant and suppliant bamboos bow and criss-cross at their apex as if in a handshake to form a dome. The bamboos plants forming a canopy give the semblance of a cathedral over which the breeze preside a perfect habitation for relaxation.

Camping facilities

There are tourist camps here for those wishing to stay for a few nights in the park. The camping facilities are made mainly with local building materials are located at the Ankasa Gate, Elubo Gate and Nkwanta. These have floor space for sleeping; one can use hammocks. There are toilet and bath places as well as running water. Each facility also has fireplace and kitchen. A staff is close by the fruits abound around the area.

The Amansuri Conservation Area

The Conservation is a project been undertaken by the Amansuri Conservation & Integrated Development Project with the aim of managing the pristine Amansuri wetland and its fresh water lagoon. The wetland has the stand of intact swamp forest in Ghana and home to varieties of animals like monkeys, crocodiles, marine turtles and birds. It has been selected as one of the Important Bird Areas in Ghana based on Birdlife International criteria.The project is located within the Western Nzema Traditional Area in the Jomoro District, one of the 11 districts in the Western Region. The area is about 360km west of Accra, the nation’s capital.

Bia National Park

Bia National Park is bordered to the south with a 563 square kilometer Resource Reserve and is an International Biosphere Reserve Park. The reserves are situated in the transition between the moist evergreen and semi-deciduous tropical forest and cover much of the drainage for the Bia river. Bia became a protected area in 1935 and an official national park in 1974. Some of the tallest trees left in West Africa are found in this park. 

There are 62 species of mammals known to exist in the park including 10 primate species (three species of colobus, the Diana monkey and the chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, among others), leopard, buffalo, the forest elephant, Loxodanta cyclotis, and the bongo, Tragelaphus euryceros. Over 160 species of birds including hawks, eagles, bulbuls, flycathers, the black-collared lovebird and the threatened white-breasted guinea fowl live in this habitat. The park is the only known home of Agama sylvanus, a newly discovered species of lizard