6 minute read
A new Mooovement in Ghanaian holiday travel
International travel restrictions may have led many Ghanaians to abandon plans of exotic adventures abroad for now. However, far from limiting your horizons, choosing to holiday at home can reveal a wealth of attractions that may be equally new to you whether seaside escapes, wildlife retreats, adrenaline-fuelled adventures or historic monuments. Mooove Africa is a Ghanaian travel company set up this year to connect these hidden gems with the growing number of domestic holidaymakers. Here, its CEO and founder, Edinam Wesley Ablordeppey, reveals how Mooove adventures “give people the opportunity to experience the greatest moments of their lives” and selects some of Ghana’s most under-the-radar attractions that need to be on your next holiday itinerary.
Drained by months of remote working, social distancing and mask wearing, it seems Accra residents long for some adventure and escape. With quarantines and entry restrictions complicating international travel, many Ghanaians are eagerly looking for exciting ways to explore their own backyards.
Homegrown travel company Mooove Africa has nimbly positioned itself to meet this demand. It set up in March offering “adventures for body, soul and mind”, as its promotions put it, taking groups from Accra to experience some of the more remote parts of the country. The company’s founder, Edinam Wesley Ablordeppey, says growth since then has been “astronomical”.
“We did not expect it to be this fast,” he says. “We started with just two group trips in the first month but due to the demand, we changed our plans and we have been travelling every weekend since the second month.”
Those weekend trips have included quad biking amid the hills and waterfalls of Aburi, rock climbing and paint-balling at Klowen Hills, experiencing the canopy walk above Kintampo Falls near Lake Bosomtwe, trekking to the top of Ghana’s highest peak Mount Afadjato, kayaking in Keta Lake and abseiling off Adomi Bridge over the Volta River.
The all-action, adrenaline-fuelled element to many of the trips and their affordability – all-inclusive day trips are around GHC 500 and you can pay in instalments – means they appeal to a predominantly young crowd.
Edinam is keen to help build a generation of “Mooovers” who embrace their country and all it has to offer. “Ghana is a beautiful country. There’s so much to see and do outside the capital city, but there’s a gap between these experiences and the people. We are on a mission to bridge this gap one trip at a time.
“We want to encourage young Ghanaians with adventure at their heart.”
Motherland
With more people looking closer to home to stoke their wanderlust, Edinam saw a “golden opportunity” to launch Mooove. “We are hoping that this interest keeps growing among the citizens. We need to experience the beauty in our motherland,” he says.
Edinam is part of a team of four helping to bring that beauty to a new audience. “We have an ex-ranger with eight years’ experience who oversees all hiking, rock climbing, abseiling and other outdoor activities.”
Also on each trip is a professional wellness practitioner, who offers outdoor massages to clients after their physical activities, and an in-house photographer to capture the trip forever on camera and provide priceless souvenirs for travellers.
Edinam, in a role he describes as “travel experience designer”, curates and coordinates all the trips. In putting them together, he considers more than just the thrill-seeking element. There are trips that delve deeper into the culture of life far from the capital, such as a day trip to see and work with the potters of Vume, the town in the Volta Region has been famous for its ceramic work for centuries.
“It’s true our trips are fun but we do more than just that,” says Edinam. “We educate, connect people and create an impact in the lives of our clients and the communities we visit. We just raised and donated an amount of money during our last trip to provide school uniforms for some students in Adedome, a village in the Volta Region.”
Friendships
Some of the more popular excursions can attract 20-plus guests at a time, but Edinam says single travellers are soon made to feel welcome and many lasting friendships begin among Mooovers.
“Our name was inspired by the popular phrase ‘we move’, which is an energetic response people here give when they are in a situation they want to give up on but keep things going. People also use it as response to an invitation to step out. We took inspiration from these meanings. We want people to say “Yes” to all adventures. So yes, we Mooove..”
For details on upcoming Mooove Africa adventures, bookings and payment, visit the Facebook site.
Top exotic adventures to be found in Ghana
As chosen by Mooove Africa CEO Edinam Wesley Ablordeppey
Mole National Park
Ghana’s largest wildlife park occupies a huge swathe of protected savannah and is home to some 94 mammals and over 300 species of bird. This is the only park in Ghana where you can see elephants and most game drives will give you the chance to walk with them. An incredible experience.
Charles William Adofo / Shutterstock.com Akosombo
Akosombo
This town is home to the famous Akosombo Dam which provides electricity for the nation. It has become one of the top travel destinations in the country with beautiful resorts like The Royal Senchi on the banks of the Volta River.
Cape Coast Castle
One of the most famous of the many slave forts that pepper the Ghanaian coastline. The castle underwent considerable restoration work in the early 1990s and is currently a well-visited museum and historical site. It still provides harrowing testimony of the barbarism of the slave trade with visitors able to explore the dank dungeons that held hundreds of slaves without water or sanitation for months. You can also explore the palatial quarters of the British governor and officers, where they lived, seemingly, without conscience of the human suffering they were inflicting just metres below.
Cape Three Points
This peninsula forming the southernmost tip of Ghana is sometimes referred to as the “land nearest nowhere” because it the land nearest the location in the sea which is 0 degrees latitude, longitude and altitude. It also houses the first lighthouse in the country built in 1800’s and is a remote, but top-quality surfing spot.
Nzulenzu
Unique in Ghana, the village of Nzulenzo, which means ‘on the surface of the water, is built on stilts over the Amanzule River 90 km west of Takoradi. You can reach the village by canoe.
Lake Bosomtwe
The only natural lake in Ghana. It was formed by the impact of a crater that is about 10km in diameter, but oral tradition among the Ashanti has it that the lake was formed in 1648 when a hunter pursuing and antelope shot and injured the antelope Otwe.
Mount Afadjato
The tallest mountain in Ghana with an elevation of 885 metres. Getting to the top is a steep climb, but the views across the adjoining Agumatsa Ranges and into Togo make it all worthwhile.
Wli Waterfalls
The highest waterfall in the whole of West Africa. Getting to the lower falls is a fairly easy walk through the stunning scenery of the Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary, but if you’ve got the energy keep on to the higher, far more isolated falls. Both falls have inviting pools at their base for a welcome dip.
