Before you travel to Ghana there are some important things to think about. Of course you need a flight ticket, the currency is different from your own currency and you need a visa. Do you also know you have to get your yellow fever vaccination before entering the country? We will tell you more about preparations in this blog post.
Most important is of course the flight ticket. Unless you want to go overland to Ghana, we unfortunately don’t have experienced that (yet) but contact us and we can connect you to people who did. Depending on where you fly from tickets can be cheap (Europe) or quite expensive (USA). There are about 10 European and American airports that have direct flight to Accra, and there are plenty connections with one (or two) transfers. If you can’t find your best option, take a look at our flight ticket support. We will find your three best options, and you can decide which one fits you best.
Once you have the flight ticket you can start the other preparations. Now the most important are the visa and the vaccinations. The visa procedure goes different for every country, so check the Ghanaian embassy (or consulate if there is none) in your country to check the requirements. In general you have to go to your embassy in person or can send them the documents. We focus on the tourism visa. When applying for the visa you can choose for single or multiple entry. If you are planning to visit Ghana’s neighbour countries you have to choose a multiple entry visa.
For your application you mostly need:
– Passport
– Passport pictures
– Return flight
– Hotel reservation for the first night
– Two references in Ghana (one can be the hotel, one can be for example our tour manager if you tour with us)
– Yellow fever vaccination prove
– Invitation letter (not always necessary for tourism visa)
– If you have some you can bring a copy of your latest Ghanaian visa
Please check the Ghanaian embassy in your country for other requirements and procedures.
As said before you also need a yellow fever vaccination. Without this vaccination you are not allowed to enter the country. Also ask your doctor for advice for the other vaccinations. When you are travelling to (or back to) Ghana overland, you will need a ‘cholera medically not indicated’ stamp.
Apart from vaccinations you can also bring malaria prophylaxis. These are pills to prevent you from malaria. Take note that it doesn’t 100% prevent you, and also let your doctor inform you are the side effects of the types of pills. To prevent yourself from malaria also bring mosquito spray (also available in Ghana, it is called “Medisoft” and you can get it in the supermarket, market and pharmacies) and long clothes for the evening. You can bring a mosquito net with you, but most accommodations have them available for you.
Other things that you have to bring with you (because they are not easy to find) are sun screen and tampons. Soon we will write a post about what (not) to bring to Ghana with more products and information.
The last thing you have to take care of is the currency. In Ghana they use the cedi, and this currency is not easy to get in your country. You can bring your own currency and change it at the airport (or other official offices), or bring your debit/credit card and use the ATMs.
We will write more about some of the preparations soon. If you have any questions in the meanwhile check out our advice calls.
Looking for more places to visit in Ghana? You find them in our ebook. Get your copy now!