Our final stop on our Lagos to Ghana road trip was Cape Coast, Ghana. The first was Grand Popo, where we spent the first two days of the tour and the next was Ghana’s capital city, Accra.
What's Covered in this Post
Lagos to Ghana by Road: Getting to Cape Coast
For our journey to Cape Coast, we travelled with STC, one of Ghana’s bus services. The trip, which lasted for about 2.5 hours, was extremely comfortable and pleasant. (Different from our return journey into Nigeria using the ABC bus service. Ghana 1 – Nigeria 0.)
Our departure time was 8:30 am. By 8:34 am, the bus was getting ready to pull out of the park but there were already complaints about the service being late. I thought to myself, this must be nice. In Nigeria, a bus leaving 30 minutes late was considered a punctual bus!
Anyway, we eventually left at 8:37 am and got to Cape Coast at about 11:30 am, just before the rains started.
For most of this trip, we’ve been blessed with sunny weather even though the rainy season has fully kicked off. It rained heavily the night before our trip and during our transit into the Benin Republic and Ghana. The rains somehow managed to stop every time we arrived at our destination and I was hoping for the same luck in Cape Coast.
Upon arrival, we took a taxi to our hotel. After getting checked in, the skies opened up and it began to rain heavily. We decided to take the time to rest and have brunch with the hopes that the rains would stop before it was time to head out. Luckily, by 2 pm, it did and we grabbed a taxi to visit Elmina castle.
Lagos to Ghana Road Trip: Visiting Elmina Castle
We can’t change the past BUT we can learn from it and change the future…
Oh, the history in this place! I’ve followed the slave trade routes in a few African countries (including Nigeria) but there’s just something about the Elmina and Cape Coast castles in Ghana. Our guides didn’t make things any easier for us either as they spared no gruesome details of the inhumane conditions humans were kept and traded.
There were all kinds of emotions during this tour. From sadness to anger and frustration to fear. We felt everything. (I’ll write more about the tour in a separate post)
After our tour, we returned to our hotel and had dinner at a local chop bar. The next day, we set out early to visit Kakum National Park and the Cape Coast castle.
Lagos to Ghana Road Trip: Visiting Kakum National Park
Our first stop was the park – whose main attraction is the canopy walkway. It was some distance away from where we stayed, so we hired a taxi for half the day. He took us to the park and helped us get discounts on the entry fees.
Next, we visited the Cape Coast Castle. This one was much smaller than Elmina but no less incredible. Again, the tour was quite emotional. We were glad we took all our ‘happy’ pictures before it began…
Lagos to Ghana Road Trip: Visiting Cape Coast Castle
Once we were done, Baba, our taxi driver took us to a park close by where we got tickets for a mini bus (not STC) heading to Accra.
With that, our little West African tour came to an end. We returned to Accra and spent the next day with new friends – Meyiwa & Juliana. It was a great ending to our visit as they hosted us in their lovely hotel apartment and even taught me to swim! Hehe…
We loved our time in Grand Popo and Accra, I hope you enjoyed following our journey too 🙂
PS: Here’s a list of all the articles in this series;
Road Tripping from Lagos to Grand Popo
Accra to Cape Coast (The Castles & Kakum National Park)
Which town did you visit in cape cost?
I don’t know about towns but we were in the city (of Cape Coast) and visited the places in the article.
Hi, like how much do you think it will cost, if I’m taking bus from Accra to cape cost I want
Hi Grace, I included the cost in this article: https://www.travelwithapen.com/2017/04/22/travel-cost-breakdown-nigeria-ghana-road-trip/
However, the trip was taken in 2017, so it may be slightly different now but the article should give you an idea of what to budget for.
Hello! I’m Nnenna and I am coming from Germany with my hubby and want to road trip from Lagos to Accra then continue to Dakar, Senegal. Can you help me with the best bus service to take from Cotonou to Accra? Reliable with great service….would you recommend that we hire a personal taxi to get around Accra and see the various slave forts? How much do they cost? Thanks for your help!
Hey Nnenna, from Cotonou, there are many bus services that go to Accra. ABC goes there (service is erratic though). GUO, etc. You can also get a STC bus from Aflao border into Accra. Maybe they also go from Cotonou as well.
You can tour Accra by yourselves. Just use Uber to get to where you need to go to. As for the forts and Castles (in Cape Coast), depending on whether or not you’re on a budget, you can take a taxi to these places. This will cost more than riding a bus but it will be a more comfortable experience. Taxis/private tours to Cape Coast will cost anything from $200 upwards
I really enjoyed reading this. Thanks for sharing. Can you please share the name of the hotels you stayed in and how much it cost? Thank you.
http://www.fehintolaogunye.com
Hey! I’ve got that up already, I’ll link it to this post so it’s easier to find. I am also going to review all the services we used so it can better inform your decision, in case you plan to go for a trip like this.
Wow wow wow I love this 😘😘😘😘nice work dear.
Thanks Oma😊
I must visit Cape Coast someday. This is so beautiful
It really is. Definitely worth visiting.
You learnt how to swim on this trip? I have hope then. Nice to read all this adventure. Now i really want to be like you. I am waiting for more details on the cost too
http://www.ijefinelivin.com
If I can, you can! Started from the kiddies pool (30 inches) and graduated to the shallow part of the adult pool (about 4feet). My teacher (Juliana) was brilliant!
Thanks for reading, IJ
Ghana on my top list. Thanks girl; I thoroughly enjoyed this one.!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glad you did, Jennie 🙂 and thanks for reading.
Thank you for sharing Amarachi. This post makes me proud to be Ghanaian. However reading about the slave forts always fill me with misery. I remember visiting both castles a few years back. Can you imagine the stench in the women’s dungeon is still so pungent?
Madeline
http://www.madelinewilsonojo.com/
I can’t begin to imagine what they went through. There was this room that had such a foul smell, we couldn’t even go in. Plus it now inhabits only bats! The tour of both castles was truly moving… I enjoyed visiting Ghana, I can’t wait to go back.
This is so great! I can’t wait for the cost breakdown.
Thanks Tolu. The breakdown will be up soon
Looks like so much fun. Can’t wait to go to Ghana.
It was fun and the people were very friendly. It’s definitely worth visiting