Expert: Ernest Tufft - 8/22/2006

Question
Hi,
 I have a friend who is a US Citizen and wants to visit Ghana for the first time. What are the things that we both have to do before she can visit? Thanks.

Answer
The Ghana embassy in Washington has a website that can provide the details for the Visa, which will be required.  US Citizens also have to show evidence of a list of immunizations upon entry at Accra airport.  US citizens don't need to be sponsored or anything like that.  I can't recall if evidence of income or roundtrip airfare is even required.  I found the consulate in Texas to be more helpful than the one in Washington, come to think of it.

She will want to certainly prepare for the heat although if she lives on the east coast of the USA, this won't be so difficult.  The weather, especially along the coast in Ghana is very pleasant.  She will have to consider the pro-active treatment for malaria, a medication regimen that is unsettling for many, particularly among women, it seems to me.  The best way to avoid malaria is to avoid mosquitoes, so she should go on-line and get the DEET rich formulas of lotions, clothes wash treatments, and if going into the bush, a back-up pop-up mosquito need.  She should really only sleep in a room with a/c, not just a fan, for comfort and avoidance of mosquitoes at night.  Depending upon the strain of malaria contracted, the disease can either be like a horrible flu or a life threatening disease, so either way, carefully consideration of risk is important.  Even Accra's most fashionable parts of town have open sewers, as I recall, wonderful places for mosquitoes to breed.  At the same time, the disease takes weeks or months to progress from the mosquito bite until symptoms appear, so chances are she may even be back in the USA before getting sick.  When there and for a few months after she returns, she should take any kind of fever condition very seriously and seek a physician right away.  Go to my pages at this link for images and tips for travel in Ghana.  The most important thing is to plan an adventure that takes her into remote corners of the country, not just along the beaches or in Accra.  Mole National Park, for example, rarely visited by Ghana Nationals is a must see place for someone from the USA.  My pages have images of Larabunga, the park, animals, and accomodations at the park.
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/611ff/e1c/
Contact me again if you need additional help or specific advice on other great adventures.