We have a new site www.g-lish.org where you can read all articles from This is Ghana in a much more organised fashion. Read Two Travel Tips there.
Two travel tips for good measure:
1. You cannot use Mastercard in Ghana! Only Visa card is accepted (if this has changed, please let me know). Traveler’s cheques are difficult to change. It’s much easier and it's quite safe to bring cash and change at the multitude of forex booths scattered around the country and major cities and towns.
2. You can get a tourist visa on arrival at the airport in Accra, however you will need to show your return air ticket to immigration. I have, however, heard of people being refused entry onto (Delta) flights in the USA for not having a visa before traveling even though tourist visas are issued on arrival.
I used both a Travelex Cashpassport and a regular ATM card (St George from Australia) without any issues Barcley's banks (in most cities around Ghana).
ReplyDeleteJust be warned, VISA atm cards are the only ones that work. And when "blackouts" occur and the electricity is down, don't rely on ATMS!
I made the unfortunate mistake of taking only a Mastercard to Ghana, but I found Stanbic Bank (there's one at the Mercedes-Benz building in Airport Residential, one in Accra Mall, and one on Ring Road near the KLM office). I also saw billboards with Mastercard for Ghana Commercial Bank, but never tried.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to the visa - it's not that simple anymore. All visas on arrival have to be approved in advance through a letter to the head of Immigration in Ghana. There is some talk of them only accepting visa on arrival from people who live or are resident in a country where Ghana has no embassy.
ReplyDelete'On arrival' visas are being refused at times and I know an unfortunate colleague that had flown in from Kenya for a few meetings and had to fly straight back the 6 hour journey to Nairobi becuase he had no letter of invitation and no pre-authorization from Immigration here.
Another issue is that many of the airlines will not allow you to travel without a visa - Delta and KLM are in this list.
Better to try to get your visa in advance when possible to avoid your first experience in Ghana being riddled with Immigration bravado and PHD (pull him down) mentality.
Thanks so much for the visa update. It's so confusing. I remember being in Cambodia--no Ghana embassy. As an Australian citizen they expected me to have my visa when I arrived. Impossible, unless I popped home just to get a visa from Cambodia to Ghana. It was not easy, but I was lucky to get the visa on arrival then. Hopefully others will read this update too.
ReplyDelete