Ghana

Ghana the country known as the Gold Coast during the colonial era has assets that are as good as gold: lovely beaches, lively nightlife, good roads, a variety of landscapes and some of the friendliest people on the continent. In short, Ghana is a safe, beguiling introduction to West Africa.

The country also hosts a fascinating variety of historical and cultural sites, the best known of which are implanted castles and forts that line the coast, ancient mud mosques of the north (most famously Larabanga), the more secular adobe architecture of Sirigu and Wa, the kente-weavers and fetish shrines of Ashanti, and the traditional villages of the eastern highlands. Also of note are the likes of Boabeng-Fiema, with its taboo troops of colobus and mona monkeys, and the outsized sacred crocodiles of Paga, which are hand-fed by the caretakers.