Five Times Regional Tour Operator of the Year
EXCELLENT
5.0
Trustindex
National Best Tour Operator of the year
Pioneering Sustainable Tourism in Africa
Meet Our Team
Welcome to Ashanti African Tours, the premier West African Travel company that focuses on the areas important to you, ensuring you have the ultimate travel experience that has a positive and sustainable impact in the places you visit.
Our low impact, authentic, ethically organised award-winning tours are only possible because of the exceptional team working behind the scenes ensuring your needs are met and our company values maintained when designing that perfect trip of a lifetime. Since our establishment in 2006 we have worked tirelessly in identifying, training, supporting, and encouraging our team to blossom in the specific areas they work in for our company. Collectively we come together to create the ultimate travel team, from our directors, cleaners, guides, accountants, drivers, cooks, managers and our nature conservation and community connection specialists we are all equally as important and a big part of the success story of Ashanti African Tours. Meet some of our team members below.
Ashanti African Tours team members
Managing Director
Janet Aggrey
Managing Director
Janet is the ultimate professional and her meticulous method of working ensures that our clients enjoy a stress-free build up to their holiday, in fact she is so committed to her work that her colleagues have to regularly wheel her out of the office at the end of the day. Janet was born and raised in the Central Region of Ghana, to be precise Brenu Akyenim where you will find one of Ghana’s most beautiful beaches. Blessed with 3 boys and a wonderful family structure Janet has almost 16 years’ experience working in the tourism industry and understands the logistical importance, professionalism and attention to detail required to offer our clients their Holiday of a Lifetime. An expert in West African travel her knowledge is always called upon and very much appreciated by our clients. Janet has travelled extensively across West Africa to most locations we offer for our tours, this local knowledge is imperative to our clients. Janet’s proven leadership skills involving managing, developing, and motivating teams to achieve their objectives is imperative to the day to day running of our office and tour development. She can build productive working relationships and is the first point of call for many of our potential clients.
Senior Tour Guide
Andrew Amankwaa
Senior Tour Guide
An expert in birds, butterflies, mammals, and culture Andrew is best known as Ghana’s leading butterfly tour leader. Andrew now is in his early thirties was born and raised in Jukwa Watreso in the Central Region of Ghana close to Kakum National Park. He formally worked as a community tour guide for the Ghana Wildlife Division and Forestry prior to joining Ashanti African Tours on a full-time basis. Andrew has studied butterfly species for many years and assisted many researchers that include the renowned Torben Larsen author of the excellent Butterflies of Western Africa publication during his time researching here in Ghana. An expert on Ghana’s birds in addition to butterflies makes Andrew an incredible nature tour guide who always receives excellent feedback from his tours. Add his deep knowledge of Ghana’s history and culture, infectious personality, and desire to offer his best to all our participants, Andrew’s services are in high demand and he is always busy.
Senior Tour Guide
Ebenezer Amoah
Senior Tour Guide
Eben has an infectious personality and is the consummate professional always giving his best to ensure our participants have the best experience during their time with him. Eben is passionate about sharing our culture here in Ghana and has excellent knowledge of our history and traditions. Eben’s real passion is wildlife and his love of nature leads him to spend all his spare time when not on tour in the bush, learning, researching, and developing his nature guiding skills. An expert in birds and butterflies in addition to culture and history of Ghana gives his tour participants such a wide area of knowledge to call upon. Raised in Abrafo close to the Kakum National Park entrance it is evident he grew up surrounded by rainforest as he seems so at home walking the forest trails. A real family man he loves spending time with his wife and children and is currently building his own house. Eben’s excellent knowledge of Ghana’s culture, history, butterflies, and birds makes him a major asset for our company.
Driver
Jacob Anim
Driver
A firm favourite with all our tour participants Anim has an infectious smile and wonderful helpful attitude. Anim has over 30 years driving experience and always puts the safety of our clients as a priority. Originally from Konongo in the Ashanti Region of Ghana his knowledge on Ghana’s culture is always an added bonus for our clients and with over 10 years working with our company it is clear to see Anim is very much appreciated and has cemented himself as an important part of our team.
Senior Tour Guide
William Apraku
Senior Tour Guide
William is also Head of Training and Research for the birding and wildlife section of our company. He was born in Hwidiem, a town in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana and previously worked with the Ghana Wildlife Division for ten (10) years prior to joining Ashanti African Tours as a full-time birding and wildlife leader/guide. William is what we would call a 24/7 birder he loves his work, is an outstanding bird and wildlife tour leader and has conducted more ornithological research in Ghana than anybody spending many months with renowned researchers Bob Dowsett and Francois Lamire. William was the first to discover a nesting site for the rare Black-headed Bee-eater and was introduced and trained in bird guiding by a renowned South African birder Andrew Hester many years ago. As are all of Ashanti African Tours bird guides and leaders Williams knows all birds by song/call and is an expert at identification, general natural history, and culture of West Africa. He is blessed with a wife, four sons and a daughter and his infectious love of his work is reflected in his tours and feedback from clients.
Driver
Patrick Arthur
Driver
Patrick is such an important part of our team, he mainly works on our more adventurous wildlife and birding tours and it is his responsibility to navigate the poor roads in the more remote locations getting us into areas to see the more sought after difficult wildlife. Originally from Axim in the Western Region of Ghana, nothing is too much trouble for Patrick, when not driving he helps our camping team and is a firm favourite with his colleagues and our tour participants.
Senior Travel Consultant
Christine Assahoua
Senior Travel Consultant
One of our senior travel consultants Christine is a dual national of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, fluent in several languages including French and English, Christine is our first point of contact for our clients interested in travelling to the French speaking West African countries we travel to. Having studied Education at Cape Coast University and formerly working as a teacher, Christine’s love of travel and sharing her experiences with others led her to joining our team on a full-time basis. Always in a good mood and sporting a smile, nothing is too much trouble for Christine, and she is an extremely popular team member who brings a sense of fun to our office environment. In her spare time Christine likes to travel with her young family, experiencing new cultures and always finds time to dedicate a few days when on holiday at a local beach.
Operations Director
Cecilia Baiden
Operations Director
Always sporting a smile and an integral part of our team. Cecilia is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of all our tours which is no mean feat. Her logistical excellence is second to none and Cecilia is also in charge of arranging our accounts, invoicing, and keeping our boat afloat. A dedicated team member for over 9 years, she loves her colleagues and job nearly as much as we love her. Cecilia’s development within our company since she started in 2011 is evident when she was promoted to a Director in 2016, our team are happy with how she has blossomed into her new position and the smooth running of our tours is testament to the good job she is doing behind the scenes.
Senior Driver
Prince Boamah
Senior Driver
Prince is head of our driving department and has worked with Ashanti African Tours since its establishment in 2005 and is our most senior driver with hundreds of tours under his belt. An exceptional driver, safe, calm and with a knack of knowing every short cut in Ghana reducing travelling time for our tour participants he is an extremely popular part of our team. Originally from Womase and raised in Kumasi and Nkawkaw he is a true Ashanti man in many respects. Due to his excellent knowledge on Ghana history and culture Prince had the option to train as a cultural tour guide within our company, however his love of driving was too much, and he opted to remain as our senior driver. An especially important team member he is extremely popular with all of us and especially the tour participants.
Cook/Camp Leader
Mabel Boateng
Cook/Camp Leader
Mabel has always had a passion for cooking and studied hospitality and catering in Kumasi Ghana prior to joining the Ashanti team. In Kumasi where Mabel previously lived her family regularly hosted volunteers that would come to Ghana to work in the more deprived locations and she acted as a guide for many groups. This exposure to tourism ignited her passion to want to work in the travel industry and she has been able to combine her first love of cooking with tourism as one of our camp leaders. Mabel has a big responsibility of looking after our groups when in the more remote locations and has developed into an excellent camp leader. Many of our participants praise Mabel’s food as the best during their time here with us and Mabel also offers classes in cooking local dishes to some of our participants interested in learning a local dish.
Senior Camp Leader/Cook
Francis Dabiagu
Senior Camp Leader/Cook
An integral part of the Ashanti team, Francis looks after all our tour participants during our camping expeditions as he is our senior camp leader and chef. An exceptionally talent cook who is also logistically excellent in setting up our camps with his assistants. A very funny and happy individual who always sports a smile even at 3.30am in the morning when preparing breakfast for our extreme birding tours. Born and raised in the Northern Region of Ghana at Kpanlori close to Gambaga his in depth knowledge of local culture and willingness to share this with our tour participants over a cold beer in the evenings makes him extremely popular team member.
Director/Senior Travel Consultant
Patience Dadzie
Director/Senior Travel Consultant
Our West African travel specialist who will stop at nothing to ensure our clients experience their holiday of a lifetime. Having studied her degree in tourism at the Cape Coast University, she soon joined our team to start working in her dream job as a travel consultant. Pat as she is known in our office has travelled extensively across West Africa, visiting most of the locations our tours venture to. A dedicated and ambitious member of our team and one of your first points of contact in our office, nothing is too much trouble for her. Ashanti are proud of Pat’s development, focus and dedication and we were all overjoyed when she was promoted to Director in 2018. An absolute joy to be around, her infectious personality makes the atmosphere in our office fun and enjoyable and she is always the main attraction at our social events.
Cook/Camp Assistant
Pricilla Darko
Cook/Camp Assistant
Pricilla studied catering and Hospitality in Elmina Ghana and soon joined our team to pursue her ambition to work in this sector. An important part of our camping team, Pricilla also teaches some of our groups interested in learning to cook a local dish during their time at our local kitchen in Cape Coast. Priscilla will soon head the kitchen at our eco-tourism project at Bonkro in the Ashanti Region of Ghana where we have built accommodation for tourist visiting a forest reserve we are protecting. Our team are excited about Pricilla reaching her potential within our company and making Bonkro the leading ethically run eco-tourism project in Ghana.
Office Administration
Naana Koba Davies
Office Administration
A vital member of our team and with over 11 years’ experience working in the travel industry Naana is the oil that keeps our engine running. Incredibly efficient and a pleasure to work with she ensures our clients receive all their pre-trip information in a timely manner and is always on hand to help in any capacity. One of the main areas essential to the smooth operations of our tours is hotel bookings, meal arrangements and guide allocation and Naana excels in this area.
Senior Tour Guide
Ibrahim Entsie
Senior Tour Guide
Ibrahim an expert in reptiles, amphibians and birds could not do more to assist our tours and clients, always on hand to help whenever needed, he is an important part of our team here at Ashanti. Ibrahim has led many tours and has a specific love of amphibians where he has conducted many research trips. Growing up with Kakum National Park as his garden Ibrahim spent most days after school walking in the forest where his love of nature blossomed. Blessed with a beautiful family, 2 children and a wonderful personality his future is and bright and we look forward to him continuing to blossom within our company.
Senior Driver
Joseph Frimpong
Senior Driver
Known by his local name Kojo (Monday born) by all his colleagues, Kojo is a breath of fresh air and ray of sunshine whenever he is in our office. A true joker always with a smile on his face there are no end to his talents. Not only an excellent, calm, and assured driver Kojo is also a qualified mason and carpenter who often gives his free time to work on our company’s community development projects. Hailing from Abrafo close to the entrance of Kakum National Park he is a very experienced driver who has a history of driving heavy duty trucks across West Africa. His knowledge of Ghana is second to none and is an extremely popular team member who always wants to go that extra mile for our clients.
Senior Driver
Osei Frimpong
Senior Driver
Fondly referred to by all the Ashanti Team as Yaw (Thursday born), Yaw has been working with our company for the past 5 years and takes his responsibilities very seriously. A true Ashanti man, born in Bonkro where our company are establishing an eco-tourism project benefiting locals and protecting rainforest. A very calm and safe driver in the hectic hustle and bustle of the city traffic. Yaw is always requested by companies that travel with us due to his experience, kind and gentle nature making him a major asset to our company.
Senior Tour Guide
Foster Frimpong
Senior Tour Guide
From Akim Banso, a village close to Atewa Range one of Ghana’s famous nature destinations Foster spent most of his childhood exploring the forests of Kakum National Park where his father worked for the Ghana Wildlife Division. This connection to wildlife enabled Foster to gain a love of nature and he spent many hours researching birds and mammals when growing up. A highly intelligent and motivated team member with an exceptional knowledge of Ghana’s flora, fauna, culture, and history. A graduate from the school of Agriculture and Natural Science at Cape Coast University, his course enabled him to understand forestry, plants, and animal ecology. Foster fast become an important member of our team when joining us in 2015. Today Foster is known as one of the finest birding and wildlife tour guides in Ghana and has also led many tours in culture and heritage as he also has an in-depth knowledge in this area. Fun loving and the younger brother of Kojo our senior driver, Foster is a popular guide with our tour participants.
Driver
Benjamin Frimpong
Driver
Ben has everything we look for in our drivers, a calm focused attitude and wonderful personality. Since joining our team in 2016 Ben has driven many of our tour participants to several countries across West Africa. A firm favourite with our clients he is always commended for his safe navigation of the challenging road network here in West Africa and he does this always with a smile.
Camp Caretaker
Eunice Gyaben
Camp Caretaker
Fondly known as Nana by our team Eunice has been an important part of our caps for more than 6 years now. Initially from Awiaso Nana has lived in Anakasa village for most of her life which is located on the boundary of Ghana’s finest upper guinea rainforest Ankasa reserve where we operate many of our more adventurous wildlife tours. Nana works tirelessly ensuring our campsite is in tip top shape, creating a wonderful environment for our tour participants to enable them to enjoy being so close to nature. Always on hand when needed, we could not imagine our camps without her infectious smile and happy personality.
Office Manager/ Senior Travel Consultant
Rosematilda Hasford
Office Manager/ Senior Travel Consultant
Rose is the big boss in our Cape Coast office, she is the glue that holds our team together, creating a wonderful conducive working environment which is why she is loved by all our team. Having travelled extensively across West Africa, Rose is now able to share her passion of the places, cultures and her experiences with our potential participants when designing their holidays. Rose is our West African travel specialist and one of your first points of contact in our busy office. A dedicated team member with many years’ experience working in the travel industry she has a passion for ensuring our clients receive excellent customer service. A graduate of the Cape Coast University in Ghana her knowledge of West African Travel is hugely impressive. Rose is always at hand to guide you when choosing your next holiday of a lifetime.
Senior Tour Guide
Oscar Kwarteng
Senior Tour Guide
Oscar graduated in Tourism from the University of Cape Coast in 2009 and has been one of our senior tour guides for almost 15 years. Originally from Dunkwa Offin and raised in Kumasi the heart of the Ashanti Empire Oscars in depth knowledge of Ghana’s rich culture and Historical past is exceptional. Having led countless tours for us travelling across West Africa on numerous occasions he is an excellent tour leader extremely popular with our participants. Many years working at the Cape Coast Castle spending hours researching and reading African History, coupled with his enthusiastic, friendly, and inclusive approach to tour guiding makes him an extremely popular choice when leading our Heritage and Cultural Tours.
Camp Leader
Charles Kyeriemeh
Camp Leader
An important part of our team Charles is one of our experienced camp leaders that looks after our groups during our time in the more remote locations here in Ghana during our adventurous tours. Charles understands nature and rainforest life having lived in Ankasa (Ghana’s largest and best rainforest location) most of his life. When not setting up his own camps for our groups, Charles will be found assisting Francis during our other camping expeditions. Charles is an invaluable member of our team. A very humble family man and excellent cook. Nothing is too much trouble for Charles, and he is extremely popular with our clients, we are proud to have him as part of our team.
Senior Tour Guide
Isaac Mensah
Senior Tour Guide
Isaac is an integral part of the Ashanti African Tours family and has recently been promoted to our head of Heritage and Culture. An exceptional Cultural Tour guide Isaac developed his interest in History and African heritage at a very tender age when he was working at the Cape Coast Castle as one of their senior tour guides for over 12 years. Isaac’s passion for welcoming back his brothers and sisters to the African continent and his undying thirst for gaining more knowledge on the Pan African movement and West African History has made him one of West Africa’s most knowledgeable guides. This was recognised when Isaac was awarded regional Tour Guide of the Year from the Ghana Tourism Authority in 2019. Always a favourite with our tour participants Isaac is a joy to be around and will provide you with that trip of a lifetime.
Senior Tour Guide
Paul Mensah
Senior Tour Guide
Paul Mensah is an excellent birding and wildlife tour leader and has led many tours for international companies and private groups. Paul has an amazing ability to spot species in the most difficult habitat and he is also excellent at bird identification and knows all birds by song/call. An extremely popular leader with our clients, his professional attitude, logistical excellence and personable and social character are complemented by his calm leading style, enthusiasm and love of his work. His desire to always offer his best to clients ensures all his tours are highly productive and enjoyable. Paul lives near Kakum National Park and is always in the field researching species and new locations to find them. He is also one of our cultural tour guides as he loves sharing his exceptional knowledge of Ghana’s culture and history.
Senior Tour Guide
Emmanuel Budu Mensah
Senior Tour Guide
Emmanuel is an excellent birding and wildlife tour leader and has led many tours for international companies and private groups. His infectious friendly personality and willingness to go that extra mile for our clients is always mentioned in the feedback from his tours. Emmanuel formally worked with the Ghana Wildlife Division at Kakum National Park for 10 years prior to joining Ashanti African Tours on a full-time basis. His exceptional ability in knowing all birds by song/call and excellent identification skills for all species that occur in Ghana makes him a major asset to our tours. Emmanuel’s desire to always offer his best to clients ensures all his tours are highly productive and enjoyable.
Senior Tour Guide
James Ntakor
Senior Tour Guide
James is Head of Birding for our company, he was born and raised in a village close to Kakum National Park an area of approximately 360 square kilometres of upper guinea rainforest habitat. James has worked full time with Ashanti African Tours for the past 12 years and is an exceptional bird and wildlife tour leader. It is clear to see Kakum was James’ playground as a child, James has an immense passion and love for wildlife and is often heard having a private chuckle whilst looking through the scope. As he grew up surrounded by upper guinea rainforest James had no problem learning the birds and their song/calls and he has a natural ability to find the target species of the groups he leads. Undoubtedly one of Africa’s finest nature tour leaders his reputation speaks for itself. An expert in birds, wildlife and culture coupled with his excellent logistical ability and personable nature makes all his tours highly productive and enjoyable for our tour participants.
Senior Tour Guide
Francis Ntakor
Senior Tour Guide
Francis is an excellent birding, wildlife and cultural tour leader who has led many international companies, individuals, and private groups around Ghana. Born and raised in a village near the famous Kakum National Park in the Central Region of Ghana, his interest in Nature and Wildlife developed because he was exposed to wildlife when he was young and developed an interest in birds. Francis has a natural ability to spot the most difficult species in the thick forest habitat and he knows all birds by song/call, has excellent identification skills and has a cool and calm presence which is loved by his tour participants. Logistically excellent, professional, enthusiastic and his social character make Francis a firm favourite and his services are always in high demand.
Accounts department
Celestina Nunoo
Accounts department
A local girl and typical Fante who is from Ekumfi Abuakwa in the Central Region of Ghana, Cele as she is know in our office is a shining ray of sunshine, always positive and just a joy to be around. After her studies at Cape Coast Polytechnic she joined our team as assistant to Cecilia in our ever-growing accounts department. Cele has a love of travel and has visited many of the main tourist destinations here in Ghana, other hobbies include music, arts, and movies. As our company expands we have the ambition for Cele to manage the accounts of our new lodge we will open at Ankasa in 2021, we all look forward to seeing Cele blossom and reach her potential.
Office Caretaker
Victoria Okai
Office Caretaker
What would we do without Vicky! Such an important part of our team, Vicky works tirelessly ensuring our office is in tip top shape, creating a conducive environment for our travel team to offer the best service for our clients. Always on hand when needed, after 6 years working with us, we could not imagine our office without her smile lighting it up in the mornings.
Senior Tour Guide
Jackson Owusu
Senior Tour Guide
Big Jack as he is fondly known in our office due to his size and apparent “Big Muscles” Jackson is a friendly giant of a man. Originally from Abrafo close to the entrance of Kakum National Park his love of wildlife came from his father a veteran worker of the Ghana Wildlife Division. One of our younger tour leaders Jackson has developed into an excellent nature tour guide who knows all birds by song/call and has excellent identification skills. His eyes are exceptional with clients often commenting on how he has an unnatural ability to find the dullest bird in the thickest of vegetation. Also, a keen biker and hiker Jackson also leads many of our biking and hiking tours. His calm, respectful and helpful personality is extremely popular with our tour participants, in addition his willingness to give his free time working on our company community development projects makes him extremely popularwith our team.
Senior Tour Guide
Victor Owusu
Senior Tour Guide
Victor is always a favorite with our clients and simply loves his job and wildlife. An experienced guide with over 200 tours as a leader, his calm and professional style ensures a smooth and enjoyable trip for tour participants. Now in his late-thirties Victor was born in Eziama in the Western Region of Ghana close to Ankasa Reserve surrounded by upper guinea rainforest. His childhood was spent exploring the forests around his community and is the main reason for his exceptional ability to identify and find the most difficult species. Victor knows all birds by song/call and can identify all West African species, he has a love of all nature and is deeply knowledgeable on the culture and history of Ghana which he enjoys sharing with clients. The only negative we can find with Victor is his second love of Manchester United Football Club.
Senior Tour Guide
Philip Senyo
Senior Tour Guide
An excellent birding, butterfly and nature tour guide who has also an extensive knowledge of Ghana’s culture and history. Fast becoming one of Africa’s finest local expert nature tour leaders, Philip has led many birding and nature tours all receiving excellent feedback from the tour participants. Philip always has his head in a book feeding his thirst for knowledge. Raised in Assin Fosu and originally from Sagakofe in the Volta Region of Ghana he has worked with us on a full-time basis since 2013. Philip knows all of Ghana’s birds by song/call, has excellent identification skills and has in depth knowledge of all wildlife that occurs here. Philip also enjoys biking and in addition to being one of our leading nature tours guides he also leads biking tours of Ghana for us. A very calm, precise, and friendly tour leader makes him a firm favourite with his clients.
Cook/Camp Assistant
Esther Teye
Cook/Camp Assistant
Esther hails from Bonkro, the remote community Ashanti are establishing our eco-tourism project. In partnership with this initiative we give locals the opportunity of employment with us and Esther has grabbed this opportunity with both hands. Esther has always had a passion for cooking and studied hospitality and catering in Kumasi Ghana prior to joining the Ashanti team. Esther has a big responsibility of looking after our groups when in the more remote locations and has developed into an excellent cook and camp assistant. Many of our participants praise Esther’s food as some of the best during their time here with us and Esther also offers classes in cooking local dishes to some of our participants interested in learning a local dish when in Cape Coast.
Driver
Isaac Baiden
Driver
Isaac is a dedicated member of our driving team with many years’ experience navigating the dirt roads and bush of West Africa. Nothing is too much trouble for his kind and helpful personality. Safety and our client’s comfort is always his priority and he has also become a good birder as most of his time is spent in Ankasa Reserve. A real family man from Brenu Akyinim, Isaac is blessed with a wonderful wife and 3 amazing children.
Award Winning Tours Across West Africa
Ethically arranged, locally guided, authentic tours that benefit locals and the environment
EXCELLENT
