MEET SOME OF THE ASHANTI AFRICAN TOURS TEAM BELOW

ABOUT US

Welcome to Ashanti African Tours. Our private and small group holidays are purposely designed to give our participants the most authentic experience, benefiting each destination we offer through low-impact ethical tourism. This type of responsible tourism allows you to culturally connect with the local communities, enhancing your overall experience, with you returning home assured that your trip has directly benefitted locals, nature and their surrounding environment.

We are the Ghana and African vacation specialist with a reputation for quality travel within Ghana and other African destinations. We pride ourselves on our professionalism, attention to detail, highly-educated and competent staff, with the ability to deliver on our promises, ensuring all our guests experience a holiday of a lifetime.

Ashanti African Tours are experts in arranging and leading the following all-inclusive tours: Birdwatching, Wildlife, Heritage, Educational, Eco, Butterfly, Cultural, Historical and Natural History and we also offer volunteer placements and Vehicle Rentals. We offer year-round set-scheduled small group tours in all the above areas of interest and we can also design bespoke tours for individuals, couples, families, small and larger groups when requested.

We have experienced and knowledgeable leaders and team members in all the fields of our operations. They are there to ensure that you have a magical and unforgettable trip. Being committed to responsible tourism, we are passionately concerned with the conservation and protection of Ghana and Africa’s wildlife and cultural and historical monuments and are committed to ensuring local economies benefit from our presence in Africa.

We believe using local responsible and professional accommodations, drivers and guides offers you a richer, more interesting experience. Using passionate, respected and professional locals whose communities benefit directly from your presence opens doors and creates authentic cultural connections. We offer guilt-free travel experiences where locals benefit through jobs, receiving a sustainable income and community development projects, whilst supporting the preservation of the culture, heritage, flora and fauna of each location we visit.

Our team are on-hand should there be changes in our original programmes or schedule and in the unlikely event of any problems occurring during your holiday we have a 24/7 support team available.

Ashanti African Tours have been leaders in ethical travel, putting the local communities and environment at the heart of what we do. Through our ethical travel initiatives we have been able to build an eight-classroom school facility catering for Crèche, Kindergarten and Primary school students in a coastal village in the Central Region of Ghana. We are also currently in the advanced stages of building an eleven-classroom school for three remote communities in the Ashanti Region of Ghana as they currently do not have school facilities close to them. In addition we are sponsoring 23 community-based committee members to patrol a portion of endangered Upper Guinea Rainforest habitat, stopping illegal logging and hunting activities. We are actively involved in protecting endangered and vulnerable bird and mammal species within Ghana.

Many travel companies state they are into responsible travel, however most of the time this is greenwashing to get responsible travellers to book with them. This is not the case at Ashanti African Tours and we are happy to forward more detailed information on all of our community development and environmental conservation projects, feel free to ask.

OUR TEAM

Janet Aggre

Managing Director

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. With almost 11 years’ experience working in the tourism industry Janet understands the logistical importance, professionalism and attention to detail required to offer our clients their Holiday of a Lifetime. An expert in African travel her knowledge is always called upon and very much appreciated by our clients. Her 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 has the ability to build productive working relationships and is the first point of call for all our potential clients. 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.

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 5 years, she loves her colleagues and job nearly as much as we love her

Michael Kojo Orleans

Development Director and Senior Cultural Tour Guide

Michael is an integral part of the Ashanti African Tours family and has recently been promoted to our Projects Development Director due to his passion to push forward our companies’ community development and nature conservation initiatives. To date Michael has overseen our two major community development projects where we have built 2 schools in deprived local communities here in Ghana. Also an exceptional Cultural Tour guide Michael developed his interest in History and African heritage at a very tender age, when he was a hawker at the cape coast castle. Michael’s family struggled financially when he was growing up so after school as a youngster Michael would escape to Cape Coast Castle to sell to tourists and also share his knowledge of Ghanaian history with those he came into contact with. Through his persistence and undying thirst for gaining more knowledge on the Pan African movement and West African History Michael met so many prominent Americans and African Americans like Dr. Jessie Jackson, Dr. Jerffers, Barbara Lee, former Jamaican head of State P.J. Patterson and others. Always a favourite with our tour participants Michael is a joy to be around and will provide you with that trip of a lifetime.

Patience Dadzie

Senior Travel Consultant

Our African travel specialist who will stop at nothing to ensure our clients experience their holiday of a lifetime. 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. Pat is an absolute joy to be around and joined our team after completing university. Her infectious personality makes the atmosphere in our office fun and enjoyable and she’s always the main attraction at our social events.

Rosematilda Hasford

Senior Travel Consultant

Rose is our West African travel specialist and also 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 truly impressive. Rose is always at hand to guide you when choosing your next holiday of a lifetime.

Naana Davies

Office Administration

A vital member of our team and with over 7 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.

Williams Apraku

Senior Birding and Wildlife Tour Leader

Williams 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. Williams 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.

James Ntakor

Senior Birding, Wildlife and Cultural Tour Leader

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 7 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.

Victor Owusu

Senior Birding, Wildlife and Cultural Tour Leader

Victor is always a favorite with our clients and simply loves his job and wildlife. An experienced guide with over 100 tours as a leader, his calm and professional style ensures a smooth and enjoyable trip for tour participants. Now in his mid-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 very 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.

Paul Mensah

Senior Birding, Wildlife and Cultural Tour Leader

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. A very 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.

Francis Ntakor

Senior Birding, Wildlife and Cultural Tour Leader

Francis is the younger brother of James our head of birding and was also born and raised in a village near the famous Kakum National Park in the Central Region of Ghana. He grew and schooled in the same village and his interest in Nature and Wildlife developed because he was exposed to wildlife when he was young and developed a particular interest in birds. Francis has a natural ability with the birds he knows all by song/call, has excellent identification skills and has a cool and calm presence which is loved by his tour participants.

Emmanuel Budu Mensah

Senior Birding, Wildlife and Cultural Tour Leader

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.

Andrew Amankwaa

Senior Butterfly, Birding, Wildlife and Cultural Tour Leader

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.

Philip Senyo Atigli

Lead Birding, Butterfly, Wildlife and Cultural Tour Leader

An excellent young birding and nature tour guide who has also studied butterflies under Andrew. Philip has now lead several 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 for the past 4 years. 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 tour 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.

Foster Frimpong

Senior Birding, wildlife and Nature Tour Leader

Foster Frimpong, one of the West Africa’s finest birding, wildlife and nature tour leaders who has an outstanding ability in identifying all birds by song/call coupled with his excellent logistical skills and sociable character makes him a firm favourite and very popular guide with our clients. Foster's ability to spot difficult and shy birds always results in a productive list and fantastic feedback from his tours. He was born in Akim Banso, a village near the Atewa range in the Atewa district but has lived most of his early life in the central region of Ghana, Abrafo, a village near Kakum National park. His Father worked for Kakum National Park Park which made him develop an interest in nature at a tender age. Foster would follow his mother to their farm during vacations and this made him conversant with the local names and calls of some localized birds and mammals from a young age. Foster graduated from the school of Agriculture and Natural Science from the University of Cape Coast. Forestry as one of the courses he read at the university made him understood plants and animal ecology and the ecosystem as a whole. Foster has several years experience leading Birding and Wildlife Tours in Ghana for private groups and also some of the worlds largest Birding and nature tour companies.

Oscar Kwarteng

Lead Cultural and Heritage Tour Leader

Oscar graduated in Tourism from the University Of Cape Coast in 2009 and has been one of our senior tour guides for almost 10 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 lead countless tours for us travelling the entire country on numerous occasions he is an excellent tour leader very 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 a very popular choice when leading our Heritage and Cultural Tours.

Asare Kwakye

Senior Driver

Fondly referred to by all the Ashanti Team as Uncle Asare, Asare Kwakye has been working with our company for the past 8 years and takes his responsibilities very seriously. A true Ashanti man, born in Aduam and raised in Ashanti Bekwai he is a veteran driver of over 36 years and has travelled and worked as a driver all over Western Africa. A very calm and safe driver in the hectic hustle and bustle of the city traffic. Asare 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.

Prince Boamah

Senior Driver

Prince 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 a very popular part of our team. Originally from Womase and raised in Kumasi and Nkawkaw he’s 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. A very important team member he is very popular with all of us and especially the tour participants.

Joseph Frimpong

Senior Driver

Known by his local name Kojo (Monday born) by all of his colleagues, Kojo is a breath of fresh air and ray of sunshine whenever he’s 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 companies 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 a very popular team member who always wants to go that extra mile for our clients.

Jackson Owusu

Birding and Nature Tour Leader

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 a very good nature tour guide who knows all birds by song/call and also 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 very popular with our tour participants, in addition his willingness to give his free time working on our company community development projects makes him very popular.

Ebenezer Amoah

Birding and Nature Tour Leader

Eben has a love of nature and spends all of his spare time when not on tour in the bush, learning, researching and developing his guiding skills. 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 birds their calls and spotting ability makes him a major asset for our company.

Ibrahim Entsie

Birding and Nature Tour Leader

Ibrahim could not do more to assist our tours and clients, always on hand to help whenever needed he is currently under our training scheme learning Ghana’s birds and mammals with the view of leading tours in the near future. He has a specific love of amphibians and has lead tours in this area previously. Ibrahim is an important part of our company and has a very bright future in nature tourism.

Francis Dabiagu

Camp Leader

An integral part of the Ashanti team, Francis looks after all of our tour participants during our camping expeditions as he is our camp leader and chef. An exceptionally talent cook who is also logistically excellent in setting up our camps with his assistant Charles. 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 very popular team member.

Charles Kyeriemeh

Camp Leader

Also a camp leader during our busy period, usually Charles will be found assisting Francis during our camping expeditions. Raised close to Ankasa Reserve Ghana’s finest upper guinea rainforest reserve in the remote Western Region of Ghana close to the Ivory Coast border. Charles is an invaluable member of our team. A very humble family man and excellent cook with a nothing is too much trouble attitude we are proud to have him as part of our team.

TOP