Ghana - The Butterflies of West Africa

Ghana is rapidly becoming West Africa's premier wildlife destination. This small tropical country - known in the past as the 'Gold Coast' - is now widely recognised as a friendly and safe destination to visit and is blessed with a diverse range of exciting habitats, including the rich Upper Guinea rainforests of the south. This 12-day tour, focusing on butterflies, will take you to the best forests in Ghana to see its endemic species as well as the more common species found in West Africa.

The Upper Guinean Forest Zone west of the Dahomey Gap was once continuous from Ghana to Sierra Leone, but now, unfortunately, due to excessive deforestation in the last century, only about 10% of the original forest cover remains. Ghana is one of the few West African countries where the idea of protecting forests came early enough to set up a network of national parks; some forest reserves also received protection due to a ban on logging for decades. Ghana is therefore still rich in rainforest areas, although many of them are degraded and only fragments of the once continuous forest area remain.

Still, over 900 species of butterflies have been recorded in Ghana, making it one of the best destinations to see the wonderous and dazzling butterflies of West Africa. This exciting new itinerary will take us to a variety of locations, including the renowned Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary, as well as lesser-known reserves off the beaten track. All of these places are biodiversity hotspots, which is underlined by the sheer numbers and variety of butterflies that can be found. The butterfly season is from April to October, and this tour is timed to be at the peak of this season, so expect to see approximately 250 species on this tour, with many fabulous swallowtails, charaxes, foresters, fairy hairstreaks, gliders, sailers, and much more besides.

After the direct flight to Accra, our first full day is at Shai Hills Reserve, open grassland savannah with tracts of woodland just outside the capital, and a great introduction to some of the more common species found in Ghana. We then head north-west to the upland evergreen forests of Atewa Forest Range. Such altitudes as those found within the range are unusual across the rest of Ghana, resulting in the highest concentration of endemics in the country, including the highly localised Atewa Dotted Border, as well as some other spectacular species such as Western Mimic Forester and Moyamba Harlequin. In fact, there are nearly twice as many butterfly species found at Atewa Range as in the whole of Europe! Next, we move on to the world-famous Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary, which also boasts a very impressive record of over 600 species! The forest here is unbelievably rich in Bebearia, Euriphene, Euphaedra and other fruit-feeding butterflies, as well as charaxes and pashas. Staying in the simple guesthouse in the sanctuary itself means that we will maximise our time at this special place. Our journey takes us next to Kwabena Sam Forest, a relatively recently discovered site where butterflies flourish in the semi-degraded rainforest. Species we can hope to find here include Western Emperor Swallowtail, Common Pink Forester, Edward’s Forester, Shining Red Charaxes and Large Fairy Hairstreak. Our tour ends with time at Kakum National Park, famed for its canopy walkway, but the butterflies here are just as impressive and we can hope to see species such as Giant Charaxes, Black-bordered Charaxes, Giant African Skipper and if we are very lucky Auberger’s Yellow Glider.

For those that wish to prolong their time and increase the species list, there is the opportunity of an extension to the remote Ankasa Reserve, where several species are at the eastern end of their range and therefore not found elsewhere in Ghana, including Veronica Nymph and Hadrian’s White Charaxes. 

This is a relaxed tour led by expert local guides, passionate about the conservation and wildlife of their country and in particular the lepidoptera. In some locations they will procure and lay fruit as bait to attract butterflies. Each evening there will be the opportunity to go through photos to assist with identifications, as some independent explorations during the day will be encouraged. The majority of species in Ghana are large, and just as colourful and dramatic on the underside as they are on the upperside, meaning photographic opportunities are excellent.