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Wildlife Safaris in Mole National Park
Ghana's largest wildlife reserve, Mole National Park spreads across nearly 4,600 square kilometres of Guinea savanna in the country's north near Damongo, protecting its biggest elephant population and offering one of the few places in West Africa to track big game on foot.
Why here
Mole is Ghana's flagship safari and one of the only parks in West Africa where you track elephants on foot. Rangers lead walking safaris out from the escarpment each morning and afternoon, bringing you within metres of the park's African bush elephants as they feed and bathe at the waterholes below. Alongside the elephants you can expect kob, waterbuck, roan antelope, warthog, olive baboon and green monkey, with over ninety mammal species and more than three hundred birds recorded across the reserve. The park covers close to 4,600 square kilometres of savanna and gallery forest, and its headquarters sit on a ridge overlooking two waterholes, so game is often in view from your lodge. This is a raw, uncrowded alternative to East Africa's circuits, best in the dry months when the animals concentrate on the shrinking water.
Best months
The dry season from December to April is prime, when thinning water and burnt grass push elephants and antelope to the waterholes below the escarpment and the tracks stay passable. Walking safaris leave at around 7am and 3:30pm daily from the park headquarters with an armed ranger. It gets very hot by midday, so the early departure is the one to make. The wet months from May bring green cover and disperse the game.
Getting there & around
Mole lies near Damongo in Ghana's Savannah Region, a long drive of eight to ten hours north from Accra or around four from Tamale, which has the nearest airport with flights from Accra. Most visitors fly to Tamale and transfer by road. Walking and driving safaris are arranged at the park headquarters, and staying at one of the two lodges on the escarpment puts you a short walk from the morning ranger departures.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (2)
Ashanti African Tours
OutfitterAshanti African Tours is a family-run Ghanaian operator founded in 2005 and based in Cape Coast, a member of the Tour Operators Union of Ghana and a five-time regional Tour Operator of the Year. It fields more than twenty local guides and arranges wildlife and cultural trips the length of the country, including driving and walking safaris in Mole National Park to see its elephant herds, kob, antelope and baboon. Trips are ethically arranged, community-minded and booked directly with the company.
Zaina Lodge
OutfitterZaina Lodge, opened in 2015, was West Africa's first luxury safari lodge and sits inside Mole National Park on a cliff above a waterhole where elephants gather. Its 24 tented chalets share an infinity pool that looks out over the savanna, and the lodge runs both morning and afternoon game drives as well as the park's signature ranger-led walking safaris on foot among elephants, antelope and warthog. It won a World Luxury Hotel Award in 2017 and remains the park's standout base.