My Experience of Traveling Alone as a Woman in Africa

A hiking trip along the coast of Ghana

I hiked along the coast in Ghana. West Africa. Alone with my backpack. For five days. But it was part of a way longer trip. And six years later. I still have the same conversations.

Six years have passed since my first big adventure. People still say it was dangerous. And I still don’t understand why I did it. Where I went. What I did. How I did it. And they still say that these countries are too dangerous to visit.

Alone as a woman in Africa. White skin. Blond. Blue eyes. This won’t work. They said. I shouldn’t go. They said. It’s dangerous. They said. You’re crazy. They said.

They said I shouldn’t go

I was not supposed to go there. If I would have listened to my surroundings. To family members and friends. To those who have never visited the countries I traveled through. But they know it’s dangerous there. Because they read the news. They watch TV. And that’s why they said I shouldn’t go. But luckily I didn’t care what they said. I didn’t listen. And I just went.

I was 21. Just after I finished my Bachelor’s degree, I left my home country. To travel through some African countries. Without a plan. Without a tour group. For several months.

Of course. Some parts of my trip I ended up doing with a group. Because there were no other options. Or because I decided it would be the safest option. But most of the trip I did alone. On motorbikes. In buses and trains. With ferries and planes. In cars and on foot. Because I traveled like the locals. And with the locals.

My time in Ghana

During the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, I spent five months in Ghana. What obviously most people didn’t get. Because I flew there knowing that there was an outbreak. But it wasn’t there. Not in Ghana. They didn’t have any infected people.

That’s what I knew. That’s what the others didn’t know. Or didn’t want to believe. And they also didn’t know that West Africa is as big as Europe. But I didn’t care anyways what they thought.

I spent five wonderful months in Ghana teaching and traveling. I learned so much. About kids. About cultures. About hygiene. About the sun. About the rain. About traveling. About traveling as a woman. About the hospitality of the Ghanaians. About a nation that always smiles. That always helps. About a nation that taught me a lot.

I learned in Ghana so much about life. I gained so much life experience. I grew as a person. In so many ways.

The Gold Coast

And that is why I decided to do this trip. It was quite spontaneous. I had school holidays and spent some time in the south on the beautiful beaches of Ghana. On beaches, I didn’t know they existed. Because nobody told me about them.

People only tell you bad things. They say people will rob you, take you as a hostage, or kill you. In Africa. Because that’s what they know. From the news. All the bad things that happen somewhere in Africa. They mentioned.

Because Africa is the same. Everywhere. They think. That’s why nobody told me about these beaches. A coastline that is not to find anywhere else. Pristine beaches. Paradise in Africa. They would call it. But I am more specific. It’s the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast in Ghana. Somewhere in West Africa.

My trip along the coast

I spend a day walking along the beach when I decided to expand this expedition. If I stay in one place I always have to come back to it. Let’s do a hiking trip along the coast. Walking along these stunning beaches. Hiking through coastal rain forests. And staying every night in a new place.

I packed my backpack. It wasn’t much I had with me, so it was no problem to carry it. Just over ten kilos. I asked a taxi to drop me off at a certain point. I can’t remember how I chose the town. I probably just pointed with my finger onto the map. And made my decision. Then I started. To walk.

From one town to another. With my feet in the sand. Along local paths through the short parts in the forest. I went from one village to the next one. Found a place to stay. And continued the following day. I loved it. Enjoyed it so much. Nature. Just breathtaking. Most of the time it was just me. On the beach. In the water. In the forest.

The social interactions

But I wasn’t alone all the time. There were lots of situations when I was accompanied. By children. By men. By women. People who shared the same path I had. Or people who decided to walk with me. People who wanted to show me the direction. They walked with me for hours. Just to make sure that I wouldn’t get lost. In the forest.

I was hiking this trip alone. But I was never alone.

The area I walked in is barely inhabited. Very few local fishing villages and now and then a bigger town. With one bed and breakfast. Or something that looked like I could stay there for a night. It’s a region with some of the last remaining coastal rain forests in the world. And some of the last pristine beaches.

I was in paradise.

As a white woman with blond hair and blue eyes. I was in paradise. Because of the locals that lived there. Because of the people who made sure I wouldn’t get lost. I had so many friendly interactions. Because of the people who are sold from the media as rude, brutal, and inhumane. I am so glad that I decided to experience it myself. And see the truth with my own eyes.

The day I was supposed to turn around

It was day number four. I had walked so far already. Along the coast. And now all of a sudden people want me to turn around. I didn’t get it. They wanted to make me go back to the town I came from. I didn’t want that. And I didn’t do it.

So, they sent me in the direction I wanted to go. The locals said I couldn’t go alone. I couldn’t go alone, because there were no more beaches for a while. I couldn’t walk along the ocean. I had to go up the hill and walk through the rain forest.

With so many local paths I could have gotten lost easily. And would have gotten lost for sure. But one woman had to go in the same direction. So I followed her.

She handed me over to a small boy. Who walked further with me. And told me to put all my valuables into my shoes. I didn’t ask why. I followed the instructions. I didn’t get scared. I mean I was with this boy. And then later with another man. He took over the job as a guide. He cleared the path through the forest with a machete. And then passed me onto another person.

I would not have found this way through the forest. Never in my life. But thanks to these people who walked with me I found the way. And thanks to them I was safe.

Eventually, we reached a small fishing village and one of my followers explained to me why everyone tried to make me turn around this day.

Because of the thieves.

They said. There are thieves in this village. And they rob foreigners if they walk here. This is far away from any tourist attractions. And far away from any sign of tourism.

But the last stretch before my next town is the one where I would have gotten mugged. They said. Because there is no police here. It’s too far from civilization. And the road is too bad. That’s why everyone knows about the thieves but no one can do anything about it. Except for protecting this naïve girl walking alone.

And that’s what they did. Once again I got handed over to another group of guys. They were between 16 and 22 years old. They were obviously happy to chat with me. I was happy that they walked me. Along this stunning beach. It was paradise.

I was so relaxed, that I even asked them if I could take out my camera to take a picture. Despite the fact that they showed me the thieves. The thieves were following us in the bushes. We walked in the sand. Next to the ocean. Three of the guys proposed to me during this walk. But I was used to that already. After three months in Ghana.

Eventually, they called another friend from the next village and I got handed over one last time. This guy brought me to an old castle with the most amazing view over this incredible stunning coastline. I slept there the night. Outside. Only protected by a mosquito net.

And I made it. Without getting mugged. Thanks to the locals. Who all refused to take any money or any items from me as a thank you in return. Nobody accepted it. They just did it because they wanted to protect me. Because they have a good heart.

The friendly people of Ghana

And that is what was so fascinating for me. How friendly these people are. How helpful they are. How opposite they are from everything that comes in the news about them.

They will stay in my heart forever. Each and everyone who walked with me. Everyone who walked even just a small part of my hiking trip. Because they are such kind people. With such a big heart.

It made me understand so much more about the Ghanaian culture. And no matter how little they might have or how little they own themselves. It didn’t matter. And it doesn’t matter. They have so much more than I do. Because of their mentality. They taught me that you become a happier person if you help others. Because of what they did.

To help the person next to you. It will come back to you. From somewhere. In some way. And it will make you happier.

I learned not to listen to people. Or at least to not believe them when they talk about a nation or a country they have never visited. I will rather go there, get to know the people, make my own experiences, and widen my horizon. Instead of believing the media spread knowledge of the world.

Thank you to all of you. To those who walked with me. To those who talked with me. To those who showed me what real happiness is. To the people of Ghana. Thank you.