GHANA

Ghana may not have West Africa's most dramatic scenery nor the region's best collection of wild animals. But the country known as the Gold Coast during the colonial era has other assets that are as good as gold: lovely beaches, lively nightlife, good roads, a variety of landscapes and some of the friendliest people on the continent. In short, Ghana is a safe, beguiling introduction to West Africa.
Once a center of the slave trade, Ghana was also the first modern African country to win its independence -- giving it a headstart in nation-building. The people of Ghana are well educated and proud of their country -- it has good schools, a thriving press and one of the highest economic growth rates on the continent. Moreover, Ghana has managed not merely to retain a strong sense of national identity but actually to boost its economy and infrastructure.

The country also hosts a fascinating variety of historical and cultural sites, the best known of which -- ironically -- are the European-implanted castles and forts that line the coast. No less worthwhile, however, are the ancient mud mosques of the north (most famously Larabanga), the more secular adobe architecture of Sirigu and Wa, the kente-weavers and fetish shrines of Ashanti, and the traditional villages of the eastern highlands. Also of note are the likes of Boabeng-Fiema, with its taboo troops of colobus and mona monkeys, and the outsized sacred crocodiles of Paga, which are hand-fed by the caretakers.