Glamping in The Great Outdoors | Shai Hills Resource Reserve
Glamping: Where nature meets modern luxury. a way to experience nature without having to sacrifice creature comforts.
See also: Camping, without struggle.
Road trip time!
Its almost my birthday and in the spirit of trying new things in my new age, I decided to start my celebrations glamping in “the great outdoors” (Bear in mind minus the beach, I’m not an outdoors-y person in the least. I hate bugs, uncut grass, animals except aquarium fish and all related physical activity and I’ve seen too many camping horror movies).
Shai Hills Resource Reserve is a resource reserve located in Doryumu in the Shai Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region. It’s a tourist favourite for bird watching, hiking, and related activities. There’s an accommodation facility on the grounds which has these awesome ‘tent houses’(reinforced tents basically) that are perfect for those who want to experience nature without the struggle.
To be honest arranging the trip was a bit of a struggle, because their customer service was a bit of a drag. I try my best to never focus on these things but it was so frustrating that my messages would go (read but) unreplied and it would take me double and sometimes triple texting to even get an answer. Anyway. Finally made it there! Aaaand I saw a group of monkeys!
Shai Hills Resource Reserve is approximately a 2 hour drive from Accra Mall. You can arrange pickups with them at an extra charge, but an uber or regular taxi would regularly be under ¢100. For day trips (which is what most people do), these are general entry fees and paid tours and activity packages.
It’s a 25 minute drive from the entrance to the campsite. The road is pretty bad, so if your car is low, you’ll need to drive slowly so it’ll probably take longer than that to get there.
There are a limited number of tents (3), so my initial date was completely booked but I was able to get one 2 weeks later. To book a room, you’re required to pay half upfront. The rate is ¢700 a night and it comes with breakfast and a 2 hour tour. There are 10 regular pitched ones, which go for ¢200 and include a tour. There’s no breakfast with those packages, its ¢50 per head.
The site is powered by a generator so apparently from 8:00am to 4:00pm there is no electricity. Check in starts at 2:00pm (checkout 11:00am), so you’re basically without any power for 2 hours after checking in. I suppose it goes with the true camping vibe, but it is definitely something I would have appreciated knowing beforehand. The lights which were initially supposed to come on at 4:00 ended up coming on well after 6:00pm - very annoying. After sitting in the dark for 2 hours I was told they were now going to get fuel for the generator. It was turned off at 6:20am but came back on at 7.30am for an hour.
The tent was really nice! It was clean and the view was so pretty. It was pretty big too and had a bed and 2 couches which makes it a good choice for group travel (it can host 4 people). There was a tea station, a fridge, a microwave, lamps, a fan, a desk and even umbrellas. I absolutely loved that they thought to add a bathtub, but imagine my disappointment when I couldn’t run a bath in peace. First, the water pressure was really low because the power was off (the pump), then I realized somehow the water was draining out as fast as I was filling it so unfortunately I had to abandon that idea. From pictures I saw, other tents had showers in addition to the tubs but my tent didn’t (There are slight differences in decor in each tent). The hot water wasn’t working either.
It’s pretty cold outside in the mornings and nights, so pack some warm clothes too.
The morning views are really something 😍🥰. The view from the bed is absolutely perfect.
There is food available on-site, but I would strongly suggest bringing your own. I was asked to order 24 hours ahead of time but even then, lunch which was supposed to be served at 1:00pm eventually came a few minutes to 3:00pm. I was told it was ¢50 per plate but the prices on the receipt were different(less, but still).
I tried the
Assorted Fried Rice &
Beef Burger & Fries.
Both meals were good, the rice more than the burger. Very good portions, and they remembered my “no onions” request which was great. The breakfast though…disappointing to say the least.
You can get juice and water from the reception, but for things like wine and alcohol etc, you need to bring yours. The process of getting those is pretty long because of the distance, so again, just bring your own.
The main activity here is hiking.
I got there at 10:00am to go on the 2 hour hike included in the package before checking in. It was a 20 minute drive to the hiking grounds (apparently you have the option of walking or renting a bicycle) and my tour guide Derek was really nice. Surprisingly the hike was just 15 minutes - maybe it included the travel time, but that would have still been under the duration given.
Even though I was terrified most of the time, the view from the top was super beautiful and I had fun hiking for the first time so I was a little disappointed it was over so fast.
There was another tour the next morning to Sayu cave. This hike was harder and a little scarier (the cave). It was also a 20 minute drive, but the hike was about 10 minutes longer.
(Its a little worrying that there are no safety gear)
I thought bugs would be a problem but surprisingly, apart from the random dragonfly here and insect there, I was left alone by the creepy crawlies. There were no mosquitoes while I was there but bring bug spray anyway.
The network is really really bad (I had almost no service the entire time) and there isn’t much else to do, so if you’re not completely coming for the nature experience bring a book, or games if you’re not traveling solo.
It’s a really lovely place, but management really needs a lot of work. There were too many gaps that made what should have been an amazing stay less than.
It’s still a very nice experience and I would 100% recommend it to anyone.
* Last thing. Their website and social media pages aren’t very useful, so you have to contact them and ask all questions directly. Click here for the contact number (Expect slow replies).