 Why should somebody visit the Volta Region of Ghana? The Volta Region is the microcosm of macrogana Because all the vegetation that the Ghana has as a country has Volta Region alone has all of them Welcome back to the YouTube channel to your favorite village boy Mr. Ghana baby And I hope you all are enjoying my Volta Region series just like the way I'm enjoying it I mean let me know in the comment section which of the videos are your favorite episode You know what? I've seen in the comment section most of your accent Isn't it expensive or affordable to visit the Volta Region Let me tell you something It's so affordable to be in the Volta Region From the food, accommodation, things to do in the Volta Region You don't need so much money to do it But the most important thing that I really want to cover in this episode Is the place that you need to stay And they are all beautiful and affordable Let's start with the place that fed us This is our first stop here in Keta It's 5 o'clock and we are about to eat lunch And we are currently at... You know where we are? Villa Amore Yeah, Villa Amore Love's Corner Love's Corner Hey! And I came here, right? Yeah, Amore Ah, Amore Oh! Amoros, Amoros, Amoros Oh, okay So, in Italian, when you see Villa Amore It's Love's Villa Which means you are based in Italy Yeah, I was And then you came to establish this hotel Yes This place feels like home away from home Like, you get in And the kind of vibe you feel is You know, this is like home for me It's just amazing that way Yeah, it's not like an intimidating hotel thing It's like, you've come to your vacation home in Keta One thing I also noticed from the outside You see like a regular villa Exactly But when you get in, it's modern Thank you so much, Villa Amore For that special cuisine That represent the people of the Volta Region It was one of the best meals I've tasted In a very long time So if you ever find yourself in the Volta Region Choose Villa Amore as a place to sleep Or you can even go in there Have your lunch, breakfast, dinner And you're good to go And the people of Volta Region Are so hospitable to the extent that We're hosted by two biggest radio stations in the region Right from there, I was super tired And I had to go and find where I'm going to sleep And that is when Elle Beach Resort came through You're welcome to Elle Beach Resort You're welcome Thank you so much I appreciate you And don't forget that Elle Resort Is hosting us tonight And I know and believe that They will add one more night You really got a beautiful place Thank you Are you the owner though? I'm not Who are you? So I'm the sales and marketing manager of the hotel We are the one who makes sure that People come and spend their money in here Yes, and have a wonderful stay We get value for their money as well Is it expensive to sleep in here? No, I wouldn't say so It's very affordable, yes Does it mean that it's owned by A local or an indigenous person? It's owned by an indigenous person From this town Really? Yes, a guy One of the things that I think I love about the water region Is that all the results that I've been to Are owned by the indigenous people Which I think is a great thing A round of applause for the people of the water region Yeah, they're giving back to the community They come from, which is good Because then you have It gives the future leaders hope Okay And some form of profession And some sort of income Not just the main profession That happens in the community So it gives them options Tell me what makes Early Beach Resort unique From other resorts in Ghana It's located in Keta one Why Keta? Because Keta gives you The cleanest beach And the beautiful stream and environment It's clean One of the cleanest in the country The ocean Gives to the blue color That ocean should look like Okay And the environment And the environment The beaches in Akra are white And the environment is so clean And healthy And there isn't much toxic In the atmosphere So how many rooms you got in here? 50 rooms 50 rooms The only resort that you have Or you'll have another hotel around this area Because I saw one on my way coming here Does that one belong to you too? Yes it does So we actually have two property A boutique hotel and the beach resort So the boutique hotel is not a supermarket As some people take it to be It's a small sophisticated establishment Which is made up with the business traveler in mind So with the boutique hotel The setting and everything We have a gym, we have a spa, we have two conference rooms, one on each property, so one at the boutique or one at the beach resort, we have two upper terrace on each property, we have a summer hut by the beach front and for entertainment we organize aerobics for our guests who come because their health means a lot to us. This is one of my favorite places in the Volta Regen, meet me there, that is the name of the eco lodge and this eco lodge what makes me love it so much is that it's actually a community inspired lodge, which everything that you see here is actually made and produced by the local artisans living in the Volta Regen, so whenever you spend your money in here the money actually goes to the local. So I want to tell you this about this place, I think this is a place to meditate, so if you are looking for a place to sleep and meditate, a place to sleep so that you connect with nature, meet me there, it's a place for you but if you really want to party, just like what a Maya, I don't think it's the best place for you to stay and it's so affordable to live in here, I mean the prices ranges from 200 Ghana city to 400 Ghana city. I love being around water and I was fascinated by the beauty of Keta because listen, this place got the best beaches in the world that I did not want to live but you cannot come to the Volta Regen without visiting the capital city. We go to the capital city and there is only one place that I wanted to stay, that is the Volta Serene hotel. Whoa, I can't believe that what a Maya is swimming today man, you know what, I'm getting rid of so many fears this year, I'm challenging myself to try new things, I'm trying myself to go beyond the limits, try myself to be free and enjoy the world and I could not choose any other place to enjoy the world than the Volta Serene hotel. The canyon only. Yeah, it's fully canyon. Are you the owner? No, I'm not. Oh, okay. Yeah, because if you are the owner, I would just ask you for some dollars, you know, because having this hotel in here which means money runs through your body. Tell me your name and who you are. I'm the general manager for the hotel. I have a CEO I report to, but the hotel is a subsidiary of a conglomerate. We have about 10 subsidiaries under the conglomerate and the hotel was actually born or came to being in 2015. So we will be seven years in November this year. But what makes Volta Serene unique than any other hotel in Ghana? I would say that we are sort of a countryside hotel but has the take or the taste of maybe a four or five star in Accra. We are sort of trying to bring Accra Ghana out that is outskirts of the capital. Are you trying to say Ghana is not just Accra? That is what we want to diffuse people's mind. When you talk about Ghana, people normally look at greater Accra and greater Kumasi. But who I call the climate region. The climate here is super. We have fresh air. The air we breathe is fresh. We don't have a lot of the brook and the breaks. We have more of the greens. So it's a lovely place to be. And we are finding ourselves within mountains and valleys. We have a whole mountain range going up and down in the region. Is it affordable to live in here? Yes, it is relatively affordable. Because here we are a four star facility but we can't charge like in Accra. For example, my deluxe room is a 680 Ghana cities. Which is around 110 dollars. That's like a standard room in Accra. Are you sure? Yes standard room is more than that in Accra. Accra standard room is very expensive. You will spend close to a thousand cities. And it's better than breakfast. What are you doing different in here to attract people all over the world to come and spend time in here? Because we have an aerodrome running, we are trying to do connecting flights. We are trying to see if we could arrange you sometimes to be chartered planes. We have talked to passion air to ferry them up here. And then we take them on tours. We have been in the region for a while. We have nine story sites. Exactly, so many. We take them around. How are you all doing? I hope you all are doing well. It's your favourite village but Mr. Ghana baby right here in the water region of Ghana. I am still here yet but today is actually my last day. I wish I can stay forever because I am already falling in love with this place. It's exactly six o'clock in the morning. I have a busy day so we head to Accra. I think we are arriving in Accra probably in the evening. But let me tell you why I don't want to leave man. I feel like this part of Ghana is untapped. This part of Ghana got all the tourism potential that I think the government needs to invest in. Because I don't know what I have not seen when I got in here. They got the ocean, they got the lagoon, they got the lake. That's the water bodies. I couldn't even believe that they got Ram society in here. I mean we saw a Ram society that I think the first Ram society that we saw it was more of less beds. But when we were going home we saw a lot of beds in another Ram society. And it makes me feel like this is something that the country needs to be proud of. Like this place is so magical. Like when you're driving you see how the road is in between lagoon. You see how the road is just around an ocean. I mean not around but just like you're driving close to an ocean which makes the place so peaceful. I don't know man, this city is stunning. Listen I don't know if you guys can describe this place with vocabularies. Because I have less vocabularies. I'm trying to even learn more vocabularies but yeah. This place is exquisite. Very pristine. What vocabularies I need to use to describe this place for you to know what I'm talking about. When I was in the Volta region I asked my audience to recommend places to visit. And most of the people were saying that have you ever been to mountain paradise? So on my way to go check out the monkey sanctuary I decided to stop by and trust me. It's a beautiful gorgeous place to be. I really envy you a lot. Why? Because you're living in a paradise. We try to create a little paradise on earth. And is it the same reason why you call this place mountain paradise? Precisely so. Precisely so. You know when I came here I nearly named it the Ark. The Ark? Yes because but then this valley was completely bare of any vegetation. It was just grassy. And you could actually appreciate the valley. So I looked at it and then I equated it to Noah's Ark in the Bible. But then looking at what we want to do. Creating an environment for all kinds of animals. I decided to call it the paradise. So I bounced it off my father. And then he said, oh you are living in the mountains. So why don't you call it the mountain paradise? That is a beautiful name. Thank you. Do you believe that Africa is a paradise? If not more than a paradise. Because we have everything in Africa. There's everything in Africa. What can you not find in Africa? The human resource? Natural resource? The sunlight? You can name it. What comes into your head or your mind when you hear the name Africa? Heaven on earth. A round of applause. Thank you. I've been telling them that the more you travel within Africa. The more you get to appreciate that God really exists. Because I feel like God took his time to create Africa. But Africans themselves don't know that. They are living in heaven on earth. Unfortunately. I am Tony Fiakui, a Ghanaian. I have been a school teacher. But then the love for nature has the better part of me. I did conservation education in the western region. Precisely the Angkasa National Park. From 2000 to 2005. And then I happened to start this place in 2003. This I consider more a project than a business. Because when we visited the area. We noticed that there has been a lot of environmental degradation. From wild bush fires. And excessive and uncontrolled and unsustainable timber harvesting. Right in here. In the areas here. Because we have a very difficult terrain. So there are many places that are difficult to access. And trees have very prime timber species. About all over the place. But then well we also need to exist. But then we are not doing it sustainably. So about 15 years ago. You see a lot of trees here. People come here and they wonder what kind of trees are these. And now you can see for yourself. But thankfully the communities are getting the consciousness. To conserve and regrow the forest. So we have some hope. So the mountain paradise actually is a project. For raising funds for conservation in the area. So we have friends of Gemi which is our conservation NGO. And the mountain paradise is supposed to be the business wing of the friends of Gemi. Gemi is the highest peak around here. And Gemi happens to be in the highest human settlement in Ghana. So who are the people that come in here? We get patrons from all over the world. The Dutch are our leading patrons. Followed by Germans, the British, the Americans. And then I'm sure we have heard people from all over the world. Africans don't come here? Well Ganians of course. Yes all people come. We have the Togolese, we have the Ivorians. Even the Senegalese, the Gambians. We have Africans also coming. What makes it unique? Number one is the serenity around here. And our very unique weather. This is perhaps the only place that you can come and engage in various open air activities. We have a couple of hiking trails. We provide mountain bikes for bikers. There is a cliff down here for Absalene. And you can just sit around and enjoy the serenity. And it's also ideal for meditation, reflection, conferences. Just name it. If you had a chance to change one thing in Africa, what would it be? It may be our mindset. What is wrong with our mindset? We need to appreciate nature more. I call them the ritual wildfires. Every dry season is associated with wildfires. Somebody will say you get wildfires in the Amazon and all that. But that is not Africa. So we need to respect nature more.