COMPANY NAME:	GHANA BIKE AND HIKE TOURS
CONTACT NAME:	SARKWAH Samuel Kofi
ADDRESS:	P. O. BOX 5, ABURI, EASTERN REGON, GHANA
TELEPHONE:	+233 244 209587 OR +233 277 666018
EMAIL:	kofi@ghanabike.com
URL:	www.ghanabike.com

MEMBERSHIP FEE CATEGORY:

PROPERTY DESCRIPTON: Ghana Bike and Hike Tours is a tour company only and does not provide any accommodation or catering facilities on site. We have links with local accommodation providers just a few minutes walk from our offices and there are also many restaurants nearby. Our offices are adjacent to the entrance of the famous Aburi Botanical Gardens, we have a bike and equipment warehouse, a comfortable waiting room, a reception with tour and local maps displayed, a shower room and toilet, and a courtyard from where we set off

COMPANY DESCRIPTION: Ghana Bike and Hike Tours is a locally owned and run trekking and mountain biking company specializing in the mountain ranges around Accra. We have self guided and accompanied tours from 1 -5 days of duration and have full bike and equipment hire. On longer treks we stay in isolated villages or tents. We visit bead making villages and you can live and experience local village life.

SOCIAL

Politically Ghana is a stable trouble free country vigorously pursuing democracy with zero political unrest and a very low crime rate. I am a native of Aburi village itself, and therefore have known almost all of the families and businesses in the area on a personal basis since childhood. Because of this I am well acquainted with the local customs and cultures and can give pre-trip advice on how to minimize any negative impacts that could occur while on any of my hiking and biking tours. For example I would advice all travelers of the importance of greeting before embarking on any conversations, and ways to behave during funeral rites.
Our company offers tours from one to five days duration and. All tours are accompanied by local guides from the Aburi area and sometimes local driver, if cyclists do not wish to cycle back. Furthermore, all our tours visit places and social projects that provide direct or indirect benefits. For example remote and impoverished local villages well away from the main road and therefore the hub of economic activity are visited as part of our cycling tours and these benefits directly as described below. We also visit some local eco-tourism sites such as Bunso Arboretum, which is an area a protected rainforest with multitudes of rare flora and fauna. We also visit the locally run Tetteh Quashie Cocoa Farm, which employs many local people and is an information centre about Ghana's Cocoa Industry and also the local Centre for Research into Local Herbal Medicine where tourists can find out about how we use our local herbal remedies to cure common ailments.

ECONOMIC

Ghana Hike and Bike Tours is a small organization made up of and administrative officer, two local guides for bike tours and two local guides for walking tours. We offer special training for the people of the town and use them when need be. Ghana Hike and Bike Tours is an equal opportunity employer, and employ people irrespective of race, color, tribe, national and religious background. Our policy is to properly help with the employment of local people, we have a program drawn out by the Ghana Tourist Board and in service training sponsored by other national organizations but financed by Ghana Hike and Bike Tours. We also want to make clear that although we are not direct accommodation providers, we have established links with accommodation providers close by to our company and within walking distance. Employment and development are important factors in the area of our operations and as a result we are encouraging local sourcing of a lot of our requirements including food, accommodation, drinks bike repair and maintenance, and the help of the remote villages we pass on our tours, who also provide accommodation, food and entertainment and demonstrations of local skills which provide them with much needed income. We also encourage our tourists to visit the local craft centre and buy many of their souvenirs there.

ENVIRONMENTAL

I cannot afford any brochures or printed material so rely on my website and email. I do not have printer or cartridges and so use those of the local internet caf�. I only use a few laminated sheets at the office to give some basic information.

The company will provide safe bottled drinking water for all tourists coming on the treks. All the bottles used on the treks are reused by the village woman. They buy the bottles from me and reuse them for bottling their red palm oil and palm wine.

There is a shower available for tourists after biking and hiking and tourists are advised not to leave the tap on while or after showering or flushing the toilet too often due to shortages of water.

I try as much as possible to minimize any negative environmental impact while cycling and trekking on the trails. I always carry a rubbish disposal bag while on the tours in which all rubbish is collected and taken back to my office. Here we sort the rubbish, Organic waste is put into a composting system, and the fertilizer it makes is sold to local farmers. Plastic bottles are sold to village women and other waste is burned. Any tins are squased and buried. At present there is no known paper recycling plants in Accra.We have tried to minimize any negative impact on local wildlife by keeping as much as possible to the trials, to advise our tourists not to smoke and also be careful not to disturb any animals by making excess noise. I do point out to the tourists, when we see any bird and wildlife and explain their habits and habitat. On the trails we mainly see only birdlife.

I would also like to point out that I actively encourage the local village and people in the rural areas to help maintain the environment, and educate them on this. I employ them to pick up litter along the trails and maintain the trails keeping the trails clear. In this way many of the local villages are benefiting economically and educationally from Ghana bike and hike tours, as they are realizing how conserving their environment can be beneficial.

Since the local people always are cautious of wildlife conservation and environmental protection tourists are advised not to do anything that can do damage to the ecosystems, for example smoking cigarettes while moving along the trails so as not to cause bushfires.

Our companies also donate money and good towards funeral rites, and we help to repair the roads and byways. We also donate towards some of the villages social functions such as the local festivals, and sometimes send bed sheets and medicine to some of the very deprived areas. The tourists also often donate in a similar way. Some of the funds generated by the tourists are used to maintain the mountain trails. I also organize a forum with the local community to advise the local people on how to improve the environment in order to minimize any harm to the eco-systems, for example proper disposal of waste products, this will help protect the environment and help to enhance tourism and generate more income for local people.

Our company is environmentally friendly and around the vicinity of our company all organic waste is recycled into compost and fertilizer and sold to some local farmers, as most of the local populations are farmers.

The accommodation I use will be at Tumu Lodge. Anwanya is already a responsible travel member. I know they practice water conservation and recycling, as does everybody in the village as there is a severe water shortage. We have to recycle and minimize our use of water. Tumu lodge has a composting unit and composts all its organic waste. There is some use of solar energy at Tumu Lodge and they plan to install solar overall at a later date, as it is very expensive to install initially.