Attraction · Larabanga
Larabanga Mosque
A Sudano-Sahelian adobe mosque in Larabanga, Savannah Region, described by Ghana's tourism authority as thought to be the oldest mosque in Ghana and West Africa.
Photo: Stig Nygaard · Source
Explore Ghana
Things to do in Savannah Region
The Savannah Region is where Ghana's history, wildlife and living craft traditions sit side by side. Mole National Park, the country's first and largest national park, spreads across about 4,577 km² of Guinea savannah, and the Mole Museum inside its Information Centre explains the biodiversity and ecology you are walking through. Just outside the park, Larabanga holds the Larabanga Mosque, described by Ghana's tourism authority as thought to be the oldest mosque in Ghana and West Africa, with the Larabanga Mystic Stone nearby and the community-run Mognori Eco Village offering guided village tours, canoe safaris and cultural performances.
The region's places differ in mood as much as in subject. Salaga remembers its role as one of West Africa's largest slave markets through the Salaga Slave Market site, the Salaga Slave Tree, the slave wells, the Salaga Slave Cemetery and Wonkan Bawa, while Salaga Central Mosque and the Kpembe Wura's Palace show the area's continuing traditional and religious life. At Daboya, the White Volta (Nakambe) supports villager-paddled boat tours, birdlife and salt-harvesting beaches, alongside the Daboya Indigo Dye Pits, the salt ponds and a community described by Visit Ghana as Ghana's most famous fugu weaving centre. Elsewhere, Kulmasa Crocodile Pond and the Ndewura Jakpa Palace in Damongo, seat of the Yagbonwura, round out the picture.
Good to know
Before you go
Plan around Mole National Park and Larabanga first, then decide whether to add Salaga, Kpembe, Daboya, Kulmasa or Damongo, as these sit in different districts and are best treated as separate trips rather than one day out. Distances and journey times vary with road and season, so check current conditions locally before setting off. Several sites are community-run or working places: the Kpembe Wura's Palace and the Ndewura Jakpa Palace are traditional seats, and the Larabanga Mystic Stone, Mognori Eco Village and Kulmasa Crocodile Pond are guided community sites, so arrange visits and guiding locally and ask before photographing. Confirm opening arrangements, guide availability and boat trips in advance, and carry cash, water and sun protection.
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Places to explore
Attraction · Larabanga
Larabanga Mystic Stone
A sacred rock formation on the outskirts of Larabanga, near the Larabanga Mosque, conserved and guided as a community tourist site in Ghana's Savannah Region.
Photo: Haruna Mohammed · Source
Attraction · Larabanga
Mognori Eco Village
A community-run eco-village on the edge of Mole National Park near Larabanga, offering guided village tours, canoe safaris and cultural performances.
Photo: Shahadusadik · Source
Attraction · Larabanga
Mole Museum
A two-room museum inside Mole National Park's Information Centre, with a main exposition room and a multimedia room on the park's biodiversity and ecology.
Photo: Matti Blume · Source
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Attraction · Larabanga
Mole National Park
Ghana's first and largest national park: about 4,577 km² of Guinea savannah in the Savannah Region, managed by the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission.
Photo: Alhassan Mohammed Awal · Source
Attraction · Salaga
Salaga Central Mosque
Salaga Central Mosque is the active Sunni central mosque of Salaga, in the historic Zongo quarter of East Gonja Municipal District, Savannah Region.
Photo: Édouard Riou (1833–1900) · Source
Attraction · Salaga
Salaga Slave Market site
An 18th-century slave market and heritage site in Salaga, Savannah Region, commissioned in July 2024, with an information office, slave wells and statues.
Photo: Gonzo Gooner · Source
Attraction · Salaga
Salaga Slave Tree
A replacement baobab at the site of the former Salaga slave market, where enslaved people were reportedly chained and displayed for sale.
Photo: Gonzo Gooner · Source
Attraction · Salaga
Salaga slave wells
A heritage site in Salaga, Savannah Region, marking the town's role as one of West Africa's largest slave markets, with slave wells, statues and a museum.
Photo: Cdilalo47 · Source
Attraction · Daboya
White Volta at Daboya
The stretch of the White Volta (Nakambe) flowing past Daboya in the Savannah Region, known for village-paddled boat trips, birdlife and salt-harvesting beaches.
Photo: Hasslaebetch · Source
Attraction
Attraction · Daboya
Daboya Indigo Dye Pits
Traditional indigo-dyeing site in Daboya, Savannah Region, Ghana, where resist-wrapped cotton yarn is dyed in open-air vats and woven into fugu smocks.
Attraction
Attraction · Daboya
Daboya Salt Ponds
Traditional salt-making grounds on the White Volta floodplain at Daboya, Savannah Region, where saline soil is scraped, filtered and sun-dried into salt.
Attraction
Attraction · Daboya
Daboya smock weaving community
Daboya, capital of North Gonja District in the Savannah Region, is described by Visit Ghana as Ghana's most famous fugu (smock) weaving community.
Attraction
Attraction · Kpembe
Kpembe Wura's Palace
The working traditional palace and governance seat of the Kpembewura, Paramount Chief of the Kpembe Traditional Area, in Kpembe near Salaga, Savannah Region.
Attraction
Attraction · Kulmasa
Kulmasa Crocodile Pond
A crocodile pond beside Kulmasa in Ghana's Savannah Region, listed by Visit Ghana and identified in a government framework as a cultural resource.
Attraction
Attraction · Damongo
Ndewura Jakpa Palace
Ndewura Jakpa Palace in downtown Damongo is the traditional seat of the Yagbonwura, Overlord of the Gonja Kingdom, and a heritage site open to guided visits.
Attraction
Attraction · Salaga
Salaga Slave Cemetery
A mass grave and burial ground in Salaga, Savannah Region, for enslaved people who died during captivity or transport through the Salaga slave market.
Attraction
Attraction · Daboya
White Volta River boat tours at Daboya
Hand-made, villager-paddled boat tours on the White Volta beside Daboya, with birdlife, a hand-thrown net fishing demonstration and a salt-harvesting beach.
Attraction
Attraction · Salaga
Wonkan Bawa
Wonkan Bawa is a pond and stream site in Salaga, Savannah Region, remembered as the bathing place where enslaved people were cleansed before sale at the Salaga slave market.