People and Places – 14 Days experience

After breakfast, you will start your wonderful experience in Ghana. On your first full day in Ghana, we set off for the tour of Accra and its vicinity, passing through the economic and administrative districts.

Our first site will be a visit to the W.E.B. DuBois Center honoring the life of one of the most prominent Pan-Africanists who lived and worked in Ghana. Our next stop is Independence Square where you will see the enclosed flame of African liberation, which was lit by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in 1961. Continue our tour to the newly renovated Kwame Nkrumah Memorial park.

We will also have a tour of James Town. This is one of Accra’s most historic neighborhoods, where history resides on every corner.  Best known for its lighthouses (the first of which was constructed in 1875 by the British) as a navigational aid for trading vessels sailing through the Gulf of Guinea. The original structure was ruined, but a larger and improved lighthouse completed in 1921 still functions today. This tour will allow you mingle with the indigenous Ga’s.

Finally, you will visit Accra Arts & Crafts Centre and Makola Market. At these markets, you will have the opportunity to try out your bargaining skills.  Makola is the largest open market in Accra. You can shop for some stunning authentic African wear, arts, and crafts as souvenirs for family and friends back home, you will have the opportunity to experience some of Accra’s most authentic shopping outlets.

Hotel: Urbano Hotel

Meal Plan: Breakfast

Breakfast at your hotel. Drive to Shai Hills Forest Reserve to explore the ancestral caves of the Krobo people. A walk through the cool dry evergreen forest to the caves offers you the opportunity to see the relics of old Shai settlements in the reserve. You may also spot some wildlife such as antelopes, bushbucks, baboons, birds of different species, and other animals. At Shao Hills, you will have the opportunity to learn about the historic significance of the ancestral caves which were used by the Shai King until the end of the 19th Century as fortresses war times due to the abundance of great stone rocks, tunnel-like openings, and overhangs.

Hotel: Volta Hotel

Meal Plan: Breakfast

Breakfast at your hotel. Continue your exploration of the Eastern region with a scenic drive to the village of Krobo Odumase to witness the firsthand experience of beads made from specially crafted glasses- Cedi Beads Factory. We will have the opportunity to design our own beads using the traditional Krobo technique.
The bead-making craft has a long history in Ghana. Beads have been used in ceremonies of birth, coming of age, marriage, or death for the past 400 years. You will not only watch but actively participate in the whole bead-making process from beginning to end.

Take a relaxing and scenic boat cruise on the Volta lake later in the day.

Hotel: Volta Hotel 

Meal Plan: Breakfast

Following a leisure breakfast at the hotel, we will depart Akosombo to Kumasi, the seat of the Ashanti Empire to explore the legends of the famous Ashantis, whose legacies are still evident today.

Early afternoon arrival in Kumasi. Visit the Manhyia Palace, the official residence of Ashanti Kings (Asantehene) until 1974, now a museum containing treasured items relating to the Ashanti Kingdom.

The Ashantis form the biggest population group in Ghana. For centuries they were the rulers in this region because of their well-organized society. At Manhyia Palace, disputes are still settled in accordance with centuries-old customs where the King has the final word.

Hotel: Lancaster Hotel

Meal Plan: Breakfast

Breakfast at your hotel. This day’s activities will be in Kumasi where we will explore the craft villages starting with the wood carving village of Ahwia. Ahwiaa Village is famous for its skilled woodworkers who create fertility dolls, royal stools, and other wooden crafts.

Next will be the community of Ntonso, where craftsmen hand-stamp designs onto cotton fabric to create beautiful Adinkra textiles. Funerals and other solemn events call for the wearing of Adinkra textiles. Create your own Adinkra sash to take home after learning how the black dye is made from tree bark. Our final point of call will be Adanwomase Kente Village where authentic Kente fabrics are handmade on looms.

Hotel: Lancaster Hotel

Meal Plan: Breakfast

Depart for Cape Coast after breakfast. This region has had the most significant effect on the lives of Africans in the diaspora. We will pass through small villages and arrive at Assin Manso, the burial site of two former slaves from Jamaica and the US whose remains were reinterred here in August 1998 during Ghana’s first Emancipation Day Celebration.

En route, visit the Assin Manso Slave River, the burial site of two former slaves from the U.S. and Jamaica whose remains were re-interred in August 1998 during Ghana’s first Emancipation Day Celebration. You will see the Slave Auction Zone and the Memorial Wall of Return, where most Africans write their names on the wall indicating they have found their root. There is an epitaph that pays tribute to some prominent people who were involved in slavery. The final experience at the site is the Last Bath. You will see the “Slave River:” where our ancestors were washed before confinement in the slave dungeons to await shipment to the Americas. 

Continue to Elmina. Upon arrival in Elmina, enjoy the sights of the many colorful fishing boats bringing their daily catch into the harbor and take the opportunity to mix with the locals at the nearby market. We visit the boat builders a short distance from the market, building colorful fishing boats using traditional tools and methods spanning centuries.

Hotel: Coconut Grove Hotel

Meal Plan: Breakfast

Breakfast how hotel. Still in Cape Coast, we will drive to Cape Coast castle, a UNESCO world heritage site. The castle is a thought-provoking monument to a harrowing period in the region’s history. You will take an emotional journey through the castle which held more enslaved Africans than any other in the region, viewing the dungeons and the infamous “Door of no return”. There is a significant historical museum inside, which explains the castle’s history and Cape Coast itself. You can purchase literature on Ghana’s forts and castles, as well as the cultural history and traditions of Ghana. 

Kotokoraba is the cradle of Cape Coast and our tour of Cape Coast will not be complete if we do not visit Kotokoraba. The Kotokoraba “market “is the economic hub of the region, with vibrant trading stores located around it. The market has existed for many decades and was an important trading site during the pre-independence era. It serves as a central point for all trade in the region and it is a hotspot for economic activities.

Hotel: Coconut Grove Beach Resort

Meal Plan: Breakfast

Take an early morning tour to Kakum National Park after breakfast. Kakum National Park is Ghana’s most famous park. Take a brief walking tour on the forest floor where you will learn how our ancestors lived in the forest. See birds, and butterflies and perhaps catch a glimpse of the forest’s over 40 species of mammals including monkeys and the reclusive forest elephant. Proceed to the canopy walk. Kakum is home to Africa’s only aerial walkway through the tree canopy, a 1000-foot-long and even-bridge walkway with viewing platforms that reach heights over 150 feet above the ground.

Hotel: Coconut Grove Beach Resort

Meal Plan: Breakfast

We will take a day’s trip to the unique Nzulenzu village on stilt located in the Western region of Ghana. The spectacular scenery of the 400-year-old stilt-propped water settlement of Nzulezu, is a unique village built on stilts in Lake Tadane, which is home to hundreds of people in the Western Region. Nzulezu is a Nzema word meaning ‘surface of the water’. The inhabitants of the village are said to have migrated to a city in the ancient Ghana Empire, the earliest of the Western Sudanese States. According to tradition, ancestors of the village were brought to their present place by a snail.

Hotel: Coconut Grove Beach Resort

Meal Plan: Breakfast

After breakfast, enjoy your morning by relaxing at the beach.

Check out of your hotel and partake in a cooking lesson at Esi’s kitchen. 

At Esi’s kitchen, you will explore the fragrant and exotic flavors of West African cuisine. Esi will introduce you to an array of new tastes and flavors as you learn how to create authentic Ghanaian dishes. Using African cooking techniques during the workshop, you will create traditional dishes like peanut butter soup with rice, fried plantain, Palava sauce, and Yam.

Return to Accra after the cooking lesson.

Hotel: Urbano Hotel

Meal Plan: Breakfast

This day’s activities will depend on your flight time. Transfer to the airport for your onward flight back home.