GHANA ADVENTURE TOUR

Upon arrival at Kotoka International Airport, proceed through immigrations, reclaim the luggage and clear Custom procedures and you will be met by an expert Tour Manager who will welcome and assist you to be transported in a luxury A/C Motor coach to your hotel in Accra. This is the start of what will be an amazing journey that will live with you forever. Upon arrival at the hotel, there will be refreshments before you are escorted to your pre-assigned rooms. The rest of the day is at leisure to relax, refresh and recuperate from the overnight flights.

Breakfast at your hotel (Enjoy a fully set-up breakfast buffet with lots of fresh fruit, variety of bread and pastries, cheeses, cold cuts plus a variety of Ghanaian specialties you will enjoy. Included will be fresh coffee, tea and fresh juices of every kind). After breakfast, there will be an orientation including a lecture/discussion on Ghana’s history, culture and customs. You will also learn about staying safe and healthy in Ghana. We set out of the hotel to visit the following important sites: We will drive pass Ghana’s parliament house and independence Square on our way to visit the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. Drive through Jubilee House, official residence and administrative offices of the president (Ghana’s Whitehouse). Visit the W.E.B. DuBois former home, now a museum and Center for the study of Pan Africanism. · Next, we visit Jamestown Community-One of Accra’s most historic neighborhoods where history resides on every corner. The Local Ga Tribes were the original custodians of the current modernized City of Accra. You will also walk through the Fish Market. Experience the hustle and bustle at the seashore as fishermen dock their boats and fishmongers sell their catch. 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 more improved lighthouse completed in 1921 Labadi Beach Hotel is still functioning today. You may visit “Brazil House” and learn about the seven Afro-Brazilian families who returned to settle in Ghana in 1836. Familiar Brazilian / Portuguese last names are abundant in this section of Accra. After lunch (on your own account) at a local restaurant, we continue to the hotel. At the hotel, you will be introduced to traditional and contemporary African dance and music through a variety of authentic cultural dance and drumming performances. You may be invited by the performers to try out your dancing skills.

Leave Accra and drive inland for about six hours to the ‘Garden City’ of Kumasi. This one-time capital of a powerful kingdom is nicknamed for its beautiful flora. The city is the beating heart of Ashanti history and is seen as the home of Ghanaian culture. It’s also a busy, cosmopolitan city, a place where traditions mix with the urbanity of the developing world. According to legend it was in Kumasi that the Priest Okomfo Anokye called down a Golden Stool (containing the spirit of the people) from Heaven and then drove an irremovable sword into the ground as a symbol of Ashanti unity. This resulted in Ashanti independence from a rival state. Today, this hilly city is home to over one million people and has quite a cosmopolitan feel about it. After lunch visit the nearby Kejetia Market, the largest open-air market in West Africa. Here you’ll be able to buy a variety of knick-knacks, clothes, jewellery and Ghanaian food.

Kumasi is a royal city, home to the Ashanti King, who resides at the new Manhyia Palace. Today you’ll visit the museum of the palace, which sits close to the current royal residence. It was built by the British in 1925 and was home to the Ashanti Kings until 1974. In the museum you will learn about the functions of each room and see artefacts belonging to the kings. You’ll then continue your tour of the Kumasi area with visits to nearby villages, where you’ll meet talented artisans; weavers of Ghana’s beautiful kente cloth and sculptors of wood carvings.

Today is a long travel day so you may want to bring a book or a pack of cards to enjoy with your fellow travellers – although there’s plenty of fascinating scenery to keep you occupied. The drive to Elmina will take about seven hours, and on the way, you’ll stop at a cocoa plantation to learn about how this global commodity is grown and harvested. Once you’ve checked into your hotel, enjoy a free evening to explore the fishing port town or relax on the beach after your travels.

This morning after breakfast you’ll visit St George's Castle. The fortification is one of 20 or so ‘slave castles’ that were built along the shoreline of the Gold Coast – the former name of modern-day Ghana. Built between the 15th and 18th centuries by European trading powers, these castles became the point from which an estimated 12 million Africans were shipped to the Americas. Walk the atmospheric grounds of the castle, past the oppressive dungeons where thousands of slaves were kept while officers lived in light and spacious quarters above, and through to a small door – the ‘Door of No Return’. Here slaves left the fort and were put on to ships; for many the sight across the sea was their final image of home. Continue to explore this busy little fishing town situated on a narrow peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean by taking a walking tour and discover the Pursubans animist (the traditional religion of Ghana) shrines. After lunch it's just over half an hour to Anomabo Beach, which will be your resting place for the evening. A quiet resort town there is no shortage of beautiful beach to explore.

Today is a free day to relax at this beautiful beach resort or to take an optional day trip to the Cape Coast. In what was the centre of British administration and capital of the Gold Cost between 1700 and 1877, Cape Coast is awash with colonial architecture. However, this easy-going fishing town is still haunted by the ghosts of the brutal slave trade and is a fascinating cultural experience. Tonight, you may want to join the rest of your group for a last dinner together before the tour ends the following day.

After a relaxed breakfast head back to Accra where the tour finishes around 2pm. You are free to leave any time after this or continue your stay in Accra.