Depart Dulles International Airport (Washington DC) for the City of Accra, Ghana. Departure time is 5:30pm via UNITED AIRLINE. Passengers must be at the airport counter 3 hours before departure. 

 

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AKWAABA CELEBRATION: Arrive in Accra at Accra. Meet, greet, and assist the group through immigration and customs clearance on arrival in Accra. Transfer group to the hotel. Evening activities start at 5:30pm:  Welcome reception/Dinner with West African Cultural Music & dance performance and African Traditional Designers Fashion Show.

 

Accommodation: LaPalm Royal Beach Hotel                                                            

 

 

 

 

After breakfast we get an opportunity of experiencing Ghanaian church service. The bus leaves the hotel at 9:30am to the church service at the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) at Abossey Okai, Accra. ICGC is an evangelical, charismatic church which is one of the fastest growing charismatic churches in Ghana, having a church attendance of about 20,000. The head pastor is Dr. Mensa Otabil. 

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Explore Accra, Ghana’s capital city and seat of Government on board a luxury coach. The city tour includes, visit to the W.E.B DuBois Center for Pan Africanism and later, the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum (a memorial park dedicated to the memory of the first President of Ghana), University of Ghana and some residential neighborhoods. Prepare for the next day trip to Kumasi.  

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Accommodation: LaPalm Royal Beach Hotel                                                

 

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After breakfast, we take a 4-hour drive northward through a lush green tropical forest to Kumasi, the capital city of Asante. The traditional Ghanaian spelling of Ashanti is ASANTE (which means: BECAUSE OF WAR). The Asante Region is blessed with rich culture and home to much pomp and pageantry. Kumasi has served for over four centuries as the royal capital of the Asante State and the home to the Golden Stool.

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MANHYIA PALACE MUSEUM

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We will visit Manhyia Palace Museum, a regal history that dates to the 16th century is told with relics and artifacts of the Asantes. This is the seat and official residence of the Asantehene built in 1926 on the return from exile of the Asantehene Nana Prempeh 1.

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Accommodation: Golden Tulip Hotel

 

 

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After Breakfast we will visit the three famous craft villages of the Asantes, Bonwire, Ntonso and Ahwiaa. We will have the opportunity to see how their crafts are made and to buy directly from the artisans.

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Bonwire is the village where the Ghana national cloth ‘Kente’ weaving started. Ntonso is the center for the manufacture of Adinkra cloth with ancient symbols that convey messages of gallantry, unity, hope and the greatness of the Supreme Being. Ahwiaa is where we find the master woodcarvers who carve Asante stools, statues and masks. 

 

Accommodation: Golden Tulip Hotel 

 

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After breakfast at the hotel, we embark on a 3-hour journey from Kumasi through several coastal fishing villages to Cape Coast, the capital of Central Region of Ghana.

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We will stop on the way to visit the African Diaspora Ancestral Shrine and the River of Last Bath at Assin Manso (the river where the slaves took their last bath before arriving at the slave castles in Cape Coast and Elmina). Assin Manso is the burial site of 2 former slaves (a Jamaican, Lady Crystal who dedicated her life fighting racism and Samuel Carson, an African American Naval Officer) whose remains were re-interred in August 1998 during the first Emancipation Day in Ghana.

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After we checked in to the hotel, we visit Elmina Slave Dungeon. It was built by the Portuguese in 1482 as an outpost called ‘Sao Jorge da Mina’ (Saint George’s of the mine) or simply Elmina (the Mine). It was the first permanent structure south of the Sahara built by Europeans and for centuries, it was the largest. It was also the first to be converted into a Slave Dungeon and had the distinction of exporting the most captured Africans to be enslaved in the Americas. Elmina Castle saw several owners during the course of the Slave Trade. The Dutch seized the castle from the Portuguese in 1637. The Slave Trade continued under the Dutch until 1872 when the castle became a possession of the British. The most significant memory from Elmina Castle is ‘The Door of No Return’. This was where millions of our ancestors passed during the slave trade era to awaiting slave ships to be transported across the Atlantic to the so-called New World. Today, Elmina Castle is designated as one of the World’s Heritage Sites.

 

Accommodation: Coconut Grove Beach Resort                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch on your own, you have free time on the hotel's private beach. For the nature enthusiast, visit Kakum National Park in the rainforest for a thrilling adventure with an exciting canopy walkway suspended about 200 feet from the forest ground. Experience a panoramic view of the flora and fauna of one of the remaining vestiges of the rainforest in Africa. The remainder of the day is for rest on the beach.  

 

Accommodation: Coconut Grove Beach Resort                                                          

 

 

 

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After breakfast, we check out and depart for a scenic drive along the meandering coastline back to Accra. We arrive in Accra early enough to do last minute shopping at Accra Art & Craft Center where you will find authentic hand-made traditional craft and colorful African fabrics.

 

Accommodation: LaPalm Royal Beach Hotel       

 

                                             

 

Visit TK Beads on Dodowa Road to experience the amazing production process of local glass beads manufactured by hand. You will have the opportunity to see how the beads are made and to buy directly from the manufacturers.

 

SHOPPING

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Last-minute shopping at Accra Arts and Craft Center, where you will find authentic hand-made traditional crafts and colorful African fabrics.

 

FAREWELL DINNER/DEPARTURE

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After the hotel checkout, we will enjoy an early farewell dinner, during which we will have the opportunity to dress in our custom-made outfits.  After dinner, transfer to the airport for your flight home. 

 

NANTE YIE ONUA (farewell brother/sister)

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