5-Day Cultural Tour of Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast Castles

• When you arrive at Kotoka International Airport, you will proceed through the necessary immigration and customs checks before exiting to meet our expert tour guide.
• Depending on your arrival time in Accra, you may have the opportunity to take a short tour of the beautiful and vast campus of the University of Ghana, Legon.
• You can also visit the famous Oxford Street, lined with colourful African shops.
• Afterward, you will continue to the hotel for check-in. I will be with you throughout your stay and brief you on what to expect during your cultural exploration in Ghana.

• We will first visit Independence Square, where you will see the enclosed flame of African Liberation, lit by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in 1961, and the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, the final resting place of Ghana's first president. An adjoining museum with attractive gardens contains photos, artifacts, and insights into Dr. Nkrumah's life.
• Our day's visit ends at Jamestown Community, one of Accra's most historic neighbourhoods, where history resides on every corner. This place is 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 more prominent and improved lighthouse completed in 1921 still functions today.
• Transfer to your hotel for your overnight stay, with the evening at leisure.

Meal(s) Included: Lunch

• After breakfast, you will visit the three craft villages in the surrounding lush countryside of Kumasi. Bonwire will be our first craft village, where we will see how the famous Kente cloth is handmade on looms in a time-honoured tradition passed down through generations. See the Kente styles and enjoy the opportunity to make purchases. We may also pay a courtesy call to the paramount chief of this community.
• We will continue to the village of Ntonso, where artisans hand-stamp patterns on cotton cloth to make Adinkra textiles. Black-on-black and black-on-red Adinkra cloth is worn for funerals and other solemn occasions. Learn how the black dye is made in the village from the bark of trees, and create your own Adinkra sash to take home. You may also purchase large pieces of the Adinkra cloth handmade in the village.
• We then proceed to the woodcarving village of Ahwiaa, known for the talented artisans who fashion royal stools, walking sticks, and fertility dolls from wood, where we can purchase hand-carved items of all kinds.
• Transfer to your hotel for your overnight stay.

• After breakfast, drive through the forest zone to Kumasi, the seat of the Ashanti Empire, to explore the legends of the famous Ashantis, whose legacies are still evident today.
• Arrive early in the afternoon and visit Manhyia Palace, the official residence of Ashanti Kings (Asantehene) until 1974, now a museum containing treasured items relating to the Ashanti Kingdom.
• Continue to the Okomfo Anokye Sword site, an essential symbol of Ashanti unity that marks where the Golden Stool "descended from the sky" and has remained in place for 300 years.
• Drive to Cape Coast, stopping at Assin Manso, the burial site of two formerly enslaved people 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 River', where captured Africans were washed before being confined in the slave castles to await shipment to the Americas and the Caribbean.
• Transfer to your hotel for your overnight stay in Cape Coast.

• After breakfast, visit Elmina Castle, a historic fortress located in Ghana, West Africa. The Portuguese built it in the 15th century and later used it as a trading post for the transatlantic slave trade. The castle played a significant role in the exploitation and transportation of enslaved Africans to the Americas. Today, it stands as a powerful symbol of the dark history of slavery and colonialism.
• Visit Cape Coast Castle, another historic fortress in Ghana, built by the Swedes in the 17th century and later controlled by the British. Like Elmina Castle, it was a significant hub for the transatlantic slave trade. The castle served as a place where enslaved Africans were held captive before being shipped to the Americas. Today, Cape Coast Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a poignant reminder of the atrocities of the slave trade.
• Head back to Accra.