Formally the Gold Coast, Ghana prides itself on being the first sub Saharan country to gain its independence in 1957. Relive the history and retrace the steps enslaved Africans were forced to endure
Day 1 You arrive on the motherland at Kotoka International Airport Accra, the capital city, Accra is situated on the Gold Coast in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It stretches over 4540 square kilometres, and has a coastline spanning 220 kilometres from Kokrobite in the west to Ada in the east. After passing through immigration, you proceed to the conveyor to collect your baggage before heading to customs. We will meet you on the other side, just look out for the our sign as you come out of the terminal building. Please make yourself known to us, and we will take care of you from here and for the duration of your stay. We board our air conditioned vehicle, your mode of transport whilst you are on the motherland and set off for your hotel, which is a short drive from the Airport. Our expert guide, who will accompany you for the duration of the tour will check you in and offer you Akwaaba (Welcome), before briefing you on all aspects of the pilgrimage. B, L, D
Day 2 This morning we take a leisurely breakfast before setting off for Teshie to take part in a traditional naming ceremony. Here you will have the chance to experience firsthand a naming ceremony on the continent. We shall be welcomed by Nii (Head of the Clan) who will lead us through the ceremony as performed by the ancestors through history. You will have the chance to adopt your own African name based on the day of the week you were born or numeric order of your siblings.
After the naming ceremony, we start our tour of Accra with a visit to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial park, the final resting place of Ghana’s founder. The memorial park is set in attractive gardens with an adjoining museum, which contains photos, artefacts and offers an insight into this incredible man’s life. From here we visit Ussher Fort which was a look-out post built by the Dutch in 1649, and was formerly known as Fort Crevecoeur. In 1868 the Dutch sold it to the English when it was renamed after Governor Usher, it has now been converted into a museum of excellence dedicated to Africans who have triumphed in all walks of life. We shall continue our tour of Accra to the Dubois Centre, the final burial place and former home of the prominent African American Pan- Africanist Dr William W. Burghardt Du Bois, who led the Pan-African congress between 1919 and 1927. Dr. W. Burghardt Du Bois was a vocal Anti-Segregationist and prolific speaker and writer. The center now serves as a library and research institute for students, after a wonderful day we return to our hotel with the rest of the evening being free leisure time. B, L, D
Day 3 After your breakfast, we head west along the Gold Coast to the Central Region, on our arrival we check into your beautiful beach front hotel, before setting off for the Cape Coast Castle. This UNESCO World Heritage site, which held more enslaved Africans captive than any other in the region’s history, is a thought provoking monument to a harrowing period of the ancestor’s plight. We spend the afternoon on an emotional journey touring this castle, viewing the dungeons and the infamous ‘Door of no Return’.
You return to your beach front hotel for the evening and to prepare to join our brothers and sisters in Cape Coast for the emancipation midnight candlelight procession, which we participate in annually on the 31st July to commemorate the Reverential Night. B, L, D
Day 4 This morning after a good breakfast we visit Kakum National Park, guaranteed to be one of the highlights of the trip. Here we shall walk the world famous Kakum canopy walkway unique in this part of the world, it consists of 7 bridges attached to 7 emergent trees, 40 metres above the rainforest floor. The canopy walkway offers outstanding views for miles across this beautiful tropical, Guinea rainforest. There is an excellent visitor’s centre that is extremely informative about the flora and fauna within the park, which includes forest elephant’s leopards and many species of monkey.
We shall stop for lunch at Hans Cottage Botel near Kakum, which is built over a lake containing Nile crocodiles and set in a beautiful location surrounded by tropical Guinea rainforest. It is an excellent place to enjoy lunch before setting of for Elmina. On arrival in Elmina, we visit the castle of St. George, the oldest extent colonial building in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dating from 1482, this castle is steeped in the tragic history of the enslaved African trade era and there is an informative museum inside, which concentrates on local history. From here we visit the African American community that have returned to their roots and settled in Elmina. These are brothers and sisters born in the Diaspora, who have traced their roots back to the motherland over 20 years. The evening is free leisure time to relax and enjoy the surroundings of our beautiful beach front hotel. B, L, D
Day 5 After an early morning breakfast, we set off for the Ashanti Region and Kumasi its capital and home to the King of the Asanteman. En route, we will make an emotional stop at Assin Manso, an important town along the enslaved African trade routes. The town is surrounded by the Ndonkor Nsuo (enslaved African River). This Town is where enslaved Africans where separated into groups according to age, sex and fitness. They were bathed here, before being shackled ready for the 32 mile march to the Cape Coast castle dungeon for shipment to the Americas. In 1998 a symbolic gesture was made when the bodies of two ancestors Samuel Carson from New York, U.S.A and Crystal from Kingston, Jamaica were returned to Cape Coast Castle and symbolically passed back through the “Door of no Return” before being transported to Assin Manso for re-internment. After visiting their graves, we continue our journey to Kumasi through Obuasi Township. Here we have the opportunity to view the Ashanti Gold Field Mining Company, now known as Anglo Gold Ashanti. After lunch, we continue our journey to Kumasi which will take approximately 40 minutes. We check into our hotel before heading to the Manhiya Palace home to the Asantehene King of the powerful Ashanti Empire. We enjoy a fascinating tour through the legacies of the Asanteman Kingdom, before returning to our hotel. B, L, D
Day 6 After a good night’s rest and a wonderful breakfast, we start our tour of Kumasi by heading towards Kejetia market. Found in the heart of the city, Kejetia is the largest outdoor market in the whole of West Africa. It offers a wonderful opportunity to experience everyday life for the people in this great city, the market is a labyrinth of stalls, nestled closely together and a hive of activity. Some stall holders sleep here in the evening as trade rarely stops. I am sure we will pick up some bargain souvenirs during our time here. From Kejetia market, we continue to the cultural center which has an excellent craft market, and also houses the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum that offers an informative overview of the Ashanti’s history.
We stop for lunch at one of the nearby restaurants, before setting off for Bonwire, famous in the Ashanti Region for producing some of Ghana’s finest Kente cloths. Many designs of cloth are woven here and some are exclusive only to this region. We mix with the local people learning about the history behind the many designs. As we walk through the village, we witness highly skilled young and old brothers (sisters do not weave traditionally) weaving outside their homes. The machines that the weavers use have not changed for centuries, during our time here we have the opportunity to buy excellent quality cloth at very reasonable prices. After our wonderful cultural morning in Bonwire, we shall visit a near by coco farm. Ghana is the world’s second largest producer of coco, and many families rely solely on the income they receive from farming it. We learn the process of producing quality coco from the locals in this small community before continuing our tour of the Ashanti Region with a trip to Ntunso. Found a short distance from the coco farm, the village of Ntunso is famous in the Ashanti Region for being the birth place of the Adinkra cloth. Adinkra pre-dates Kente and the symbols used to adorn cloths all have meanings. We have the opportunity to produce our own strip of Adinkra cloth with meanings of personal significance during our time in the village, before an evening of free leisure time, enjoying our meal around the pool of our hotel. B, L, D
Day 7 This morning we take a leisurely breakfast before setting off for Accra, en route visiting Boti falls (seasonal) near Koforidua. This is a beautiful waterfall and a good place to refresh ourselves and stretch our legs during our journey. A short distance from Boti falls is a small village where traditional glass beads have been made for generations. Here we will meet Comfort and her family to learn about the skilled process which spans centuries. This is an excellent opportunity to buy traditional beads at the lowest prices in Ghana. After lunch, we continue our journey stopping at the Aburi Botanical gardens which are set in a beautiful location and were founded in 1890. The gardens are home to a wide variety of indigenous and exotic flora and offer outstanding views of Accra. After our walk around the garden, we take a short trip to Aburi craft village, famous in the region for its wonderful wood carvings, which are sold at very reasonable prices. We arrive in Accra in the early evening, check into our hotel and enjoy our surroundings. B, L, D
Day 8 The day is at your leisure, you can relax at your hotel or spend the day buying more souvenirs. In the early evening we enjoy our final family meal together, remembering the time and places just passed before us. We then transfer you to catch your flight after an unforgettable 8 day homecoming experience with your new family,. B, D
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It's been a month since we returned from our 10-day wildlife/birding tour of Ghana, we're putting the finishing touches on our photo album, and we still marvel and how perfectly everything went.
The naturalist guide, James, is a world class birder who worked very hard to eke out every additional species sighting for us. Just as importantly, he worked hard to see that we were well taken care of by the hotels and restaurants. He and the driver, William, were very congenial as well as professional, and we shared many laughs as well as thought-provoking discussions on long drives and at dinner.
The itinerary -- custom designed for us to maximize time spent experiencing nature at different venues -- could not have been better. The timing worked out great, William drove us safely on rough back-country roads and through incredible traffic (to us, since we're from a small town in the western U.S.) in the cities.
The hotels were clean and comfortable, the food was quite good, and it's impossible to say enough about James' keen eye and ear. While we were still struggling to find a bird in a far-away tree, James would say, "In the scope." and there it was at high-power magnification for us to admire and study in detail. Kakum's canopy boardwalk and Mole's beauty and abundant wildlife were wonderful.
If we are fortunate enough to visit Ghana again someday, we would like to see the eastern region with its waterfalls and hike to Ghana's highest point. But for this first visit, we wouldn't change a thing. If we do return, we would hope to travel with James and William again. We will never forget them, the amazing sights of Ghana, and the excellent service provided by Mark, Lydia, and the other staff.
The 14-day birdwatching tour was very rewarding. Going from location to location allowed us to see quite a bit of the country in addition to our 250+ species. I was very pleased with all of the accommodations -- they all had aircon and hot water.
The highlight of the hotels, however, was the proprietors. Ghanaians are supremely friendly! I especially liked the cook/owner of D&A Guest House in Shama. Very delicious buffet dinner.
Our guide, Robert Ntakor, amazed me. A bird would flit by and he'd identify it in a split second. He was also excellent at spotting birds in the dense brush and canopy. He seems to have the calls of every bird in Ghana on his iPod and we had great success attracting beauties such as the long-tailed hawk, great blue turaco, emerald cuckoo, and the list goes on.
It was great fun seeing and photographing the exotic birds.
Our family of four recently completed the Walking with Elephants tour. The detailed itinerary was very appealing to us. From the wildlife to the villages and markets, from a mosque to museums, and even a bead factory - everything exceeded our expectations!
Yaw and Kawawa (our guide and driver) were both outstanding! Yaw is extremely knowledgeable and was quick to customize the schedule to meet our needs. Kawawa always had a smile on his face, even while driving on some of the bumpiest roads we've ever encountered.
Even before the trip, Janet and the administrative staff were very responsive to our needs. When the airlines canceled certain flights, with a smile, Janet rearranged all of the dates and hotel accommodations to fit our needs.
In 10 days, we traveled over 2000 km circling the diverse country of Ghana but we wouldn't have given up any of our destinations. We would highly recommend this tour operator.
Our holiday exceeded our expections! from the moment the beaming smile of our driver and guide greeted us at the airport things just got better and better.
The whole experience was delightful, we have so many memories and photos that I could go on for ever! The services of Yah and Kawawa were fantastic. Nothing was too much trouble for them and they looked after us very well. The 2 safaris we had at Mole National Park were just wonderful. To come across an elephant is something to be experienced, feeding monkeys from my hand was amazing! The stay at Talawano lodge was an experience that I would not have wanted to miss, and the last night stay at Anamobo beach resort was lovely.
I would, without hesitation, recommend this operator to anyone.
My wife and I had a 12 day birdwatching trip to Ghana in December and enjoyed it enormously. We could be called veterans of such trips having travelled to many countries and dealt with numerous travel companies who organise these kind of holidays.
This organisation was up with the best of these and their prices are very reasonable, much lower than any UK based organisation could offer. The quality of the tour was equal to if not better than any other organisation and I would wholeheartedly recommend their services to anyone planning such a holiday.
They were fully supportive and informative throughout the planning process and the whole holiday went smoothly, which is quite unusual for this kind of holiday in our experience. We originally found the operator via the Africa Guide web site and regard ourselves very fortunate to have done so.
We covered a number of the key birding sites in Southern Ghana focussing particularly upon the Guinea rainforest endemics, successfully locating 275 species of which 127 were new birds for us and also observing the majority of the target species.
Transport and driving services were excellent and the accommodation was generally very good. The sites that we visited were evocative and in some cases spectacular: the Kakum walkway has to be experienced at least once by everyone, although in my case once will be quite enough (no head for heights). As anyone with a real interest in nature would know the experience of being in rainforest away from the crowds and the hurly burly provides a real insight into what any country has to offer.
Ghana is really an excellent country to visit, quite unlike many others in Africa where we had been previously and, whilst we had expected this to be our sole journey to this country. We are now inclined to return and experience its special atmosphere once again.
I had a fabulous time in Ghana on the Tribal Trek Tour in October.
The organization was very good and our guide, Yaw Asimoah, is most knowledgeable.
Although I could have done with fewer shopping opportunities (not the usual complaint, I expect) the wildlife viewing, historical experiences and social interactions were superb.
The trip met my family's expectation. We had professional, experienced and friendly guides. Itinerary was super. Changing hotels frequently made it more fun.
We saw many things, explored the history culture and vast areas of Ghana. Accra,Cape Coast, Kumasi, Kitampo, Mole, Water falls, Elmina Castle, Canopy walk way, Volta dam etc ,etc. We met the people, ate their food, felt their warmth and smiles, made new friends and shared their feelings.
Ghana was hot, but with the wonderfully airconditioned hotels with swimming pools that we enjoyed nightly and often during a pm break, we Northerners survived.
Our guides were personable, knowledgeable, and excellent at finding the birds we had gone to see. The ever present bottled water was a real plus as that was not something we needed to worry about. Price was not only very reasonable but it included everything(which isn't always true), even trying local treats from car vendors.
No one bugging us for tips, local food was a treat, locals were friendly and interested in us as we were in them.
We had a great vacation and I would recommend this company for any tour of Ghana, as they will take you whereever you want to go. They went out of their way to make us comfortable and to do the things we wanted to do and to find the birds we were most interested in.
9
Client:
Christine Lane - from United Kingdom
Trip:
currently unavailable
Rating:
rating 9/10
Comment:
Five of us travelled to Ghana on their 15 day Culture and Wildlife tour.
Our itinerary was excellent and we covered 8 out of the 10 regions in Ghana.Our 2 guides and 1 driver were all Ghanaian, they were informative, flexible and fun and took us to places of interest not included in the itinerary.
We started on the coast visiting the Castles and learning about the Slave Trade, we visited the largest market in West Africa, completed the amazing Canopy walk, visited various villages,learnt and watched Kenti Clothes being produced,also Palm Oil, Cocoa, Fufu and Garri. At Mole National Park we walked within 20 yards of Elephants, we went in a dug out up the Black Volta so close to Hippos and wonderful bird life and spent 2 days and 1 night living with the Lobi tribe on the border of Burkino Faso, sleeping as they do on the roof of their houses-----no electricity and water from one bore hole.
So many highlights but for me the greatest higlight was the Ghanaian people. I have lived and travelled all over Africa but never before have I met such friendly, welcoming and smiley people.
On the downside we were asked to use Paypal to pay the balance of our trip--they were a nightmare to deal with and we found other means of paying,we passed this on to the opeator.
There are a few long drives and don't always expect showers etc to be in good working order.
The tour operator was extremely helpful when we were planning this trip, nothing was too much trouble.
Finally I have no hesitation in recommending them and Ghana.
They provided any and everything we needed. The guide was very knowledgeable and was able to provide great insight into the history behind all the sites we visited. All the food and hotels except the Afia African Village were great.
The management of the African Village was not very helpful and would not except anything except Cedi's but that was not told to us until we where to check out.
I would recommend the operator to all that want to see the historical side of Ghana. I am a history teacher and I thought it was informative and insightful.
