Ghana Heritage Expedition

Our Representative will be at the airport to welcome you and transfer you to your hotel. Hw will be standing at the terminal gate of your arrival right after customs clearance. Evening: In the evening, a visit to your hotel will be scheduled to meet tailors and dressmakers featuring casual wear and formal garments made from local fabric and textiles. You may purchase ready-made clothes or place an order for a custom-made outfit. Hair braiders will also be available to showcase a wide range of hairstyles. Dinner and overnight will be at your hotel.

After breakfast, your tour leader will brief you about your tour before starting orientation to Accra's historical and cultural sights. Depart for a full-day city tour of Accra, visiting the W.E.B. Du Bois Centre for Pan-Africanism; this is the final burial place and home of the prominent American Pan-Africanist Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, who led the Pan-African congress between 1919 and 1927. It is currently a Pan African Center for Culture. It has a research library and gallery full of manuscripts, the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, and Park, the burial place of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana. Many world dignitaries have visited the Mausoleum. Light lunch at a local restaurant.

Continue to Old Accra, which was divided into Dutch and British Quarters due to the two European nations operating from different locations within the same township of a little under one sq. kilometer. You will drive past Fort Crêvecoeur (Ussher Fort), built by the Dutch in 1652, James Fort, built by the British in 1662, Old Accra Square and the Post Office, the old lighthouse built by the British to guide commercial ships into the Accra Harbour.

Drive past the Independence Arch and the Black Star Square-Accra's ceremonial grounds to visit the National Centre for Arts and Crafts. Have the opportunity to see local artisans carve and make local drums. The remainder of the afternoon will be spent at the open market to browse and purchase crafts and arts from artisans firsthand. Dinner and accommodation will be at your hotel. Today represents an immersion into daily African life for your Ghana Heritage tour. B.D

A sumptuous breakfast will be served in your hotel cafeteria before you start your day exploring the best of the Ghana Heritage expedition. Depart Accra on your overland 4X4 wheels vehicles to Ashanti Region, visiting many outposts on the way to Kumasi. Our first stop is the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Cocoa Farm at Akuapem Mampong, the very first cocoa farm established in Ghana from seeds from Fernando Po in 1876. From this small beginning grew, Ghana’s cocoa industry and Ghana’s largest export. Cocoa from Ghana is used to blend some of the world’s finest chocolates. Continue to the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), founded in 1938 as the Central Cocoa Research Station of the Gold Coast Department of Agriculture. Visit the Cocoa plantation to observe first-hand the process of harvesting, drying, and preparing cocoa beans for export. We will take a lunch break and then continue to Kumasi, the hub of the Ashanti ancient kingdom, after lunch. Drive past several charming and scenic villages through the evergreen tropical forest. We will reach our destination in the evening and check into our hotel. Dinner and overnight will be at the hotel. B.D

Today, our Ghana cultural tour will take us on an adventure to visit the legendary villages of the Ashanti Kingdom. Depart after breakfast to visit the three famous craft villages in Ashanti. Ahwiaa, the woodcarvers’ village; Ntonso, the home of Adinkra and Bonwire, the Kente weaving village. Visit Adanwomase, well known for the traditional Kente cloth weaving. Observe weavers exhibit their skills in producing the clothes adorned, some of which is a preserved for the Ashanti Kings; Ntonso - noted for its indigenous artisans whose expertise lies in Adinkra textile printing using traditional symbols that express the spiritual, moral, political, and socio-cultural philosophies of the Akan people. In the Ntonso Adinkra village, you can try to create your designs and Ahwiaa – the woodcarver’s village specializing in woodcarvings such as the Ashanti stools, fertility dolls, and walking sticks. We will also venture to a local restaurant for a local specialty for lunch.

After lunch, we will continue to Kumasi for a city tour visiting the Manhyia Palace and the Palace Museum, which provides a good insight into Ashanti culture and traditions and the history of the Ashanti Kingdom, which is over 300 years old. It provides a good glimpse into the powerful ancient Ashanti Empire and its past kings. Dinner and accommodation will be at your hotel in Kumasi. B.D

Depart Kumasi after breakfast to the Central Region, drive past scenic villages and charming towns through the evergreen forests, banana and cocoa plantations, and gin distilleries where palm wine is distilled into goods with an alcohol percentage of about 90%. On our way to exploring the marvels of Ghana, we will make some stops in notable places such as a palm wine tappers hut. Palm Wine is a local beverage with natural sweetness and shallow alcohol content freshly tapped from a fallen palm tree's trunk. The expert palm wine tapper using age-long practices carefully makes a rectangular incising on the top trunk and bores a pencil hole at the bottom; this is fitted with a bamboo stick, and the liquid drips through the bamboo and is collected in a clay pot or a container. However, when palm wine is not consumed within two days, it becomes fermented. The fermented palm wine is further distilled to obtain a very high-alcohol locally called "AKPETESHIE," with more than 70% alcohol content. We will break for lunch, then continue our quest to Elmina. Immediately upon arrival, we will start our visit to the historic Elmina. Our guided tour will start at Elmina Castle, the first and oldest European structure built of any substance on African soil. The Portuguese built this in 1482 and later used it as an auction market for a comprehensive guided tour. See the slave dungeons and condemned cells where an enslaved person who attempted to escape was incarcerated. View its utterly distinct architecture. Check into your hotel for dinner and accommodation. B.D

After breakfast. We will take off to explore the Kakum National Park. We will take a hiking morning enjoying the “Kuntan Trail” with its countless trees with medicinal properties. For the young, at heart experience, the “Canopy Walkway” is suspended 100 feet from the forest ground for a panoramic view of flora and fauna of the remaining vestiges of the rainforest. We will stop for lunch at a local restaurant. Proceed after lunch on our discovery tour to visit the Cape Coast Castle, originally started by the Swedes in 1652. It served as the headquarters and seat of the British colonial government until 1877. Go on a comprehensive tour of the Castle, the slave dungeons and the West African Heritage Museum, and the Negotiation Hall, where our ancestors were bargained for and sold. Participate in a re-enactment of the Slave Trade at the Cape Coast Castle in solemn homage to our ancestors. Depart Elmina back to Accra. Drive past several fishing villages and coconut-lined beaches. Enjoy some of the breathtaking landscapes Ghana has to offer. Reach Accra in the afternoon with plenty of free time to roam around the city and do some last-minute shopping. Check into your hotel in the evening. Enjoy a festive farewell dinner. B.D

After breakfast, we will check out from the hotel and take you to Accra Airport to connect with your flight back home. We hope our overland Ghana tour and expedition were up to your expectations. Looking forward to welcoming you on another Heritage trip to Ghana. B