10 Day Traditional Religion Festival

Arrive in Accra, Ghana. Transfer from the airport to your hotel. Welcome drink and orientation. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Lodging: Hotel in Accra
Meals: Dinner

After breakfast, depart your hotel for a sightseeing city tour of Accra. You will drive through the administrative and economic districts of Accra, the capital of Ghana. Over 100 years old, this city has a blend of colonial and modern architecture that summarize her history.

You will visit the W. E. B. Dubois Center for Pan African Culture, Independence/Black Star Square and Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. After lunch in a local Ghanaian restaurant, you will end your tour at the Arts Centre where you will have an opportunity to use your bargaining skills to shop from an open-air market for artifacts from Ghana and West Africa. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Lodging: Hotel in Accra
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast at your hotel, depart for a drive through the historic Denkyira Kingdom to Kakum National Park, one of West Africa’s surviving tropical rain forests. Choose between a 2 kilometer nature walk through this forest to discover the wide variety of exotic floral species and the medicinal values they offer or traverse the canopy walkway which hangs 100 feet above the forest floor.

Enjoy a pleasurable lunch, then visit Cape Coast Castle. Built by the Swedes in 1653 and later taken over by the British, this castle also houses the West African Historical Museum. Experience the history of the slave trade, the impact of which is felt in Africa and beyond even today. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Lodging: Hotel in Elmina
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, check out and depart for a drive through the forest zone to Kumasi, the seat of the legendary Ashanti Empire. After lunch, visit Manhyia Palace Museum, to obtain firsthand information on the legacies of the Ashanti Kingdom. The Ashanti’s have a famously regal history which dates back to 1700 and is evidenced by extraordinary relics and artifacts.

Enjoy a drive through the city of Kumasi and see the many monuments dedicated to the memory of great Ashanti people. End the day’s tour at the National Cultural Center which features the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum and is home to the dazzling studios of traditional potters, brass and batik makers. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Lodging: Hotel in Kumasi
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

This day is devoted to visiting the three famous craft villages in Ashanti: Ahwiaa (the woodcarvers’ village), Ntonso (the home of Adinkra) and Bonwire (the Kente weaving village). You will have the opportunity to see how African crafts are made and buy directly from the artisans who make them. After lunch, depart for a scenic drive through the forest zone to Accra. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Lodging: Hotel in Accra
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast at your hotel, depart Accra for a scenic drive along the coast to Cotonou. Stopover in Lome for lunch. After lunch, continue the journey to Cotonou. Check-in and spend the remainder of the day at leisure. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Lodging: Hotel in Cotonou
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, depart for a visit to Ouidah, the cradle of African traditional religion. Join the local people of Ouidah as the nation (Benin) celebrates Voodoun Festival. This religious holiday honors the victims of slavery with solemn ceremonies of remembrance and wreath-laying at historic monuments. Elders, priests and priestesses perform ceremonies and make offerings to the gods, seeking bountiful harvests and humbly asking for protection from evil influences. It is a joyous occasion, accompanied by colorful costumes and much singing, dancing and drumming.

You will have the opportunity to tour the temple dedicated to the sacred python, which is believed to give vitality and protection. You will also pay a visit to the sacred forest, which houses many shrines dedicated to various deities. Next, visit the historical Museum of Ouidah, located in a Portuguese fort built in 1721. This museum reveals Benin's role in the transatlantic slave trade. Later, visit the “Port of No Return,” a monument built by the Benin government to commemorate the Africans taken from the Dahomey Empire. Return to Cotonou for dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Lodging: Hotel in Cotonou
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, be prepared for a sensational visit to Ganvie, a village built over water (and commonly referred to as the “Venice of West Africa”). Witness first-hand as the people of Ganvie carry out their daily routines in dugout canoes piled high with wares, transacting commerce with one another and with tourists.

You will enjoy shopping on the floating market and taking a relaxing canoe ride on the waterways of this exotic village which is over 300 years old. After lunch, depart Cotonou for a drive 144 km north to Abomey, the historical capital of the great Kingdom of Dahomey. Visit the Royal Palace and its museum, featuring relics that tell the story of this centuries-old Kingdom. Return to Cotonou for dinner and overnight.

Lodging: Hotel in Cotonou
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, depart Cotonou for Accra via Lome. Stop in Lome to enjoy lunch, then continue on to Accra. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Lodging: Hotel in Accra
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Spend the day at leisure or doing last minute shopping. Check-out of your hotel and transfer to the airport for check-in and departure.

Meals: Breakfast