10 Day Traditional Religious Festival Tour

Day 1                          AKWAABA-WELCOME
Arrive in Accra, Ghana. Transfer from airport to your hotel. Welcome drink and orientation. Dinner and overnight at Hotel in Accra.

Day 2                          ACCRA CITY TOUR
After breakfast depart hotel for a sightseeing city tour of Accra. You will drive through the administrative and economic districts of Accra, the capital of Ghana. This 128-year-old city with 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 in Accra.

DAY 3                         KAKUM NATIONAL PARK / CAPE COAST CASTLE
After breakfast at hotel, depart for a drive through the historic Denkyira Kingdom to Kakum National Park, one of the West Africa’s surviving tropical rain forests. Choose between a 2 km nature walk through this forest to discover the wide variety of exotic floral species and the medicinal values they offer or take a walk on the canopy walkway hanging 30 meters (100ft) above the forest ground. Take your pleasurable lunch at Hans Cottage Botel while watching the resident crocodiles and busy weaver birds. After lunch, visit the Cape Coast Castle built by the Swedes in 1653 and was later taken over by the British. This castle also houses the West African Historical Museum. History will unfold the story of the slave trade which the impact is still felt beyond the shores of Africa today. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Elmina

DAY 4                        ASANTEMAN (Ashanti Empire)
After breakfast at your hotel, check out and depart for a 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. After lunch, visit Manhyia Palace Museum, to obtain firsthand information on the legacies of the Ashanti kingdom. A regal history that dates back to 1700 is told with relics and artifacts. Enjoy a drive through the city with monuments dedicated to the memory of the great Ashanti people.  End the day’s tour at the National Cultural Center which features the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum and various studios of the brass makers, potters and batik makers.  Dinner and overnight at hotel in Kumasi.

DAY 5                         ASANTI CRAFT VILLAGES
This day is devoted to visiting the three famous Ashanti craft villages. After breakfast depart for Ahwiaa, the wood carvers’ village, Ntonso, the home of Adinkra cloth and Bonwire, the Kente weaving village. You will have an opportunity to see how African crafts are made and to 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 hotel in Accra.

Day 6                           ACCRA - COTONOU
Breakfast at hotel.   Depart Accra for a scenic drive along the coast to Cotonou.  Stop over at 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 hotel in Cotonou.

Day 7               COTONOU – OUIDAH (VOODOO FESTIVAL)
Depart for a visit to Ouidah, the cradle of African Traditional Religion.  Join the local people of Ouidah as the nation (Benin) celebrates Voodoo Festival. This religious holiday serves the purpose of honoring victims of slavery with solemn ceremonies of remembrance and wreathes laid at monuments of slavery. Again elders’ priests and priestesses perform ceremonies and make offering to the gods seeking bountiful harvest and humbly asking for protection from evil influences.  It is a joyous occasion accompanied by colorful costumes and much singing, dancing and drumming.  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. Visit the historical Museum of Ouidah located in an old Portuguese fort built in 1721. This Museum portrays Benin's role in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Later, visit the Port of No Return; a monument built by the Benin Government to commemorate the Africans that were taken from the Dahomey Empire during the Slave Trade. Return to Cotonou for dinner and overnight.

Day 8                        COTONOU - GANVIE - ABOMEY
After breakfast, make a sensational visit to Ganvie (the village on water), commonly referred to as the Venice of West Africa. Witness first hand, the people of Ganvie carrying out their daily routine as vendors in dugout canoes pile 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 300-year-old village.  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 with relics that tell the story of this great kingdom that survived for several centuries. Return to Cotonou for dinner and overnight.

Day 9                            COTONOU– ACCRA
After breakfast, depart Cotonou for Accra via Lome. Stop over at Lome for lunch and then continue to Accra.  Dinner and overnight at hotel in Accra.

DAY 10                       DAY AT LEISURE / DEPARTURE
Today is reserved as your day at Leisure or for any last minute shopping. Depart to the airport for check-in and departure back home.