BOOK THIS HOLIDAY WITH – The Imaginative Traveller – HERE!

from GBP 1630 for 13 days
Visiting: Ghana

A once in a lifetime experience to see the celebration of 10 years of the Asantehene (Ashanti King). See the colourful and noisy durbar of Ashanti chiefs, covered head to toe in gold. This is combined with an off the beaten track tour of Ghana, travelling in the far north to the very south of the country. Learn about ancient kingdoms, traditional ways of life, look for African wildlife, meet a tribal chief and relax on the Ghanaian coast – this trip definitely showcases the best of this delightful country!

Brief Description and itinerary

Day 1 – ACCRA
Arrive and transfer to your hotel in Accra

Day 2 – ACCRA – AKOSSOMBO
Morning city tour around Accra before departing to Akossombo. Our first visit of the day is to see the building of fantasy coffins. These handcrafted coffins are in shape of fruits, animals, fish, cars, airplanes…. The only limit is the intended occupant’s imagination! We also visit the National Museum, one of the first works of independent Ghana. Next we explore the old quarter of James Town. En route to Akossombo we stop at a factory specializing in bead production. These beads are used for cult and aesthetic purposes and we will see the whole process of making a bead. (BD)

Day 3 – AKOSSOMBO – KUMASI
Today we pay a visit to a traditional Ashanti house, which are famous for their unique decorations. In the afternoon we will hopefully witness a typical Ashanti funeral. Saturday is the day funerals normally take place and if possible we will observe the ritual (BD)

Day 4 – KUMASI – TECHIMAN
Celebration of 10 years of royalty of the Ashanti King
Today the Ashanti population is celebrating 10 years of royalty of Otumfour Osei Tutu II. Nephew of the previous king, he was “enstooled” in 1999. One of his missions since that date has been to keep the great local Ashanti culture alive.

The festival today will take place at the city stadium: a long and colourful durbar of all the Ashanti chiefs will reach the stadium. Every chief will be dressed in gold and surrounded by a hundred people of his court. The last to reach the stadium will be the Asantehene (Ashanti King). He will bring the golden stool with him. This stool is covered with pure gold and legend has it that it floated out of the sky and landed in the lap of the first Asantehene (Ashanti King) whose chief priest declared that the soul of the nation resided in the stool. The stool is considered to be so sacred that nobody can sit on it! It is only taken outside in exceptional circumstances and is never allowed to come into contact with the earth or the ground. Historically the stool has even nearly started wars, so sacred is it to the Ashanti people. The King will be greeted by all the attendants at the festival, from the president of the Republic to the local citizens. All around him dancers, drummers and singers will keep the celebration very much alive. In the evening we drive to Techiman for the night. (BD)

Day 5 – TECHIMAN – MOLE
We drive to the beautiful clay mosque of Larabanga, built in Sudanese style. This mosque is considered to be the oldest in Ghana. We continue to Mole National Park where we hope to see the best of Ghana’s wildlife; elephants, antelopes, buffaloes, monkeys and if you are lucky hippopotamus! We stay in the park motel overlooking a watering hole where elephants may play and bathe. It is not unknown for elephants to come in to the hotel and drink from the swimming pool! (BD)

Day 6 – MOLE – BOLGATANGA
This morning we go on a walking safari in Mole National Park before departing to Bolgatanga. On arrival we have free time. (BD)

Day 7 – BOLGATANGA
To the South-east of Bolgatanga are the hills around the village of Tongo. We take a walk to the traditional compounds of the Talensi people who protect the Oracle, a spiritual presence in a cave. We walk to the cave accompanied by traditional priests. The walk passes by traditional villages and the views are beautiful. We meet the Gurunsi people who live in colourful decorated houses. (BD)

Day 8 – BOLGATANGA – WA
We stop to visit a Dagarti village. We then continue through the savannah landscape to Wa, the capital of the Upper West region. In Wa we meet with the traditional chief. (BD)

Day 9 – WA
We spend time today discovering the Lobi people. We also visit the Wechiau Hippo reserve. This reserve runs along the Burkina Faso border and offers a good opportunity to see hippos in the wild. We take a canoe excursion to try and spot these creatures. We return to Wa for the night. (BD)

Day 10 – WA – KUMASI
As we drive back to Kumasi the environment changes; from savannah to forest, from baobabs to lush green trees. We follow the ancient caravan route, on which gold dust and cola nuts were exchanged with salt, cloth and spices coming from the north. We pass Sudanese mosques as we travel south. (BD)

Day 11 – KUMASI – CAPE COAST
We travel to the coast and visit Cape Coast castle. We spend the next 2 nights at our beach resort, on a lovely stretch of coast with nothing but the occasional fishing boat blocking our view of the horizon. (BD)

Day 12 – KAKUM NATIONAL PARK – ELMINA
We first visit Kakum National park, where we take a canopy walk on the suspended rope bridge – the longest and highest of its kind in the world. Later we visit Elmina and the castle that dominates the town. (BD)

Day 13 – ELMINA – ACCRA
We drive back to Accra where you will have a chance for some last minute shopping. (B)

Note: We include day use of a hotel in Accra until 18:00 hrs. Departure transfers are arranged free of charge by the hotel. Post tour accommodation is available to pre-book if you would like to spend extra time in Accra

Key: (B) = Breakfast, (L) = Lunch, (D) = Dinner

BOOK THIS FANTASTIC HOLIDAY ITINERARY WITH ‘THE IMAGINATIVE TRAVELLER’ – HERE!