10 Days Trip to Cape Coast and Elmina Castles from Accra

m luggage and clear Custom procedures, exit and meet our expert Cultural Tour guide for your transfer to your hotel in Accra. This is the start of what will be an amazing journey that will live with you forever. Upon arrival at the hotel and you have completed check in, our expert cultural guide who will be accompanying you for the duration of your tour, will offer you Akwaaba (welcome) and brief you on the exciting activities that await you here in Ghana The rest of the day is yours to refresh and recharge. Meal(s) Included: Dinner

Highlights: • The Independence/Black Star Square • The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park • Jamestown Fishing Community- Lighthouse • The Brazil House This morning after breakfast, there will orientation including a lecture/discussion on Ghanaian history, culture and customs. You will also learn about staying safe and healthy in Ghana. Our first visit will be to W.E.B Du Bois Centre honoring the life of the prominent Pan-Africanist who chose to live and work in Ghana. We shall continue to Independence Square where you will see the enclosed flame of African Liberation, which was lit by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in 1961. The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, final resting place of Ghana’s first president. Set in attractive gardens, there is an adjoining museum, which contains photos, artifacts and an insight into Dr. Nkrumah’s life. Our day’s visit ends at Jamestown Community-One of Accra’s most historic neighborhoods where history resides on every corner. Best known for its lighthouses (the first of which was constructed in 1875 by the British) as a navigational aid for trading vessels sailing through the Gulf of Guinea. The original structure was ruined but a larger and more improved lighthouse completed in 1921 is still functioning today. You may visit “Brazil House” and learn about the seven Afro-Brazilian families who returned to settle in Ghana in 1836. Familiar Brazilian/Portuguese last names such as De Souza, Palmares, Azumah, Amorin, Da Costa, Santos, De Medeiros and Olympio are abundant in this section of Accra Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

ACCRA – KUMASI Highlights: • National Centre for Culture • Prempeh Jubilee Museum After a well deserving breakfast and check out, we depart to Kumasi, the seat of the Ashanti Empire, where legend is still evident today. The Ashanti forms the biggest Akan ethnic group in Ghana. For centuries they were the rulers in this region because of their well-organized society. Upon arrival in Kumasi late afternoon, we will visit the National Cultural Center, which features the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum and various studios of the brass makers, potters and batik makers. The Prempeh II Jubilee Museum, named for the former Asantehene (ruler of the Ashanti people). Exhibits include a replica of the famed Golden Stool, which is believed to have descended from the sky and is the spiritual symbol of the Ashanti people. Check into your hotel for dinner and overnight. Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Highlights: • The 3 craft villages of Ahwiaa, Ntonso and Adanwomase • Manhyia Palace Museum Today you will visit Ashanti craft villages. Learn about woodcarving in the village of Ahwiaa, known for the talented craftsmen who fashion royal stools, walking sticks and fertility dolls from wood. You will have the opportunity to purchase a variety of hand-carved items. Your next stop is the village of Ntonso, where artisan’s hand-stamp patterns on cotton cloth to make Adinkra textiles. Later, visit Bonwire, where the famous Kente cloth is handmade on looms in a time-honored tradition passed down through generations. Observe the Kente weavers creating the traditional Kente cloth. Late afternoon, we visit Manhyia Palace, official residence of Ashanti Kings (Asantehene) until 1974, now a museum containing treasured items relating to the Ashanti Kingdom. Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Highlights: • Guided walk of Elmina Township • PANAFEST Following breakfast and check out, we will complete the tour of Kumasi before departing late morning to Cape Coast. Kumasi has quite a collection of British colonial buildings and it is the heart of the Ashanti culture. We enjoy a drive through the city with monuments dedicated to the memory of the great Ashanti people and also drive pass the most dynamic marketplace in West Africa- the Kejetia Market. This evening, you will embark on a guided tour through the ancient town of Elmina. At the harbor, you will see colorful fishing canoes getting ready to go to sea for another night’s task of fishing. This is a picture-perfect opportunity for the photographers in the group. Attend scheduled PANAFEST activities accompanied by your guide. Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, you will have a choice of the following two activities: 1. Relax at your hotel pool or take a dip in the ocean. 2. Visit Kakum National Park which is one of Ghana's most visited parks. Here you can take a walking tour on the forest floor where you will learn how our ancestors lived in the forest. See birds, butterflies, and perhaps catch a glimpse of the forests over 40 species of mammals including monkeys and the reclusive forest elephant. The highlight of the visit to Kakum is a walk on the canopy walkway- this is a 1000-foot-long, seven-bridge walkway with viewing platforms that reach heights of over 150 feet above ground. This evening, we attend any scheduled PANAFEST activities accompanied by your guide. Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

CAPE COAST Highlights: • Elmina/St. George’s Castle • Memorial Ceremony • PANAFEST This morning you will visit Elmina Castle, originally known as St. George's Castle. This castle was the first European structure built in Sub-Saharan Africa. Explore the grounds and rooms full of haunting history. Stroll down to the beach for a memorial ceremony where each of us will throw bread into the waters in remembrance of our ancestors. A wreath with a candle will be solemnly cast out to sea and a respectful moment of silence will be observed in remembrance of those who died in the middle passage. Attend any scheduled PANAFEST activities accompanied by your guide. Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

• Assin Manso Slave River Site • PANAFEST This morning, we will visit Assin Manso. See the burial site of two former slaves from the U.S. and Jamaica whose remains were re-interred in August 1998 during Ghana’s first Emancipation Day celebration. You will see the ‘Slave River’ where captured Africans were washed before being confined in the Slave castles to await shipment to the Americas and the Caribbean. This was the final transit point for enslaved Africans before being washed and stored in the slave castles to await shipment to unknown lands. Attend scheduled PANAFEST activities accompanied by your guide. Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Highlights: • Emancipation Day This morning we will again visit Assin Manso. Join others in the opening of Emancipation Day Celebration with a Grand Durbar of traditional chiefs and people of the Central Region. This will be a grand, colorful and spectacular event that showcases the pomp and pageantry of Ghana’s traditional rulers, dressed in fine ceremonial traditional clothing adorned in glittering gold jewelry and traditional beads. You will feel African rhythm in you as you dance to the beat of the “fontomfrom’ drums. The evening is capped off with a farewell dinner at your hotel. Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Arrive in Accra early afternoon. Your driver and guide will assist you with last minute shopping including collecting your custom-made outfits. You will have a day-room to relax before you are transferred to the airport for your flight home. Meal(s) Included: Breakfast