Discover Senegal & Ghana

Day 1: ARRIVE IN DAKAR, SENEGAL

Upon arrival in Dakar, you will be met, assisted, and transferred to your hotel.

Early check-in guaranteed.

The day is at leisure.

Hotel: Pullman Teranga

Meal(s) Included: Dinner

Highlights

• Renaissance Monument
• Museum of African Civilization
• Markets

After breakfast, go on the city tour of Dakar and its vicinity. Sites include the Africa Renaissance Monument, a 164-ft-high monument unveiled in 2010, overlooking Dakar and is taller than the Statue of Liberty. The once-controversial bronze statue is a popular attraction among locals as well as visitors. It features a man, woman, and child pointing, a symbol of renewed African hope. The woman is now decently clothed, as conservative groups forced the government to lengthen her formerly short skirt, at a cost of more than US$10 million, to a more modest length. In Independence Place, the heart of the city, you will pass by the presidential palace and the main cathedral. Then get to the Museum of Black Civilization. This massive, four-story complex fulfilled the dream of Senegal’s first president, Leopold Sedar Senghor. The museum retraces the oldest and first civilizations from Africa to the rest of the world. The architect is inspired by the impluvium huts found in Casamance.  Opportunity. for beach activities this evening.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Pullman Teranga

Day 3: DAKAR – GOREE ISLAND – SALY

Highlights

• Goree Island
• The Door of No Return
• Pink Lake

Depart on the 20-minute ferry ride to visit the charming yet infamous Goree Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore the quiet streets lined with pastel-colored colonial-era buildings. Among the most famous buildings here is the House of Slaves, which records the painful history of Goree’s past. Observe the “Door of No Return” through which millions passed on the way to slavery. The tour includes a visit to the ethnographic museum and a lecture on the history of Goree.

You may visit the MariamaBâ, an Elite high school for girls named after the famous Senegalese writer. The school was founded in 1977 by Leopold Sedar Senghor, first president of Senegal, and was named after Mariama Bâ, a novelist, teacher, and feminist who struggled for women’s rights in Senegal. The school admits girls who obtained the highest scores during the national secondary school entrance exam. Each year, about 50 female students from the 11 regions of Senegal are given the opportunity to attend the school for the rest of their high school years.

After lunch, return to Dakar and drive to visit Pink Lake, a rare natural phenomenon caused by a unique combination of microorganisms and a high concentration of salt, which gives the lake its unique pink color. Interact with the women harvesting salt and visit the nearby Fulani village.Continue to Saly in time for an evening splash in the ocean.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Palm Beach Resort & Spa

Day 4: SALY – BANDIA – SALY

Highlights

• Bandia National Park

After breakfast, check out and drive to visit Pink Lake, a rare natural phenomenon caused by a unique combination of micro-organisms and a high concentration of salt which gives the lake its unique pink color. Interact with the women harvesting salt and visit the nearby Fulani village.

After lunch, drive to Bandia Park where you will see numerous species native to Senegal including buffalos, antelopes, impala gazelles, monkeys, tortoises, and crocodiles in addition to white rhinoceros, kudu, elands, cape moose, giraffes, ostriches, zebras. Stop by the crocodile pool where animals come to drink and buffalos wallow in the mud.

You will see numerous bird species including the small hornbills, grey herons, eagles, blackbirds, and kingfishers.

This evening, enjoy Saly’s splendid beach.

Hotel: Palm Beach Resort & Spa

Day 5: SALY – ACCRA, GHANA

Morning at leisure until you are transferred to the airport for your flight to Ghana.

Upon arrival at Kotoka International Airport, proceed through immigration, claim luggage, clear customs procedures, exit, and meet our expert Cultural Tour guide.

You will drive through Accra straight to your hotel; after check-in, your guide, who will be with you throughout your stay, will brief you on what to expect during your stay in Ghana.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Lancaster Accra

Day 6: ACCRA

Highlights:

• W.E.B Dubois Centre
• The Independence/Black Square
• The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
• Teshie Fantasy Coffin Shops

After a sumptuous breakfast at your hotel, begin the tour of this bustling city, which has a blend of modern buildings and old structures that remain from colonial times. You will pass through the economic and administrative districts.

• The W.E.B. DuBois Centre for Pan-Africanism The Du Bois Center was established to honor the lives of prominent Pan-African people who chose to live and work in Ghana. A place of Pan-Africanism, the center includes a conference room and a memorial/museum that chronicles the life of Dr. Du Bois and highlights Ghana’s role in Pan-Africanism.
• Then head to Independence Square, where the flame of African Liberation in 1961 was lit by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
• With its charming gardens and museum, the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park is a great place to learn about Ghana’s first president. It is also the final resting place of the late President Osagyefo, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
• After lunch (on our own account), visit the Arts & Crafts Market, where we purchase authentic African fabrics for custom-made clothing.
• End the day’s adventure at Teshie Nungua, to see a local casket-making shop where a collection of caskets is carved in the shape of different objects, depicting traditional beliefs in life after death. The “Fantasy Coffins” of Teshie Nungua have been featured in National Geographic and can be found in museums and galleries worldwide.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Lancaster Accra

Day 7: ACCRA – KUMASI

Highlights:

• Manhyia Palace Museum

After breakfast, we will check out of the hotel and head to Kumasi.  Upon arrival in Kumasi, visit Manhyia Palace, the official residence of Ashanti kings (Asantehene) until 1974 and now a museum containing treasured items relating to the Ashanti Kingdom. This is where we obtain firsthand information on the legacies of this unified monarchy.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Golden Bean

Day 8: KUMASI

Highlights:

• 3 craft villages of the Ashanti Kingdom
• Okomfo Anokye sword site

Today, enjoy a scenic drive through several villages with Ashanti cultural-styled houses in the surrounding lush countryside, which is a sharp contrast to modern-day Kumasi city.

Adanwomase will be our first craft village where we will see how the famous Kente Cloth is handmade on looms in a time-honored tradition passed down through generations. See the Kente patterns with each having a meaning. You will have the opportunity to make purchases. We may pay a courtesy call to the chief of this community amidst drumming and dancing or see their cocoa farms (must be prearranged).

We will continue to the village of Ntonso, where Artisans hand-stamp patterns on Cotton cloth to make Adinkra Textiles. Black-on-Black and Black-on-Red Adinkra Cloth is worn for funerals and other solemn occasions; learn how the Black Dye is made in the village from the bark of trees and create your own Adinkra sash to take home. You may also purchase large pieces of the Adinkra Cloth handmade in the village.

Our final village will be the Woodcarving Village of Ahwiaa, known for the talented craftsmen who fashion Royal stools, walking sticks, and Fertility Dolls from wood, with the opportunity to purchase hand-carved items of all kinds.

Continue to Central Kumasi, which has quite a collection of British colonial buildings and 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 on our way to visit the Okomfo Anokye sword site, an important symbol of Ashanti unity that marks the spot where the golden stool “descended from the sky” and has been in place for over 300 years.  Legend says the Ashanti kingdom would collapse should the sword ever be removed.

Return to your hotel early evening.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Golden Bean

Day 9: KUMASI—ASSIN MANSO—CAPE COAST

Highlights:

• Assin Manso Slave River
• Elmina Township Walk

Today, we depart for yet another adventure of the Coastal lands of Ghana—Elmina & Cape Coast. En route, we stop at Assin Manso, the burial site of two former slaves from the USA and Jamaica whose remains were re-interred in August 1998 during Ghana’s first Emancipation Day Celebration.  A visit to “the Slave River” or “Donkor Nsuo” offers the chance to see the place where captured Africans were washed before being confined in the Slave Castles to await shipment to the Americas and Caribbean.

This evening, enjoy the sights of the many colorful fishing boats bringing their daily catch into the harbor and take the opportunity to mix with the locals at the nearby market. A short distance from the market you can visit the boat builders, still building colorful fishing boats using traditional tools and methods spanning centuries.

Continue to your hotel, check-in and prepare for dinner.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Ridge Royal Hotel

Day 10: ELMINA & CAPE COAST CASTLES

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Cape Coast Castle
• Elmina or St. George’s Castle

Today, we will visit Cape Coast Castle, a UNESCO world heritage site. The castle is a thought-provoking monument to a harrowing period in the region’s history. You will take an emotional journey through the castle, which held more enslaved Africans than any other in the region, viewing the dungeons and the infamous “Door of no Return.”. There is a significant historical museum inside, which explains the history of the castle and of Cape Coast itself. You can purchase literature on Ghana’s forts and castles, as well as the cultural history and traditions of Ghana. Next, we visit Elmina Castle, another World Heritage Site.

Late afternoon, you will go through the “Fihankra” Fihankra is a ceremony that seeks to reconnect people of African descent, who have been lost due to the transatlantic slave trade, to the motherland. This ceremony reconnects returnees with the cultural and spiritual ties that had been denied them for centuries. The final part of Fihankra includes a naming ceremony.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Ridge Royal Hotel

Day 11: ELMINA—KAKUM—ACCRA—DEPART

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Kakum National Park

After breakfast, you will check out of your hotel for a visit to Kakum National Park, Ghana’s most famous park. Take a brief walking tour of the forest floor, where you will learn how our ancestors lived in the forest. See birds and butterflies, and catch a glimpse of the forests of over 40 species of mammals, including monkeys and the reclusive forest elephant. Proceed to the canopy walk. Kakum is home to Africa’s only aerial walkway through the tree canopy, a 1000-foot-long and even-bridge walkway with viewing platforms that reach heights over 150 feet above the ground.

Return to Accra, arriving late in the afternoon. Visit the popular Arts & Crafts Market if you like aggressive bartering or the African Market in Osu (Ghana’s Soho) if you prefer fixed prices.

You are provided with dayroom in Accra to refresh and relax until you are transferred to the airport for your onward flight.

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast