REVISED PROGRAM-EDUTOUR OF GHANA- JULY 22 - AUGUST 07 2019 -revised

Meals Included: Welcome Dinner Best Western Plus Accra Beach Hotel 3 Wednesday July 24 ACCRA Accra, the capital of Ghana, has maintained its unique identity despite the fast paced devel

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Ghana, Togo & Benin July 22 to August 07, 2019 Including Travel dates

Ghana, 10 nights Togo, 2 Nights Benin, 3 Nights

1

Monday,

July 22

2

Tuesday

July 23

ARRIVE ACCRA, GHANA

Upon arrival at Kotoka International Airport, proceed through immigrations, claim luggage and clear Custom procedures, exit and meet our expert Cultural Tour guide You have a drive through the Accra Mall to exchange money or have lunch (on your own account) before continuing to your hotel

(Hotel check-in is at 3:00pm)

This evening there is orientation which includes a lecture/discussion on

African culture and a welcome dinner with entertainment Tailors and dressmakers will be in attendance to take your orders for custom made outfits

Meal(s) Included: Welcome Dinner

Best Western Plus Accra Beach Hotel

3

Wednesday

July 24

ACCRA

Accra, the capital of Ghana, has maintained its unique identity despite the fast paced development currently underway in this intriguing African city.Today is dedicated to meeting government, regional and local stakeholders in the area

of Health, Gender rights and Social Work

We begin the day short tour of the beautiful and vast campus of University of Ghana, Legon in our private air conditioned vehicle

 We will meet and hold discussions with a lecturer/Professor at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana on

understanding slave history, slave trade & African Liberation

 Visit the University Of Ghana School Of Social Work followed by a meeting with executives and members of Ghana Social Workers Association which was formed in the 1970s to promote the best possible social work services for all people who may need them, whiles also securing the well being of social workers

 Visit the International Health Care Centre (partners with the West Africa AIDS Foundation), which serves marginalized and vulnerable people who many a time have constraints in accommodation the cost

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of care They are also well-experienced in offering counseling and testing for various chronic conditions including HIV as well as managing persons infected with HIV IHCC is also one of the NACP’s accredited anti-retroviral (ART) sites in the country

 Finally, we meet and hold discussions with management and staff of Ghana Aids Commission, established in 2002 as the highest policy making body on HIV & AIDS that provides effective leadership in the coordination of the programmes and activities undertaken by all stakeholders of the national response through advocacy, joint planning, research, monitoring and evaluation towards comprehensive prevention and total control of the disease

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner 4

Thursday

July 25

ACCRA & VICINITY

After breakfast, we set off for a panaramic tour of Accra

 Visit the W.E.B Du Bois Centre for Pan Africanism; this is the final burial place and former home of the prominent American Pan-Africanist Dr W.E.B Du Bois, who led the Pan-African congress between 1919 and 1927 It is currently a Pan African Center for culture and it also has a research library and gallery full of manuscripts

 Drive past the Independence Arch and the Black Star Square, Accra’s ceremonial grounds, to visit the Arts and Crafts market

 View the Christiansborg Castle, office and residence of the President of Ghana

 Continue to visit the final resting places of the fathers of Pan-Africanism Visit the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, burial place of the first President of Ghana Ghana’s first president is known to have spearheaded the course of Pan Africanism on the African Continent and beyond The Mausoleum has been visited by many world dignitaries

 Your last stop for the tour will be at the Arts and Crafts market where you may try out your bargaining skills on the local vendors and to

“shop till you drop”

 We will have the opportunity of visiting the office of Women in Law and Development in Ghana (WiLDAF) for an interactive session learning about their consistent efforts in building the capacity of women across Ghana WilDaf is a Pan Africa Women’s rights network which aims to promote and reinforce strategies that link law and development in order to increase women’s participation and influence

at the local, national and international levels They are operational in several African

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner

5

Friday

July 26

ACCRA-KUMASI

We depart for a scenic drive to Kumasi the capital of the cradle of African culture- Ashanti Region Kumasi may surprise you, being the most dynamic marketplace in West African and the second largest city in Ghana with a population of almost three million

Noda Hotel

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At the outskirts of Kumasi, we will visit the Ashanti Craft villages as follows:

 The village of Bonwire, to explore the famous Kente cloth which is

handmade on looms in a time-honored tradition passed down through generations See the Kente weavers in the process of creating Kente cloth in various intricate styles and interact with the craftsmen

 The village of Ntonso, where artisan’s hand-stamp patterns on cotton

cloth to make Adinkra textiles Ntonso is noted for its indigenous artisans whose expertise lies in the Adinkra textiles printing using traditional symbols that express the spiritual, moral, political and socio-cultural philosophies of the Akan people The Adinkra textiles are also worn for funerals and other solemn occasions Learn how the black dye is made from the bark of trees, and create your own Adinkra sash to take home

 The woodcarving village Of Ahwiaa, known for the talented

craftsmen who fashion royal stools, fertility dolls and other crafts from wood Witness the woodcarvers turn pieces of wood into a beautiful Ashanti stool or fertility doll

Transfer to the hotel

Saturday

July 27

KUMASI

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

We will visit the Manhyia Palace, official residence of Ashanti Kings (Asantehene) until 1974, now a museum containing treasured items relating

to the Ashanti Kingdom Visit the nearby Okomfo Anokye Sword, an important symbol of Ashanti unity that marks the spot where the Golden Stool

“descended from the sky” and has been in place for 300 years Legend says the Ashanti Kingdom would collapse should the sword ever be removed

We continue to the National Cultural Center, which features the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum and various studios of the brass makers, potters and batik makers

On your return to the hotel, you will have a drive through the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Campus After the tour, we return to the hotel

Noda Hotel

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Sunday

July 28

KUMASI- ELMINA

This morning you will experience an authentic Ghanaian local worship service

by attending mass at the St Peter’s Basilica in Kumasi before we depart for the spiritual heart of Ghana- Cape Coast

 Stop en route at Assin Manso to visit the burial site of the remains of the two ancestors exhumed from New York’s Wall Street and Jamaica

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Kingston and re-interred on the Emancipation Day 1998 Visit the

“Enslaved African River”

 This evening, meet and hold discussions with Mr Felix Nguah award winning Tourism professional in Ghana With his experience working

as Senior Museums and Monuments Education Officer at the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, he is well able to take the group through an interactive session on Trans-Atlantic slave-trade and

Ghanaian culture He is a co-author of SHACKLES IN DARKNESS: A

HANDBOOK ON THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

Transfer to the hotel and enjoy the rest of day on the beach

Monday

July 29

ELMINA & VICINITY

This morning after breakfast, we drive a short distance to Cape Coast and visit the Cape Coast Castle; also a UNESCO World Heritage Monument was

originally started by the Swedes in 1652 It served as the headquarters and seat of the British colonial government until 1877 Go on a comprehensive tour of the Castle, the Slave Dungeons and the West African Heritage Museum

The guide will lead you to slave quarters and Negotiation Hall where our ancestors were bargained and sold

We continue to Elmina embarking on a guided walking tour of Elmina, which was the first point of European contact in Sub-Saharan Africa It was once the most cosmopolitan city in Tropical Africa Climb the Jago Hill to Fort Saint Jargo, which was used by the Dutch as a post to snatch the Elmina Castle from the Portuguese You will be thrilled by the various Colonial Dutch Cemeteries

as well as the colorful Safo (Fante Traditional Soldiers) posts with their philosophical symbols Visit the Elmina Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage monument It is the oldest and largest European structure built in sub-Saharan Africa This was built by the Portuguese in1482 and later used as an auction market for a comprehensive guided tour See the slave dungeons and condemn cells where slave who attempted to escape were incarcerated View its utterly distinct architecture

Rest of day at leisure on the beach

Elmina Beach Resort

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Tuesday

July 30

ELMINA-CAPE COAST-ELMINA

After breakfast, you will check out of your hotel for Accra Enroute, you enjoy

a drive through the historic Denkyira Kingdom to Kakum National Park, one of West Africa's surviving tropical rain forests Extending over 360sq km, Kakum

is the home to over 40 large mammals and 400 bird species as well as many species of butterflies, flora and fauna The most popular attraction is the canopy walkway, which is made up of seven bridges extending 330m, hanging 30m above the forest floor 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

Elmina Beach Resort

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After lunch (on your own account), visit the Cape Coast School for the Deaf, a

school that trains deaf children from all over the Central region You will be welcomed by the students with traditional cultural performance The students

at Cape Coast School for the Deaf have put their disability aside in keeping the African traditional cultural performances alive They will excite you with African traditional drumming and dancing skills After the Welcome ceremony, meet and interact with teachers and students This would provide

a unique opportunity to donate clothes, toys and school supplies to the school

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast & Dinner 10

Wednesday

July 31

ELMINA-ACCRA

After breakfast, we will check out of our hotel and set off to Accra Stop en route at a typical farming village to pay a courtesy call on the Chief Interact with the Chief and his people and learn more about village life in Ghana

Observe village life and share experiences You would have the opportunity of visiting a pineapple farm to learn at first hand the use of centuries old

methods of farming

Arrive early afternoon and you visit the office of Compassion International, Ghana who are engaged in a holistic Child Development Approach In this approach, they seek to develop the child spiritually, physically, in terms of their cognitive skills and socio-emotional strength Here you discuss about their general efforts in achieving this goal

Transfer to your hotel for overnight stay

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast & Dinner

11

Thursday

August 01

ACCRA-LOME

Today we follow the coast dotted with Ewe villages, tranquil lagoons and tropical vegetation before we reach Togo and the capital Lome (we depart Ghana/enter Togo via the Aflao border post)

Lomé, with a population of 837,437 (metro population 1,570,283), is the capital and largest city of Togo Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center and its chief port The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels It also has an oil refinery The city was founded in the 19th century by German, British and African traders, becoming the capital of Togoland in 1897

Upon arrival we will have a scenic drive of Lome: an ocean drive, market area, public buildings, main boulevards and the new International Museum of the Gulf of Guinea

Transfer to your hotel; check in and refresh

Hotel Sancta Maria

12

Friday

August 02

LOME-TOGOVILLE-LOME

Today, you explore Togo’s vibrant capital where modernism and tradition so well overlap Visit the Akodesséwa fetish market, Independence Square portraying the struggle of the people of Togo for their emancipation from the French colonial rule Continue to National museum housing pieces of Togo’s

Hotel Sancta Maria

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rich culture Proceed to Artisans’ Village where you could admire Togo’s craftsmen at work and probably buy some souvenirs Along the coastal road, see most colonial buildings and one of the president’s offices

Continue to Togoville for sightseeing About 16 miles from Lome lay Lake Togo, a quiet lagoon lake, good for boating, windsurfing and water skiing At Agbodrafo, you may board the fishermen’s canoes to help them pull in their nets (seek permission from the village chief)

From there, you can easily travel by shared boat to Togoville, a red-earth village which was the homeland of numerous slaves taken to Haiti, who were members of the voodoo cult Here you will find magic remedies and voodoo charms used by local sorcerers

Saturday

August 02

LOME-OUIDAH-COTONOU, BENIN

This morning, we drive along the scenic Togo Lagoon from Lome to the colonial town of Aneho, capital of the former German Togoland, where we exit Togo (border post Aneho)

After entering Benin (border post Hilla-Condji), we drive to Ouidah, an important historical center and the cradle of the Voodoo religion Ouidah offers a calm and relaxed atmosphere with its colonial buildings and it tropical atmosphere Our Ouidah tour will include the Temple of Pythons and the sacred forest, both important Voodoo Shrines as well as the Portuguese Fort now housing the History Museum The exhibit focuses on the slave trade and Benin consequent cultural links with the Caribbean and the Americas

From the city center, we retrace part of the infamous slave route, passing a former slave market and numerous shrines and memorials erected by the African Diaspora of the New World We travel all the way to the ocean and the Door of No Return

We drive to Cotonou, the commercial capital of Benin

Hotel Du Lac

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Sunday

August 03

COTONOU & PORT NOVO

This morning, we travel the short distance to Porto Novo, the capital of Benin and its second largest city of approximately 250,000 people – a nice change of pace from the bustling Cotonou Porto Novo, named by the Portuguese in the 1500s, is still today showing significant Portuguese influence For its size, Porto Novo has an interesting culture and tourist attractions

In addition to a panoramic tour of the city, we will visit the Musée Éthnographique de Porto Novo, an interesting museum that takes an intensive look into the past of Porto Novo's kings, displaying a good selection of

fetishes, old Yoruba king masks, costumes, and some musical instruments

We also visit Palais Royal du Roi Toffa This former residence of King Toffa is now officially called Musée Home This well-maintained, rather simple, palace

is a nice look into how African royalty really lived 1883 was the year King Toffa signed the treaty with French, agreeing to hand over land The kingdom

of Porto Novo was one of the longest lasting in Africa, lasting up until

1976 We also see the unique and perhaps most colorful building in West

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Africa the 19th century Brazilian style church now converted into a mosque.

We return to Cotonou late afternoon

Monday

August 05

COTONOU-GANVIE

One of the highlights of any trip to West Africa is Ganvie, the African Venice In ancient times people took refuge on Lake Nokoue from the attacks of the feared Dahomey warriors who were forbidden by a deep belief to fight on water The Ganvie people over time developed this unique lake culture and way of life which have made them famous

Our boat cruise takes us along tranquil waterways and fish farms to the lake community of Ganvie We discover these curious built-on-stilts dwellings, small floating markets and different aspects of the local daily life

Returning to "terra firma", we pay a visit to the Abomey-Calavi fetish market, the most authentic in the region and (hopefully) meet one of the officiating fetish priests before returning to Cotonou

We return to Cotonou for our overnight stay; dinner at a local restaurant

Hotel Du Lac

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Tuesday

August 06

COTONOU-ACCRA

Today will be spent visiting the following places before departimg to Accra:

 Meet and hold discussions on slave history with a Professor at the University of Benin

 Teaching University Hospital, Cotonou to hold discussions around the general health care system of the country, comprehensive approach to managing HIV cases and assistance to persons living with AIDS

 The Center for Disease Control

 NGO whose efforts have supported various patients infected with HIV

We continue back to Accra Transfer to your hotel for the night

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Wednesday

August 07

ACCRA- DEPART

After breakfast, day at leisure

Transportation, including driver and guide provided

Meal(s) Included: Breakfast

In-flight

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TOUR INCLUDES

• Meeting and assistance upon arrival and departure

• Round-trip airport/hotel transfers/air fare

• Hotel accommodation in the indicated properties

• Transportation in private vehicle

• Experienced tour guide

• Admission to listed sites

• Meals indicated (breakfast and dinner)

TOUR DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Cost of visa (if needed)

• Meals not listed including lunches

• Travel Insurance

• Gratuity to driver and guide

*** Air fares are subject to change.*****

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