Depart Dulles International Airport (Washington DC) for the City of Accra, Ghana. Departure time is 5:30pm via UNITED AIRLINE. Passengers must be at the airport counter 3 hours before departure.

Arrive in Accra. Meet, greet, and assist the group through immigration and customs. Transfer group to the hotel.

After lunch, visit W.E.B DuBois Center for Pan Africanism, Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, University of Ghana and some residential neighborhoods.

Evening activities start at 5:30pm: Welcome reception/Dinner with West African Cultural Music & dance performance and African Traditional Designers Fashion Show.

Accommodation at Movenpick Ambassador Hotel.

After breakfast we get an opportunity of experiencing Ghanaian church service. The bus leaves the hotel at 9:30am to the church service at the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) at Accra. ICGC is an evangelical, charismatic church which is one of the fastest growing charismatic churches in Ghana, having a church attendance of about 20,000. The head pastor is Dr. Mensa Otabil.

Rest day at leisure. Jazz party in the evening.

Prepare for the next day trip to Kumasi.

Accommodation: Movenpick Ambassador Hotel

After breakfast, we proceed to the airport to catch our flight northward to Kumasi, the capital city of Asante. The traditional Ghanaian spelling of Ashanti is ASANTE (which means: BECAUSE OF WAR). The Asante Region is blessed with rich culture and home to much pomp and pageantry. Kumasi has served for over four centuries as the royal capital of the Asante State and the home to the Golden Stool.

We will visit Manhyia Palace Museum, a regal history that dates to the 16th century and is told with relics and artifacts of the Asantes. This is the seat and official residence of the Asantehene built in 1926 on the return from exile of the Asantehene Nana Prempeh 1.

Accommodation: Lancaster Hotel

After Breakfast we will visit the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology’s College of Art and then the three famous craft villages of the Asantes, Bonwire, Ntonso and Ahwiaa.

Bonwire is the village where the Ghana national cloth ‘Kente’ weaving started.

Ntonso is the center for the manufacture of Adinkra cloth with ancient symbols that convey messages of gallantry, unity, hope and the greatness of the Supreme Being.

Ahwiaa is where we find the master woodcarvers who carve Asante stools, statues and masks.

Accommodation: Lancaster Hotel

After breakfast at the hotel, we embark on a 3-hour journey from Kumasi through several coastal fishing villages to Cape Coast, the capital of Central Region of Ghana.

We will stop on the way to visit the African Diaspora Ancestral Shrine and the River of Last Bath at Assin Manso (the river where the slaves took their last bath before arriving at the slave castles in Cape Coast and Elmina). Assin Manso is the burial site of 2 former slaves (a Jamaican, Lady Crystal who dedicated her life fighting racism and Samuel Carson, an African American Naval Officer) whose remains were re-interred in August 1998 during the first Emancipation Day in Ghana.

Accommodation: Coconut Grove Beach Resort

After we check into the hotel, we visit Elmina Slave Dungeon. It was built by the Portuguese in 1482 as an outpost called ‘Sao Jorge da Mina’ (Saint George’s of the mine) or simply Elmina (the Mine). It was the first permanent structure south of the Sahara built by Europeans and for centuries, it was the largest. It was also the first to be converted into a Slave Dungeon and had the distinction of exporting the most captured Africans to be enslaved in the Americas. Elmina Castle saw several owners during the Slave Trade. The Dutch seized the castle from the Portuguese in 1637. The Slave Trade continued under the Dutch until 1872 when the castle became a possession of the British. The most significant memory from Elmina Castle is ‘The Door of No Return’. This was where millions of our ancestors passed during the slave trade era to await slave ships to be transported across the Atlantic to the so-called New World. Today, Elmina Castle is designated as one of the World’s Heritage Sites.

For the nature enthusiast, visit Kakum National Park in the rainforest for a thrilling adventure with an exciting canopy walkway suspended about 200 feet from the forest ground. Experience a panoramic view of the flora and fauna of one of the remaining vestiges of the rainforest in Africa.

Option to travel to Sekondi-Takoradi to visit Bisa Aberewa Museum.

After lunch, take a walk through the fishing villages and markets in Cape Coast and Elmina town.

Option to have fun on the beach and enjoy an evening beach party.

Accommodation: Coconut Grove Beach Resort

After breakfast we check out and depart for a scenic drive along the meandering coastline back to Accra. We arrive in Accra early enough to do last minute shopping at Accra Art & Craft Center where you will find authentic hand-made traditional craft and colorful African fabrics.

Accommodation: Movenpick Ambassador Hotel

Visit TK Beads on Dodowa road to experience an amazing production process of local glass beads manufactured by hand. Will have the opportunity to see how the beads are made and to buy directly from the manufacturers.

Last minute shopping at Accra Arts and Craft Center where you will find authentic hand-made traditional craft and colorful African fabrics.

After the hotel check out, we will enjoy an early farewell dinner.

After dinner, transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Arrival at Dulles Airport at 6:15am.