7D6N Southern Ghana Wild Escape

Our expert local tour guides will warmly greet you upon your arrival at the Kotoka International Airport Accra on the beautiful Gold Coast of Western Africa. Look out for the Ashanti African Tours sign right after you pass through customs and exit the main terminal building. Your guides will take complete care of you from here, loading your bags and transferring you via private vehicle to your accommodation situated in Accra. Once checked in, your experienced guide will offer a traditional Akwaaba (welcome) briefing covering all aspects of your upcoming tour. You can then enjoy an evening meal at the hotel restaurant while acclimatizing yourself to the rhythm of West Africa.

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Enjoy a relaxed morning as we allow the bustling city rush hour traffic to pass before setting off to explore Accra. We can choose to skip or have a light breakfast at the accommodation, as we head directly into the historic Makola Market to experience authentic Ghanaian street food breakfast dishes at the local stalls. The market is a sensory maze where traders sell everything from herbal remedies, traditional fabrics, beads, and jewelry to electronics. After bartering for souvenirs, we visit the beachside Artist Alliance Gallery to appreciate incredible traditional and contemporary art, paintings, and fabrics from across West Africa. Next, we tour the unique “Fantasy Coffins” workshop in Teshie Nungua to see master craftsmen carve elaborate coffins shaped like cars, cocoa pods, and animals, reflecting the local belief in celebrating a life well-lived. In the afternoon, we pass Black Star Square and move to Independence Square to view the eternal African liberation flame lit by Kwame Nkrumah in 1961. We then visit the beautiful Italian-marble Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, final resting place of Ghana’s founder, exploring its museum of photos and historic artifacts. We dedicate our late afternoon and evening to downtown Jamestown—one of Accra’s oldest suburbs. We take a guided community walking tour past colonial architecture, British and Dutch forts, a 30-meter-high lighthouse, and traditional Brazilian stone houses built by returned free enslaved Africans. Since boxing is a profound beacon of hope in this community, we visit a local gym or attend a sponsored street boxing event overlooking the ocean, getting close to the youth and professionals training in the sport. We round out this deep community immersion with a local meal and refreshments at a neighborhood street bar before returning to our hotel.

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Enjoy a relaxed breakfast before checking out of your accommodation and leaving the capital behind as we head toward the Volta Region. Our first stop is a traditional Krobo community compound, a region globally renowned for beautiful bead jewelry that dates back centuries. The family will guide us through the skilled, ancient process of crushing glass, molding, and firing the beads. You will get a wonderful hands-on opportunity to design and produce your own set of glass beads to take home as a cultural symbol of wealth and beauty. We then cross the White Volta River and stop for a relaxing lunch at a restaurant overlooking the stunning water views. Continuing down the road, we arrive at Wli village in the late afternoon and check into our lodge. We immediately set out for the Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary to trek through thick, semi-deciduous forest trails leading to the base of Wli Falls—the highest waterfall in West Africa. As you near the waterfall, you can hear the powerful rush of water mixed with the calls of the massive colony of Straw-colored Fruit Bats resting on the adjacent cliffs. You can paddle or swim in the safe pool beneath the falls, or opt for a fit hike to the upper falls before returning to your accommodation for a peaceful evening.

breakfast · lunch · dinner

We make an early start this morning after breakfast, dedicating our morning to hiking Ghana’s highest mountain peak, Mount Afajato, which stands at an elevation of approximately 885 meters. Our expert guides will share their specialized knowledge of the region’s rare birds, butterflies, and indigenous flora during the walk, offering outstanding panoramic mountain views and photography opportunities. In the afternoon, we head to the village of Tafi Atome to spend quality time with the Ewe community, who have protected a population of endangered True Mona monkeys for over 200 years due to their traditional beliefs that these primates are sacred messengers from the gods. We venture into the surrounding forests to view these beautiful monkeys close up. During our forest walk, our local guide will identify various wild medicinal plants, explaining how traditionalists harvest them to craft local herbal remedies. Afterward, we journey back toward the White Volta River and check into our riverfront accommodation on the banks of the river in Akosombo to unwind after an action-packed day.

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Following breakfast, we depart our river resort early and journey into the beautiful, mist-covered Akuapem hills, which offer outstanding views stretching across Accra and Tema in the distance. At the crest of the hills, we tour the historic Aburi Botanical Gardens, which were established by the British in 1890. Your guide will walk you past a wide variety of rare indigenous and exotic trees, explaining their medicinal properties and spotting abundant forest butterflies. Just a short distance away, we visit the friendly Aburi craft village, where local carvers have been producing traditional African drums, stools, and sculptures for generations. You can watch the artisans work while your guide explains the cultural meanings and deep tribal beliefs connected to the geometric shapes carved into the wood. After enjoying a local lunch back in Accra, we travel down the coastal highway toward the Central Region, arriving in Elmina in the early evening. After checking into our accommodation, we have the option to head into the vibrant town center to experience the local music and coastal nightlife.

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We wake up early to catch the beautiful sunrise and enjoy breakfast right on the beachfront before heading to Kakum National Park. Kakum protects a pristine, semi-deciduous upper guinea rainforest that originally served as a home and primary resource for local communities. The absolute highlight of the morning is Africa’s world-famous rainforest canopy walkway. Prepare to take a deep breath as you step out across 7 suspended rope bridges strung 40 meters (120 feet) high above the jungle floor. You will rest on viewing platforms built around emerging giant trees, taking in miles of spectacular jungle views. Back at headquarters, we tour the information center to learn about the park’s 40 mammal species, including forest elephants and primates. Next, we visit the International Stingless Bee Project to see the hives of 9 local bee species, taste their medicinal honey, and walk through their butterfly garden. We then visit a local farm to see how Ghanaians traditionally use the palm tree. You will watch how palm trees are tapped for low-alcohol palm wine (3% proof) and how it is subsequently distilled into Akpeteshi—a hard local gin of varying strengths believed to be around 70% proof. We stop for lunch at Han’s Cottage Botel, a unique establishment built over a tropical lake containing Nile crocodiles and teeming with birdlife. We return to our beachfront accommodation for a well-earned afternoon of beach rest and relaxation before our evening meal.

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After a relaxing breakfast on the coast, we check out and set off to visit Cape Coast Castle, a thought-provoking monument designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We spend a deeply emotional morning touring the dark stone dungeons that held thousands of enslaved Africans captive, walking down the harrowing corridors to view the infamous “Door of no Return”. We tour the castle museum to understand the full colonial history of the Gold Coast. Afterward, we head to a traditional batik-making workshop with Global Mamas, an exceptional fair-trade organization that empowers local women through artistic skills. You will work side-by-side with a local woman heating wax, stamping designs, and dyeing fabric, creating your own traditional batik garment to keep as a memory. We take our lunch at the Baobab Children Foundation, a non-formal vocational school that trains marginalized youth and children with disabilities in calculations, literacy, carpentry, tailoring, and catering. Our health-conscious lunch is prepared and served by the foundation’s catering students, and you can browse their shop for organic crafts. In the late afternoon, we drive back to Accra, arriving in the early evening to enjoy a final farewell meal at a local restaurant before transferring you to the airport for your departure flight home.

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