GHANA-TOGO-BENIN-NIGERIA 08 Days / 07 Nights

Day 01:  ACCRA

• Arrival in Accra and transfer to the Novotel Hotel. Embark on a city tour of Accra including Makola market; Accra’s most vibrant open air market,  dominated by women traders who sell fresh produce, manufactured and imported foods, clothes, shoes, tools, pots and pans etc.; Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, burial place of the first president of Ghana; National Museum of History and ethnography; Artists Alliance Gallery and the unique Casket Making Shops with various designs of caskets produced based on African belief of life after death. (Caskets are designed to reflect earthly profession of the deceased with the belief that they can continue to practice this profession in the afterlife. Hence a bus driver will be buried in a bus, a teacher in a book, a doctor in a syringe etc.); Drive past the Independence Arch and the Black Star Square- Accra’s ceremonial grounds. View from the distance, Christianborg Castle, formally the office of the President of Ghana. Your last stop for the tour will be the Arts and Crafts market where you may try out your bargaining skills on the local Vendors and to “shop till you drop”. Check in at your hotel.  Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Novotel Hotel or similar.

Day 02:  ACCRA – CAPE COAST -ELMINA

• After breakfast, depart Accra for the Central Region of Ghana. Drive along the coast through several fishing villages and coconut lined beaches. Arrive and visit the Cape Coast Castle which 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. Pay a solemn homage to our ancestors.  Lunch is at a city restaurant. After tour, check-in at your hotel. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Elmina Beach Resort or similar.

Day 03:  ELMINA- ACCRA

• After breakfast, embark on a visit to Elmina Castle, the first and oldest European structure built of any substance on African soil for a comprehensive guided tour. It was built by the Portuguese in1482 and later used as an auction market. See the slave dungeons and condemn cells where slaves who attempted to escape were incarcerated. View its utterly distinct architecture. Continue to have lunch at a city restaurant. Look around Elmina and Cape Coast before proceeding back to Accra.  Check-in at your hotel on arrival. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Novotel Hotel or similar.

Day 04: ACCRA-AFLAO- LOME

• Depart Accra after breakfast for Aflao border town. On arrival, you are assisted through border crossing formalities and transfer to Lome. Check-in at your hotel and then embark on a city tour including market, etc. Lunch is at a city restaurant. Return to hotel after tour. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Hotel Sancta Maria or similar.

Day 05: LOME-OUIDAH-GANVIE-COTONOU

• After breakfast, depart for Ouidah, the voodoo capital city of Benin driving through the coconut grove and Aneho, the first capital city of Togo. In Ouidah, visit the museum of History, a former Portuguese slave fort and experience the slave route till the “Door of No Return”. Visit the temple of pythons and Kpasse sacred forest. Lunch is at a local restaurant. Proceed on to Abomey-Calavi and cross the Nokoue Lake in a motorboat passing locals going about their daily chores for Ganvie, the biggest stilt village in Africa. Return to Abomey-Calavi and continue driving to Cotonou the commercial capital of Benin. Check-in at your hotel on arrival.  Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Hotel Du Lac or similar.

Day 06: COTONOU -PORTO-NOVO- ABEOKUTA

• After breakfast, embark on a city tour of Cotonou including Lunch at a local restaurant and continue on  to visit the Da Silva museum in Porto-Novo, the administrative capital of Benin. Continue on through the Idi-Iroko border post to Abeokuta. Check in on arrival at your hotel. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Park Inn by Radisson Hotel or similar.

Day 07: ABEOKUTA

• After breakfast, embark on a city tour of Abeokuta including historic olumo rock, oba’s palace, itoku market selling ‘adire’ (batik) fabric and the Obasanjo Library Complex. Return to hotel after tour. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Park Inn by Radisson Hotel or similar.

Day 08: ABEOKUTA – LAGOS

• After breakfast, depart Abeokuta for Lagos. On arrival, embark on a day tour of Lagos – museum, market, Brazilian quarters, bar beach, art gallery, Lekki peninsula etc. Shopping and sightseeing. A boat ride on the lagoon with a panoramic view of the city is the high point. Early evening transfer to the airport to catch departure flight. End of tour.

Inclusive:

• Airport / Hotel Transfers
• Land transfers in air-conditioned vehicle
• Land border Crossing Formalities
• Accommodation with breakfast, lunch or dinner (half-board):
• 2 nights, Novotel Hotel or similar, Accra
• 1 night, Elmina Beach Resort or similar, Elmina
• 1 night, Hotel Sancta Maria or similar, Lome
• 1 night, Hotel Du Lac or similar, Cotonou
• 2 nights, Park Inn by Radisson Hotel or similar, Abeokuta
• Tour as specified in itinerary
• Entrance fees at destinations
• Shopping & sightseeing
• English speaking tour guide services
• Hotel taxes & gratuities