GHANA-TOGO-BENIN-NIGERIA 12 Days / 11 Nights

Day 01:  ACCRA

• Arrival in Accra and transfer to 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. Continue on to visit 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. After tour, check-in at your hotel. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Elmina Beach Resort or similar.

Day 03: ELMINA-KUMASI

• After breakfast, depart for Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. 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 Kingston Jamaica and re-interred on the Emancipation Day 1998. Visit the “Enslaved Africa River” which was the last rest stop for slaves on their “one way” trek to the Coast for shipment into slavery. Lunch at a local restaurant in Kumasi. Continue after lunch to enjoying an afternoon city tour of Kumasi visiting the Manhyia Palace Museum, former residence of the Ashanti Kings, National Cultural Centre, Prempeh II Jubilee Museum and Kumasi Central Market – the largest open-air market in West Africa. Check in to your hotel. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight: Noda Hotel or Miklin Hotel.

Day 04: KUMASI-ACCRA

• After breakfast, depart for Accra. En-route, visit a rare surviving example of a unique architectural style of an Asante Traditional Building at Ejisu – Besease, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Continue on to Accra. Lunch at a local restaurant. Continue after lunch to visit  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 05: ACCRA-AFLAO-KARA

• Depart Accra after breakfast for Aflao border town. On arrival, you are assisted through border crossing formalities and transfer to Kara in Northern Togo. Packed lunch en-route. Arrive in Kara in the evening, check-in at your hotel.  Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Hotel Kara or similar.

Day 06: KARA-KOUTAMMAKOU-LOME

• Breakfast at hotel and drive through Aledjo ranges for Koutammakou, the land of the Tamberma, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for the adobe castles, the “takienta” spread in the fields. Return to Kara for a quick lunch and continue to Lome. Arrive in Lome in the early evening. Check in at your hotel. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Hotel Sancta Maria or similar.

Day 07: LOME-OUIDAH-GANVIE-ABOMEY

• Early breakfast at hotel and 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 and proceed to Abomey-Calavi. Packed lunch en route. 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 Abomey, capital of the famous Dahomey kingdom. Check-in at your hotel. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Casa del Papa or similar.

Day 08: ABOMEY-PORTO-NOVO

• After breakfast, visit historic museum, former palaces of Dahomey Kings, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Continue to Zewa temple and Goho historical square. Lunch at a local restaurant and continue to Porto-Novo, the administrative capital city of Benin. Check-in at your hotel. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Hotel Dona or similar.

Day 09: PORTO-NOVO-SEME – ABEOKUTA

• After breakfast, visit da Silva museum and continue to Idi-Iroko border post. Assist with border formalities and depart for Abeokuta. Check in on arrival at your hotel. Lunch is at a city restaurant. Proceed on tour of Abeokuta – 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 10: ABEOKUTA – OSHOGBO – ILE-IFE

• After breakfast, depart Abeokuta for Oshogbo. On arrival, embark on a tour of Oshogbo and environ– Osun shrine & groove (UNESCO World Heritage site), Nike Cultural Center, art and craft galleries etc. Lunch is at a local restaurant. Continue on to Ile-Ife to visit the museum and historical sites. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Cameroon Hotel or similar.

Day 11: ILE-IFE- LAGOS

• After breakfast, look around the city before departing for Lagos. Visit Ijebu-Ode for lunch and sightseeing. On arrival in Lagos, check-in at your hotel. Dinner and evening at leisure.
• Overnight Protea Hotel Select.

Day 12: LAGOS

• After breakfast, embark on a full day tour of Lagos – museum, market, Brazilian quarters, bar beach, art gallery, Lekki peninsula e.t.c. Shopping and sightseeing. A boat ride on the lagoon with a panoramic view of the city is the high point. Transfer to the airport to catch departure flight after 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, Miklin or Noda Hotel, Kumasi
• 1 night, Hotel Kara or similar, Kara
• 1 night, Hotel Sancta Maria or similar, Lome
• 1 night, Casa del Papa or similar, Abomey
• 1 night, Hotel Dona or similar, Porto Novo
• 1 night, Park Inn by Radisson Hotel or similar, Abeokuta
• 1 night, Cameroon Hotel or similar, Ile-Ife
• 1 night, Protea Hotel Select or similar, Ikeja
• Tour as specified in itinerary
• Entrance fees at destinations
• Shopping & sightseeing
• English speaking tour guide services
• Hotel taxes & gratuities