Upon arrival in Ghana’s capital, we transfer to our hotel. As guests’ arrival times vary, we have no group activities or meals planned.

We get our first taste of this colorful and pulsating Atlantic Coast city on our full-day tour. Highlights include the historic Jamestown neighborhood, where we visit a workshop specializing in “fantasy coffins” – unique handcrafted coffins that are collected and displayed in museums worldwide; the W. E. B. Du Bois Center for Pan African Culture, where the American sociologist spent his last years; and fountain- and statue-filled Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, dedicated to the memory of Ghana’s first president. Tonight, we gather for a welcome dinner.

This morning we travel by coach to Lomé, capital and largest city of Togo, the tiny nation known especially for the friendliness of its people, the beauty of its landscapes, and formerly as the Slave Coast for its role as the heart of the slave trade. Our touring here includes a visit to the Palais de Lomé, the one-time colonial headquarters then government building that fell into disrepair and now has been reborn as an African arts and culture center. We dine together tonight at our hotel.

One of the few world capitals that borders another country, Lomé today reflects its German, British, and French colonial past, as we see on our tour of this port city. We visit the Grand Marché, the vast and colorful central market with goods of all kinds, including the famed “Nana Benz” stalls and their textiles. Next we visit a local healer. Later, we enjoy a small group highlight as we head to a local venue where we enjoy a hands-on cooking class, offering a chance to learn about and savor traditional Togolese cooking.

Today, we encounter for the first time one of West Africa’s richest cultural traditions: the living religion of Vodun (Voodoo), practiced throughout Ghana, Togo, and Benin. We travel to the remote village of Togoville, set along the northern shore of Lake Togo, from which the town — and country — take their names. It’s the nation’s spiritual heart of Vodun, and we have the chance to attend a ceremony together where we learn about this ancient tradition firsthand during an interactive visit with a Vodun priestess. We then cross the border into Benin, another former slave trading waypoint now revered as a center of West African tradition. Tonight, we dine together at our hotel.

This morning, we cross Lake Nokwe by motorboat to the floating village of Ganvié, with its colorful stilt houses. Here, members of the Tofinou ethnic group live much as they did when their ancestors fled to escape the slave trade in the 18^th century. We continue on to Ouidah, the former slave trading port which today memorializes its ignoble past with monuments along the Slave Route to the Door of No Return memorial arch, where more than one million Africans were taken to the ships that would bring them in bondage across the Atlantic. We travel this road ourselves on today’s enlightening tour. We also visit the Temple of Pythons, housing the snakes important to the Vodun religion. Before dinner together, we attend a Zangbeto dance performance, complete with singing, dancing, and special demonstrations.

It’s a long travel day as we drive from Benin via Togo to Ghana. En route, we stop in Aného with its scenic setting between the ocean and Lake Togo. A former slave trading town and capital of German Togoland from 1885-1887 and of the French Occupation from 1914-1920, Aného is now a fishing port known for its churches and architecture. We continue on our journey, crossing the border into Ghana and reaching our hotel this evening.

We witness some of Ghana’s remarkable scenic beauty on today’s boat excursion on the Volta River. As we cruise through rolling hills and valleys, we pass by local fishing villages, offering a taste of local life. Then we return to our hotel for lunch and an afternoon at leisure.

We visit a Krobo tribe artisan community today, known for crafting traditional handmade glass beads. While here, we have the opportunity to try our hand at making these ornaments ourselves. Once known as “trade beads” for their use as currency during the slave trade, today the beads are valued for their beauty and artistry.

We spend the day on the road, passing through many local villages before arriving in Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city, historical and spiritual capital of the powerful Ashanti Empire (1670-1957), and modern home of the Asante people. Upon arrival this evening, we check in at our hotel and have time to freshen up before dinner at a local restaurant.

Our full-day tour of the “Garden City of West Africa” begins with a visit to an Ashanti village, where we learn about traditional clothing and carvings. Late this morning, we engage in a cultural outing to meet with local Akan people who will bestow on us our Akan names. After lunch, we explore two museums: the Centre for National Culture, with its collection of Ashanti artifacts, including kente cloths and a reproduction of an Ashanti house; and the Manhyia Palace Museum, housing a collection of gold jewelry worn by the Ashanti court. Tonight we dine together at a local restaurant.

Our enlightening odyssey continues as we drive today to Ghana’s Atlantic coast, formerly known as the Gold Coast, where enslaved Africans from across the continent were held in forts and castles before being forced onto the ships that would take them to the Americas. Upon arrival to the coast, we have lunch and then visit 15^th-century Elmina Castle, a trade settlement whose dungeons held tens of thousands of enslaved persons and today is a UNESCO site and Ghanaian national museum. We also see Elmina’s Posuban Shrines, with their unusual statues with historic roots in Fante tribal culture.

This morning, we tour the Cape Coast Castle where more than 500,000 slaves were held between 1662 and 1867. Today, the castle is a UNESCO site that houses a museum documenting the slave trade. On this afternoon’s excursion to Kakum National Park, we have the opportunity to experience the rainforest from above on one of the world’s longest and highest canopy walkways. Tonight, we celebrate at a farewell dinner.

We return to Accra today, where our day rooms are available to us. This evening, we depart for the airport for our flights to the U.S.

We arrive in the U.S. today and connect with our return flights home.