After early morning breakfast, you will check out from your hotel room for a guided study tour of Elmina Slave Castle (a UNESCO’s World Heritage Monument).

Transformed into a museum, Elmina Castle is one of the best preserved of all of the coastal fortifications constructed by the Europeans from the fifteen to the nineteenth century. It remains the irreplaceable souvenir of the first Portuguese navigators, and the living embodiment of the period of trade and commercial exchange between Europe and Africa in the centuries that followed.

This Castle served not only as a warehouse for stocking the riches of West Africa prior to their exportation to Europe, but also as a prison, and holding pen for the human cargoes which awaited shipment to the plantations of the New world.

From there, you will go on a guided tour of the Cape Coast Government Hospital.

After lunch, you will proceed to the Cape Coast Slave Castle for a guided study tour of the different parts of this gigantic ancient fort. The study tour will include a visit to the airless and lightless vaulted cellars into which as many as 1,000 slaves were packed during the one to two-month waiting period prior to shipment abroad. An underground passage leads from the cellars to the beach, where slave ships put in for the loading of their human cargo. The main courtyard contains three tombs. One contains the remains of a slave who succeeded in obtaining higher education overseas and returned to Ghana with numerous academic honors.

Originally christened by the Portuguese as Cabo Corso, it was at this Castle, now UNESCO World Heritage Monument, during the period of the opening of the celebrated African trade route to India in the fifteenth century, that the Portuguese, first established themselves on the Gold Coast and pursued commercial relations with the Fanti population. Possession of Cape Coast Castle was fought over by different European adventurers and traders, because of its strategic importance. The British were the last occupiers of this place, which served as the first capital of the former British Gold Coast colony.

The West African Historical Museum located in the Castle, has permanent collections of engravings, which represent Ghana’s coastal forts down through the centuries. Another exhibition retraces the history of the slave trade, and displays everyday objects and furniture used by the European traders along the coast. Other items of interest include swords, firearms, chests, cabinets and a number of objects such as chieftains’ stools, Fanti funeral drums and clay pipes made by natives during the same period.

Transfer to Kumasi. Check into Miklin Hotel for dinner and overnight.
 
Day Two - Saturday, August 7, 2010
 
After breakfast, you will depart to Amen Scientific Hospital in Kumasi, which is operated by Dr. Amin Bonsu, a practicing Naturopathic Doctor in Suame, Kumasi. This Hospital specializes in the treatment of various diseases like epilepsy, stroke, hypertension, cardiovascular disorders, erectile dysfunctions, etc by the use of herbal medicine plus indigenous and modern scientific technology.

Continue to Tepa, Ahafo-Ano North District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Check into Rex Hotel for refreshment and proceed to the Tepa District Hospital for a study tour and volunteering.

The Tepa District Hospital is the only hospital in this region of Ghana, serving a population of about 890,000 people, mainly peasant farmers and a few Government workers. The hospital was established on 31st May, 1974 by the Ghana Cocoa Board to treat its staff and local farmers. Presently, the hospital has a 56 bed capacity for the accident and emergency, general ward and the maternity ward. It has a theatre, laboratory, administration and mortuary block. There are three consulting rooms and also a dispensary room. It continues to provide basic medical services for the ever-growing population of this area and its surroundings.

Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day Three – Sunday, August 8, 2010

After breakfast, proceed to the 120 acres Medicinal Farm of Africa First located at Kwafo Krom, Tepa-Marbang border for a study tour of its various medicinal plants.

 

This project is networking with local traditional herbal healers and other tribal farmers medicinal throughout the length and breadth of Ghana and beyond and applying both local indigenous knowledge and scientific technology for the propagation, cultivation, processing, reformulation of traditional herbal products into capsules, tablets, herbal infusions/teas, tinctures, syrups, organic medicinal plants, food and natural product chemistry for exportation and marketing.

The project is incorporating a greenhouse for education, research and outreach activities with laboratory to carry out scientific experiments.

There will be lunch served during this tour. Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

 

Day Four – Monday, August 9, 2010

 

After breakfast, transfer to Miklin Hotel in Kumasi to secure luggage and then proceed to the Department of Herbal Medicine of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology for a full day lectures on African Traditional Medicine.

Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day Five – Tuesday, August 10, 2010

After breakfast, check out and transfer to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for a study tour on your way to Accra.

As a 1000-bed capacity facility, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital happens to be the second largest hospital in Ghana with about 2,500 members of staff. As a teaching hospital, it offers among others undergraduate and postgraduate training in the country. As a teaching hospital to the School of Medical Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the hospital has helped to train close to one thousand highly competent doctors serving in various capacities in Ghana and the world over.

The facility is the main tertiary hospital serving the advanced clinical needs of people in the northern half of Ghana through the provision of a wide range of specialist services from oncology to neurosurgery. The hospital is currently undergoing dramatic expansion unequalled in its history with the establishment of new specialist clinics and construction of new facilities including an ultra modern National Accident and Emergency Centre. Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital has the following Directorates: Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Surgery, Child Health, Polyclinic, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Dental, Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat (DEENT), Medicine, Diagnostics and Oncology. It has annual Out-Patient Department (OPD) attendance of 450,000 and 42,000 in-patients.

From here visit a few Ashanti craft villages to observe craftsmen at work and to purchase souvenir gift items from the wide assortment of handicrafts on sale. Ahwiaa - specialising in woodcarvings such as stools and fertility dolls; Ntonso - where the primary activity is the Adinkra mourning clothe and tie-and-dye and finally to Bonwire, home of the famous Kente clothe. Break for lunch and continue to Accra.  Drive past several scenic villages and charming towns through the evergreen forests. Check in to your room at Fiesta Royale Hotel in Accra for overnight.

 

Day Six – Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Depart after breakfast to go on tour of Accra city including the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Park, National Museum and W.E.B. Du Bois Centre for Pan Africanism. Drive past the Independence Arch and Black Star Square - Accra’s ceremonial grounds. View in the distance Christiansborg Castle, office of the President of Ghana. Your last stop on tour will be the Arts and Crafts market where you may try out your bargaining skills on the local vendors.

Break for a farewell lunch at a local restaurant and return to the hotel for check out. Transfer to the airport for departure.  B.L.

End of program.