Ghana, Togo and Benin Group Tour

Day 1 - Arrival in Togo
Arrive in Lome and transfer to the hotel.

Day 2 - Voodoo, from Lome to Agbodrafo (100 km – driving time 3 hr) 
Lomé, the vibrant capital of Togo, is the only African city colony of the Germans, the British and the French. It is also one of the few capitals in the world bordering another nation. These elements have led to the development of a unique identity reflected in the lifestyle of its inhabitants and the architecture. We will stop at the fetish market, where an eclectic assortment of all the necessary ingredients for love potions and magical concoctions are to be found.

In a remote village, we will join a Voodoo ceremony: the drums' frenetic rhythm and the adepts' chants call in the voodoo spirits, who then take possession of some of the dancers. They fall into a deep trance: eyes rolling back, grimaces, convulsions, insensitivity to fire or pain. Sakpata, Heviesso, and Mami Water are some of the voodoo divinities that can manifest. In this narrow village, surrounded by the magic atmosphere of the ceremony, we will finally understand what people mean when they say: “In your Churches, you pray to God; in our voodoo shrines, we become Gods!”

Day 3 - Agbodrafo to Ouidah (70 km – driving time 2 hr)
Benin border crossing (Hilla Kodji / Save Kodji)
Drive to Ouidah. The Dahomey Kingdom conquered Ouidah during the 18th century to become one of the main slave ports. Today, Ouidah enjoys an Afro-Brazilian architecture with the python temple facing the Catholic Cathedral. The locals' laid-back attitude blends harmoniously with the thunder of the distant waves and the rhythm of the drums. We visit the Python Temple. We end the visit following the “slave road” to the beach, the point of “no return,” where enslaved people were shipped to the “new world.”

Day 4 - Ouidah to Dassa (250 km – driving time 5 hr) – BENIN
We cross Lake Nokwe with a motorised boat to reach Ganvié, the largest and most beautiful African village on stilts. The approximately 25,000 inhabitants of the Tofinou ethnic group build their wooden huts on teak stilts. Fishing is their primary activity. Ganvié has managed to preserve its traditions and environment despite the long-lasting human presence and the lake is not over-fished. Once we return to the mainland, we will drive to Abomey. Meeting with the community of “forogons,” who have served Dahomey kings for centuries in producing weapons and other tools.

Day 5 - Dassa to Natitingou (350 km – driving time 8 hr) 
Today is a long but intense day. The first stop will be at Dankoli Fetish, a unique shrine for ancient animistic cults still practised. Thousands of short sticks are pushed in and all around the fetish as a testimony of the countless prayers for a good harvest, a happy wedding, an easy delivery, success at school, etc. Once the prayers are answered, people return to sacrifice what they promised. Fresh traces of sacrifice, palm alcohol and oil on the fetish are witnesses of the many prayers and requests that have been fulfilled. In the afternoon, we discover a few old Taneka villages on a mountain with the same name. The villages comprise round adobe huts covered with a conical roof protected on the top by a terra cotta pot.

The upper part of the village is inhabited by the young initiated and by the fetish priests who only cover themselves with goat skin and always carry a long pipe. Other ethnic groups have joined, thus forming a melting pot where common religious and political institutions were defined even though each group kept its own cults and initiation rites. As we wander around the villages along alleys bordered by rocks with ancient and mysterious carved marks, we are the only witnesses of populations that once lived there.
You may encounter young initiates wearing very little apart from magical amulets or elder fetishes priests wearing skin. Taneka believes that to “become” a man, it is necessary to combine time, patience, and many sacrifices.

Day 6 - Natitingou to Kara (100 km – driving time 3 hr) BENIN & TOGO
We enter the land of Somba, who live in adobe fortified dwellings. The shape resembles small medieval castles, some of the most beautiful examples of traditional African architecture. The houses are built by hand, layer of clay after layer, adding round mud balls and shaping them as per the plan of the house; a kind of sensual gesture mixing strength, care and beauty. Large shrines of phallic form at the entrance of their homes show their animistic beliefs. With the permission granted to us by the elders, we enter their homes to understand their way of life better.

Their houses are projections of their cosmology; the ground floor, with its darkness, represents death and is the place of the ancestors; the second floor, open to the sky, represents life and is the place where Grandmothers keep babies until they "find out" which ancestor has come back as the new life. Only then is the baby allowed to come down from the terrace.
All family, food supplies, and stock are kept inside the fortified house for safety reasons in case of attack by enemies. For centuries, these populations have been seeking refuge in the Atakora Mountains to escape Muslim slave traders coming from the north.

Day 7 - Kara to Sokode (120 km – driving time 3 hr) 
Driving in the mountains will bring us to encounter the Kabye ethnic group. In the villages located at the top of the mountains, women are potters using an ancestral technique without the wheel, while men are blacksmiths still working iron with heavy stones instead of hammers and anvils as in the early dawn of the Iron Age.

In the evening, we arrive at the villages of Tem tribe to discover the fire dance. At the centre of the village, a large fire lights up the silhouette of the participants. They dance to the hypnotic beat of the drums, eventually leaping into the glowing embers, picking up burning coals, passing them over their bodies, and even putting them in their mouths and swallowing them. All this without hurting themselves or showing any sign of pain. It's difficult to explain such a performance. Is it a matter of courage? Self-suggestion? Magic? Maybe it is the fetishes that protect them from the fire.

Day 8 - Sokode to Kpalime (290 km – driving time 5 hr) 
We head southwards, stopping on the way at Atakpame, a typical African small town built on hills where all the products from nearby forests can be found. Through their skilled work on small weaving looms, men of the region make the large, brightly coloured fabric called "Kente.” From Atakpame, we move to the tropical forests surrounding Kpalime, a town with a rich colonial past that is now an important cocoa and coffee trading market. We walk on the hills surrounding Kpalime, passing villages and farms and reaching the forest's edge. Under the guidance of a local entomologist, we will learn about butterflies and colourful insects.

Day 9 - Kpalime to Koforidua (220 km – driving time 5 hr)  TOGO & GHANA
Ghana border crossing and continuation to the Volta Region. We will visit an artisan community of bead producers and even experience the process of making our beads. The artisans have produced beads following the same long-lasting traditional technique for centuries. They use scrap glass that is ground into a fine powder. The glass powder is then meticulously made into patterns and placed into hand-made clay moulds covered in kaolin. The beads are cooked, decorated, washed, and eventually strung.

Day 10 - Koforidua to Kumasi (200 km – driving time 5 hr) 
Kumasi is the historical and spiritual capital of the ancient Ashanti Empire. Today's tribute to the Asantehene (King) is the best evidence of their past splendour and strength and the still strong Ashanti pride. With nearly two million inhabitants, Kumasi is a sprawling town with a unique central market, one of the largest in Africa. All kinds of Ashanti craft (leather goods, pottery, beads, textiles called Kente cloth, etc.) are found here, along with almost every tropical fruit and vegetable.

The program includes visiting the Ashanti Cultural Centre, a rich collection of Ashanti artefacts housed in a beautiful reproduction of an Ashanti house. In the afternoon, if available, we participate in a traditional Ashanti funeral, attended by mourners wearing beautifully red or black togas. The chief arrives surrounded by his court under the shade of large umbrellas while drums give rhythm to the dancers, whose intricate moves are highly symbolic of war and erotic meanings.

Day 11 - Kumasi 
In the morning, the tour of Kumasi will continue with a visit to the Royal Palace Museum, hosting a unique collection of gold jewels worn by the Ashanti court. If the date coincides, the program will be modified to participate in the Akwasidae Festival. In the afternoon, visit a few Ashanti villages with traditional clothing and carvings.

Day 12 - Kumasi to Anomabu (250 km – driving time 4 hr) 
Drive to the coast. The coast of Ghana (formerly known as the Gold Coast) has more than 50 ancient forts and castles reminiscent of the ancient gold, ivory, and slave trade. Cape Coast Castle was built by the Swedish in 1653. From 1657 to 1664, it changed hands many times as it was conquered by the Danes, the Dutch, the Fanti (a local tribe), the Swedes, and finally, the British. Today, it hosts a museum on the history of the slave trade. We will also visit Fort William, which hosts a lighthouse in Cape Coast. You will enjoy a magnificent view of the town from the top of the castle.

Day 13 - Elmina
A few kilometres north of the coast, in the middle of a rainforest, we will discover the Kakum National Park. This park allows you to observe the forest from above, as Kakum has a canopy walk hung high up in the trees. The Kakum canopy walk is the world's longest and highest rope bridge. Walking between 120 to 150 feet above the ground, you will enjoy an incredible rainforest view. Then, we reach Elmina Castle, the oldest European African building erected by the Portuguese in the 15th century. At different times, the castle was used as a warehouse to trade gold, ivory, and enslaved people.

The castle we visit today results from successive extension works and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The old Dutch Cemetery in Elmina goes back to 1806. Outside the castle is a spectacular fishing village with many large colourful fishing boats. Every day, these large wooden pirogues are taken by skilled fishermen across strong ocean waves and currents, as they fight to earn a living. The old town's alleys have a lively atmosphere, bringing us back to a time when Elmina was a busy colonial town. In a neighbouring town, we will discover the Posuban, shrines of the Asafo companies where the Asafo warriors still pour libations.

Day 14 - Anomabu to Accra (180 km – driving time 3 hr) 
Drive to Accra. Accra, the capital of Ghana, has maintained its unique identity despite the fast-paced development of the last decades, with its modern buildings and large avenues. The luxuriant administrative area, punctuated with elegant villas built during the first half of the 19th century, reminds us that it was the most flourishing colony in Africa.

We explore James Town's historic neighbourhood. We continue visiting a workshop specialized in "fantasy coffins." These unique handcrafted coffins can reflect any shape: fruits, animals, fish, cars, or aeroplanes…. The only limit is imagination! Started in Accra, these flamboyant coffin designs are now collected worldwide and exposed in museums. In the evening, transfer to the airport for the flight out