Day 6 - Finally, in the MOTHERLAND!

We landed in Accra Kotoko International airport last night.  It was a 6 hour flight from London.  We completed immigration, exchanged some money ( $1 = 4.5 Ghanaian Cedis), and met our guide outside the terminal.  I booked our tour in Ghana thru Ashanti African Tours who helped me plan an economically budget trip for our group.  Michael our guide, along with Foster our junior guide, and Ansai our driver will escort us for the next 12 days.

We checked into our hostel and boy were we all happy to finally have AC!  The following morning, we were ready to leave for Kumasi.  On the way to Kumasi, we stopped at TK Beads Company to see first hand how beads are made.  A worker from the company showed us step by step (collecting glass bottles, crushing them, powdering them, preparing the molds, smelting, heating, designing, polishing and finally threading) how to make the beads.  The students really enjoyed this and we also had the opportunity to purchase some of their fine beads.

Step by step demonstration of glass beads making

After the bead factory, we headed into the Akwapim mountains to our next destination - Aburi Botanical Gardens.  The gardens is home to hundreds of species of plants, trees, and birds.  It has always been a cool and calm respite for Accra residents.  We received a wonderful tour from a local guide who explained all the important flaura and fauna in the gardens.  My students had many questions for the quide and the calm and quite environment was a welcome respite for us after living staying in larges cities thus far.

Next, we headed to Kumasi, the cultural center of Ghana.  Kumani is the second biggest city in Ghana and is also the capital of the Ashanti Region which is home to the Ashanti people, the largest ethnic group in Ghana.  The town of Obuasi is located in this region.  This place is very near and dear to me as I spend a whole summer in 2004 doing my MS thesis research at the Ashanti Gold Fields.  We got into Kumasi around 7 pm, checked into Royal Basin Resort.  Dinner, settled in, and preparing for a long drive for one of the highlights of this trip.....