The spacious North of Ghana - Baobabs and ancient crafts of peasants

In the "Upper East", one of Ghana's Northern regions with a characteristic remoteness - away from big towns and highways - ,life has a slower tempo in contrast with the South. A traditional culture of peasants and herdsmen, old trade-routes of the Hausa and the tolerant African Islam set the tone. Modern developments are not much ingrained here.

In the months of August and September the savannah-like landscape turns into an enchanting green park with zebus and herding children on small donkeys; huge old baobab trees shading small farmsteads with artistically curved clay-walls, thatch-roofed round storage towers and decorative paintings that might remind you of the style of the artist Hundertwasser.

Our tour guide, Prince Abdallah, hails from this territory. Together with him, you can discover the special beauty of his native land and the relaxed friendliness of the people. The long drive from the coast up to the North is certainly worth undertaking!

The programme:

In order to make the long journey to the north comfortable, you will first have some days of acclimatization at KASAPA Centre (in the south) and then set off to

• Bobiri Rain-Forest Reserve (one overnight there), the UNESCO World cultural heritage fetish-shrine at Ejisu-Besease and finally to Lake Busumtwi, a magnificent crater-lake surrounded by high hills (overnight at the well-laid out "Lake Point" guest-house). The following morning a visit to the colourful and bustling Kumasi Central Market, then to the Cultural Centre which houses various arts and crafts stalls and a small but very informative Museum about the history of the Ashanti kingdom. We shall stay overnight in Kumasi and early next morning
• start our trip to the North. After about 7 hrs we will reach Mole National Park (south-west of Tamale), sheltering herds of buffaloes and antelopes, cohorts of monkeys, wart-hogs, groups of elephants and even some lion families. In order to have enough time for guided tours through the wide savannah park, we will stay at the park's hotel for two nights
• Not far from Mole National Park, we will then visit the famous ancient clay mosque of Larabanga, and then the close-by community tourism project of Mognori village will welcome us for a one-night stay. After that we travel further north to
• Sirigu: A hamlet with vastly dotted farmsteads which prides itself on a self-help project initiative by women: here the indigenous women's group has done well to preserve the ancient local crafts and have managed to make it feasible for tourism. This way, the skillful geometrical mural paintings decorating the many local compound houses in Sirigu are displayed .We will stay 3 nights in the project's comfortable tourism centre;. most probably we will partake in a short workshop to learn some traditional painting/weaving techniques. From Sirigu, a day's excursion leads to the ancient Pikworo slave-market near Paga and to the famous adobe church building at Navrongo constructed at the beginning of the last century and also decorated with mural paintings. After three overnights at Sirigu our journey will relocate us for one night in a hotel at Bolgatanga - or we continue straight to the nearby village of
• Tongo, where we will spend some days in the guest chalets of our tour guide Prince Abdallah. For many decades his father was a venerated "Chief" here. The large family of Prince Abdallah is pleased to welcome us and to give us the opportunity to sample day by day communal life. In short expeditions we can discover the peculiar rock-formations very close by: a day's tour will also take us to Tensu, an idyllic settlement high up amid rocks. It is famous for its significant ancient fetish shrines in one of the sacred caves high up, which is also open to visits by foreigners
  
  In October, a little of good luck (and some minor changes in our travelling schedule) might give us the opportunity to watch the vigorous dances of the villagers celebrating their traditional turn of the year around this time.
  
  Our return journey brings us first to an overnight at Bolgatanga, so that we can start early morning the long trip to Kumasi, arriving there late afternoon and spending the night in a hotel. The following day brings us back to KASAPA Centre - here, after two or three days rest, you may begin your homeward journey back to Europe.

PLEASE NOTE: The northern areas of Ghana are closer to Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou than to Accra. In cooperation with a tour agent in Ouagadougou we can offer specific variations of travelling schedule with flights arriving and/or departing in Ouagadougou, skipping one or both of the long trips between Ghana's north and Accra. Please contact our agent schulz aktiv reisen for details.

The package includes: Round trip as described; transport initially with the KASAPA-owned mini van up to Kumasi; then with a qualified public transport line and locally hired cars. Accommodation in double/twin-bedded or (with extra charge) single rooms; during the round trip in well kept, but not necessarily luxurious hotels or in very simple village guest-houses; half-board with breakfast and evening dinner (extra charge for drinks and dessert); transfer from/to airport Accra; knowledgeable local tour guide and competent service at KASAPA Centre.

PLEASE NOTE: Flights to / from Ghana are not included and must be booked separately

Special features of this programme: This tour is a so-called pioneer programme. There has been an explorative trip which formed the basis of this entirely new travel programme. It has been tried once more and optimized accordingly. As offered now, the schedule will be carried out for the the first time , and for that reason some level of flexibility is required.

Special reference: The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its security information mentions "occasional conflicts between various groups of locals" in north-Ghanaian areas resulting sometimes in curfews at night.- Certainly in the last years there have been vehement blows in certain places between hostile local fractions, mostly in a context of political elections. For tourists, such situations could be risky only when they would unsuspectingly "stumble in". However, we are very well informed about the local situation and will of course timely and in detail check potential spots of potential unrest - which one then also could avoid as they are restricted to limited local areas.

Minimum number of participants: Three. - Maximum number of participants: Eight. We recommend this programme mainly to participants who are already experienced in travelling through Sub-Saharan African countries.

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