Blogs from Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana, Africa

Advertisement

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi December 31st 2020

After a 5 hour VIP bus ride from Accra up to Kumasi, we started asking questions and found out se had accidentally timed our northward trip to coincide with the Akwasidae! The Akasidae is a celebration of the ancestors held every six weeks by the Asantehene (King of the Ashante people). He enters the courtyard of the Manhyia Palace in the royal palanquin protected by the royal umbrellas and there he meets his subjects and the lesser chiefs. The Golden Stool (the traditional throne of the Ashante people) is displayed at the palace grounds and honor is paid as the people have the liberty to present themselves and their gifts. Drums, horn, dancing and singing are also a big part of the celebration! We were told to be there by 10 am to catch all of ... read more
Kpanlogo drums
The Royal Umbrellas
Royal Umbrella

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi August 4th 2015

In December last year I was applying for an internship for the Enterprise Growth Services (EGS) at EY. And now I am here: Ghana. The last couple of weeks have been hectic, especially since the country I was going to, and the project I would be working on, was still unsure. On the 15th of July I got a definite GO for Ghana. In two weeks everything had to be arranged: booking tickets, getting a visa, accommodation, and everything else that needs to be done before getting to the African continent. When I got onto the plane and read about the country, suddenly, everything became real and I got more excited the closer I got to Ghana. Last Friday was the first time I set foot on the African continent. My colleague Ian picked me up ... read more

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi March 19th 2015

(26 Mar -- We are back in Teshie-Nungua after a GREAT trip to the north. There is internet available to us here, but the power is only on intermittently. As possible, we will post news of our travels throughout Ghana over the past 10 days.) (by guest bloggers Kit Rawson and Kathy Thornburgh) Our journey to the north started at Cape Coast. We are headed for Larabanga to stay at the Savannah Lodge where Laurel spent a month last October. But, we have a number of things to see on the way. Our first excursion north was a half day trip to Kaukum National Park, where we traversed Ghana's first canopy walk and had an informative forest tour from a knowledgeable and friendly ranger. We returned to ou hut at the Oasis Lodge for one more ... read more
Kinte cloth weavers in the weaving community of Adonwomase
Canopy walk in Kakum National Park
Butterfly in Bobiri Butterfly Preserve

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi September 16th 2014

Greetings from Ghana!! It's been a while since my last update; I've been incredibly busy with the voluntary work as well as lots of travelling at the weekends! In the week after returning from Mole, I was able to visit the Kumasi Children's Home where the care volunteers work. The living conditions in the orphanage were very basic with several children in a simple dormitory room, and shared bathrooms between 20 or so. This visit was a surreal and somewhat overwhelming experience as the younger children there were all desperate to be carried, and the older ones were desperate to play. As well as the endless pleas for attention, a few fights broke out among the older boys during our time there which was a bit unnerving. Despite these few outbreaks the children there were, for ... read more

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi August 26th 2014

What a time I've been having so far, done so much in so little time and looking forward to seeing and doing loads more! On Tuesday 12th there was no outreach work, instead Anambe taught the new volunteers how to carry out the different tasks such as the manual blood pressure checks and the hepatitis B tests. We met at the Projects Abroad office in Patase, (about 20 minutes by tro) where we spent an hour discussing our personal reasons for choosing public health and what we thought were the main benefits to conducting community outreach work such as this. It was agreed that just allowing people to make an informed choice about their health situation was one of the most important things we could do. According to Anambe, the majority of people in Ghana are ... read more

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi August 11th 2014

Hi all, first time I've had wifi since I arrived so here goes! After arriving in Accra and spending one night at 'Pink Hostel' I was met by Joe, one of the Projects Abroad (PA) staff at 6am to take the bus to Kumasi. The 'VIP' bus proved entertaining especially as there were a few local films being shown which were hilarious to say the least! Arrived in Kumasi where I was met by Gabby, the PA coordinator for the area, who would take me to my host family. The family are lovely, the parents are Eva and Sammy were so welcoming and hospitable, and their two children, Eben (3yrs) and Happy (9months) are absolutely delightful! I have been given the title of 'Uncle' to the children and Eben in particular has taken a shine to ... read more

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi January 4th 2014

We got up early and were out of the house around 8. (That’s about 4 hours earlier than usual!) Today was the day to go to Kumasi. Kumasi is in the Asante Empire. The seat of the kingdom. (Ghana has a parliament and elected government, but it still relies heavily on the chiefs and village traditions to govern the people. Looks like they have a fairly good way of incorporating the two to me.) There are some pretty cool historical and tourist sites, so it was a place Frank wanted to make sure we didn’t miss. It’s about 4-5 hours away from us if we drive. Originally, we had planned to go, stay the night, and come back the next day. As we started to run out of time, we decided a day trip would be ... read more
No Photos, Please
On the Flight

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi March 20th 2013

I had planned to post this blog right away, on Monday, but I had not realized what 5 days without internet would force me to catch up on many other as important tasks. CIEE, took the nifty nine, well technically now the ____ eight/ the ____ seven, and well, even at times just the ____ six (depending on the situation) to Kumasi (up North). We left at 5:30 am on Thursday morning for a 5 hour bus ride. First, we went to an Asante Traditional home where I got to read up on the history and hear about how the Asante dealt with British influence by keeping their traditions. Afterwards, we went straight to the Palace Museum to get a further tour of the Royal Chiefs and Mother Queens of the Asante Tribe. There were facts ... read more
Asante History
Animal Spines?
Turtles

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi November 26th 2012

The border of Ghana was a breath of fresh air. Although our French had come on leaps and bounds over the last several weeks it was nice to take a break and revert back to English. Ghana is still seen as a bit of a jewel in West Africa in terms of having one of the most stable governments in the region and a growing economy. The first thing we saw when crossing the border were the signs advertising ‘help lines’ that you could call to report any government official or police officer who attempted to solicit bribes from you. A far cry from what we had encountered so far! The border formalities were fairly painless and we slipped into Ghana without incidence. We again tried to offload are toxic Guinea Francs but this just invited ... read more
Looking for Elephants
Gill spots our first elephant of the day
Mole Elephant 2

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi August 16th 2012

Another packed day lay in store. Duke and I woke up super late and we scrambled to get our gear together and have enough time to eat before taking off. In what was probably our nicest accommodation yet, I was insistent on indulging in the breakfast provided and I needed to fuel up asap. Ultimately we had about 10 minutes to chow down before loading up on our new and improved mini bus. Everyone was pretty quiet on this morning as we headed to the Manhyia palace in downtown Kumasi. It was built in 1925 by the British and housed the King of the Ashanti, and is now a museum showcasing Ashanti royalty and their interesting history. The Ashanti once controlled a great empire stretching over a vast swath of West Africa and used a golden ... read more
Cape Coast Castle
Crocodile
Beachfront




Tot: 0.156s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 6; qc: 100; dbt: 0.0872s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb