Traveling to Ghana

Ghana is a beautiful country that has just celebrated its 50^th Anniversary of independence. There is so much to see and experience. To enrich your mission trip, we will visit some of Ghana’s historic and natural areas.

The Volta Region, where Peki is located, is visited by less than 5% of foreign visitors to Ghana, and yet it is a beautiful, lushly vegetated and relatively mountainous region with a rich culture among the Ewe-speaking people. Bounded by Lake Volta on the west and Togo on the east, the Volta Region includes these highlights:

• Wli Falls – the tallest waterfall in West Africa

• Kente-weaving centers at Tafi Abuipe and Kpetoe Agotime, reputedly the area where this ceremonial cloth was originally developed

• Avame Dzemeni – this village’s market is one of the largest and most colorful in the Volta Region

• Amedzofe – this scenic hilltop town was an historic German mission and education center

• Kalapka Reserve – this dry savanna and forest preserve boasts kob antelope, baboons, green monkeys, patas monkeys, buffalo, and a variety of birds

• Lake Volta and Akosombo Dam – the most expansive artificial lake in the world and famous hydroelectric dam inaugurated by President Kwame Nkrumah in 1966

Accra, the capital city from which we will arrive and depart, is a modern city of more than two million people. Highlights include:

• Makola Market – largest open-air food market in Ghana

• National Cultural Center – bustling market full of authentic handcrafts, artwork, and souvenirs

• DuBois Center – the former home and burial place of African-American leader W.E.B. DuBois

• University of Ghana-Legon – the oldest university in Ghana features a botanical garden, the Balme Library and the Museum of Archaeology

The Cape Coast area, west of Accra, is perhaps Ghana’s most popular destination for foreign visitors. Highlights include:

• Castles at Elmina and Cape Coast – offer an intimate look at the Europeans’ historic involvement in West Africa and the painful legacy of the slave trade

• Kakum National Park – includes a 40-meter-high canopy walk above a rain forest, one of only four in the world