Back africa tours

30/12/2023

27/09/2023

Today is World tourism day. The day to spread awareness about the importance of tourism and it's impact on our society.

24/09/2023

EXCITING NEWS!

CONSTRUCTION of the $50m Pan African Heritage Museum Center has begun on Heritage Hills, Pomadze, on the Winneba Junction- Cape Coast road, GHANA.

President of the Central Region House of Chiefs, Odeefuo. Amuakwa Boadu VIII was Guest of Honor. Rotary Club of GHANA planted Trees in support.

The Museum Center, to include a Museum building, an International Conference Centre, Herbal Plant Medicine Farm, Innovation Hub, Blocks of Apartments, Sculptured Park of Heroes & Heroines, Production Studio & Amphitheater, a Herbal Plant Farm and a Pan African Foodcourt, will be open in 2025/26.

Why PAN AFRICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM (1)? Why is Heritage important?

“Heritage is a person's unique, inherited sense of family identity: the values, traditions, culture, and artifacts handed down by previous generations.”
It is evident that Africans and people of African descent have not been EDUCATED about their HERITAGE. Africans see each other differently. Africans in the Diaspora have been MIS-EDUCATED about Africa. AFRICANS on the continent have no idea about what happened to their kith and kin when they left the DOOR OF NO RETURN.
The Pan African Heritage Museum coming up in GHANA aims to EDUCATE, HEAL & INSPIRE 🎈

The project is another brain-child of Kojo Yankah 🇬🇭

03/07/2023

EDINA BOTWEKU IN FOCUS:

IT'S BAKATUE! LET'S ENJOY AND BE GLAD THROUGHOUT 🎊

Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, situated on a bay on the Atlantic Ocean, 12 kilometres (7+1⁄2 miles) west of Cape Coast. Elmina was the first European settlement in West Africa.

SHORT HISTORY.:
Prior to the arrival of the Portuguese, Edina (Elmina) was called Anomansa ("perpetual" or "inexhaustable drink") from its position on the peninsula between the Benya lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the historian Wartemberg, Edina was founded by the first Chief, Nana Kwa Amankwa, hence its original name Amankwakrom, who ruled from 1300-1355 AD. Other chiefs that ruled until early 17th century were:

1355-1390 Kwegya Ansah I
1390-1426 Ampɔn Kuma
1426-1450 Ebu I
1450-1475 Amankwaa II
1475-1510 Kwamena Ansah (Don Diego Di Azambuja arrived during his time
1510-1545 Kwegya Ansah II
1545-1572 Kofi Ahen
1572-1605 Esilfie Kondua

The Portuguese first reached what became known as the Gold Coast in 1471. Prince Henry the Navigator first sent ships to explore the African coast in 1418. The Portuguese had several motives for voyaging south. They were attracted by rumors of fertile African lands that were rich in gold and ivory. They also sought a southern route to India so as to circumvent Arab traders and establish direct trade with Asia. In line with the strong religious sentiments of the time, another focus of the Portuguese was Christian proselytism. They also sought to form an alliance with the legendary Prester John, who was believed to be the leader of a great Christian nation somewhere far from Europe.

These motives prompted the Portuguese to develop the Guinea trade. They made gradual progress down the African coast, each voyage reaching a point further along than the last. After fifty years of coastal exploration, the Portuguese finally reached Elmina in 1471, during the reign of King Afonso V. However, because Portuguese royalty had lost interest in African exploration as a result of meager returns, the Guinea trade was put under the oversight of the Portuguese trader, Fernão Gomes. Upon reaching present day Elmina, Gomes discovered a thriving gold trade already established among the natives and visiting Arab and Berber traders. He established his own trading post, and it became known to the Portuguese as
"A Mina" (the Mine) because of the gold that could be found there.

THE PORTUGUESE IN WEST AFRICA

The Portuguese were the first to arrive. By 1471, under the patronage of Prince Henry the Navigator, they had reached the area that was to become known as the Gold Coast because Europeans knew the area as the source of gold that reached Muslim North Africa by way of trade routes across the Sahara.

In 1478 (during the War of the Castilian Succession), a Castilian (Spanish) armada of 35 caravels and a Portuguese fleet fought a large naval battle near Elmina for the control of the Guinea trade (gold, slaves, ivory and melegueta pepper). The war ended with a Portuguese naval victory, followed by the official recognition by the Catholic Monarchs of Portuguese sovereignty over most of the West African territories in dispute embodied in the Treaty of Alcáçovas, 1479. This was the first colonial war among European powers. Many more would follow.

ELMINA CASTLE

The Portuguese finished building a fort in 1482, after obtaining permission from the local king, King Caramansa or, better, Kwamena Ansah, who was described by the Portuguese as "seated on a high bench with a necklace of gold and precious stones, legs and arms covered with gold bracelets, silk dress with rings of ..."
The town grew around São Jorge (St. George) da Mina Castle, built by the Portuguese Don Diego de Azambuja on the site of a town or village called Amankwakrom or Amankwa.

Elmina Castle is historically important as it is the earliest European construction in the Gulf of Guinea, and the oldest castle in sub-Saharan Africa.
It was Portugal's West African headquarters for trade and exploitation of African wealth. The original Portuguese interest was gold, with 8,000 ounces shipped to Lisbon from 1487 to 1489, 22,500 ounces from 1494 to 1496, and 26,000 ounces by the start of the sixteenth century (1500s).

BAKATUE FESTIVAL

Edina is home to the annual Bakatue Festival, a celebration of the sea and the local fishing culture, held on the first Tuesday of July each year.

Bakatue translated means "the opening of the lagoon" or the "draining of the Lagoon". It is also celebrated to invoke the deity, Nana Benya's continuous protection of the state and its people.

ASAFO COMPANIES OF EDINA

In Edina, Asafo companies emerged in the early 18th century out of the wards of Edina that had existed since at least the 17th century.
The various companies in Edina are:

- Ankobea (also Ankobia) ...
- Akyemfo (also Akim) ...
- Akyem-Nkodwo (also Ɛnkɔdwo) ...
- Wombir (previously Assamfo or Apagyafo)
- Abese (also Abesi)

HAPPY EDINA BAKATUE!!!

23/06/2023

New entrance ticket to the Castles. effective 1st July 2023.

23/05/2023

Panafest foundation is launching Panafest and Emancipation day 2023 at Centre for national Culture (CNC) Cape Coast on the Thursday 25th of May 2023. Be there!

17/05/2023

08/05/2023

The Tuafo Number 1 Asafo Company emerged winners of this year’s deer hunting race, which climaxes the 2023 Aboakyer Festival of the chiefs and people of Effutu in Winneba, on Saturday.

The traditional warriors arrived at 10:10 hours, with the live animal at the durbar grounds, where hundreds of highly expectant indigenes and visitors had gathered.

The arrival of the heroes was met with spontaneous jubilation of screaming, singing, applauding and praising.
After parading the animal aloft the durbar grounds for about 15 minutes, it was presented to Neenyi Ghartey VII, the Paramount Chief of the Effutu Traditional Area, who stepped on it three times as a sign of acceptance.

Book your Cultural and historical tour with us. We will give an unforgettable experience.

05/05/2023

https://traveljoy.com/bookings/N4N3UeHFDbYUNXqhjEk5dq2v

04/05/2023

Aboakyir is celebrated by the people of Winneba (Simpafo) The festival is celebrated on the first Saturday in May. On the first day of the festival, the two Asafo companies (Tuafo and Dentsifo warrior groups) in Winneba take part in a hunting expedition. The first troop to catch a live bushbuck from a game reserve used for this purpose and present it to the chiefs and people at a colorful durbar is declared winner and is highly regarded for bravery.The bushbuck is sacrificed and this signifies the start of the Aboakyer festival. The festival is used also to receive a productive harvest and spiritual guidance from their gods for the coming year.

27/04/2023

PANAFEST,My Panafest!
Come one,come all
All ye from far and near
Come ye from America and Jamaica,
From England and Netherland
Come ye black and white
Come ye to the craddle of history
To the Homeland of slavery and freedom
Come to smiles from pure hearts
To dances from firm feet
Come to colour,pomp and pageantery
To the culture of my youthful days
To the nature of The Creator
Come for blessings from mother earth,the
To The Holy Land
GHANA !

19/04/2023

KROMANTI OF JAMAICA AND KORMANTSE OF GHANA – THE HISTORY OF ITS ORIGINS .

The name Cromanti, Kromantyn or Kromanti, in both Jamaica and Suriname, is derived from the Fanti town known as Kormantse. Kormantse is a town just after Saltpond known as (Akyenfo in the local Fante dialect). Due to their militaristic background, Coromantins organized dozens of slave rebellions in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Americas. Many Fantes were also initially enslaved and sent to mostly Jamaica and other Caribbean Islands such as Suriname, Haiti, Guyana and Barbados through Fort Amsterdam in Kormantse.

Slaves from Kormantse organized and waged rebellion wars in Jamaica and the Caribbean. In 1756, a bill was proposed to prevent the importation of Cormantees but was not passed. Colonists later devised ways of separating Coromantees from each other, by housing them separately, placing them with other slaves, and stricter monitoring of activities. Since groups such as the Igbos were hardly reported to have been maroons, Igbo women were paired with Coromantee men so as to subdue the latter due to the idea that Igbo women were bound to their first-born sons' birthplace.

Indeed, the first Maroon war was started by the Cormantees lead by Cudjo and Queen Nanny (Kojo and Naana), who are both Fantes enslaved and sent to Jamaica through Fort Kormantse. In 1739–40, the British government in Jamaica recognized that it could not defeat the Maroons, so they came to an agreement with them instead. The Maroons were to remain in their five main towns: Accompong, Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town), Moore Town (formerly New Nanny Town), Scott's Hall (Jamaica) and Charles Town, Jamaica, living under their own rulers and a British supervisor.

Fante culture such as the belief in a single, supreme God, Nyame – and Anansi stories spread to the New World and became Anancy, Anansi Drew, or Br’er Rabbit stories in Jamaica, The Bahamas, and the Southern United States respectively. Fante deities referred to as Abosom in the Fante Language were documented, and enslaved Fantes would praise Nyankopong (erroneously written by the British as Accompong); libations would be poured to Asase Yaa (erroneously written as “Assarci”) and Bosom Epo the sea god. Bonsam was referred to as the god of evil.

After British abolition of slavery in 1833, their influence and reputation began to wane as Coromantins were fully integrated into the larger British-influenced Jamaican society. However, Fante loanwords make up the largest part of the African influence in Jamaican patois. Also, Patois has Fante arrangement and grammar. The Fante language has also influenced the Jamaican Maroon population with their Maroon Spirit language. Fante names such as Cudjo (Kojo), Quamina (Kwamina), Tacky (Takyi) and Cuffy (Kofi) are all common among Cormantees in Jamaica, Suriname and other Caribbean countries. In 1811, Fort Amsterdam was attacked by the Fante Asafo groups of Anomabo upon hearing of the devastating conditions of slaves in Jamaica and other Caribbean countries. Fort Amsterdam has not seen any major renovation since that attack and most parts of the fort are still in ruins.

Sources.
Crooks, John Joseph (1973), Records Relating to the Gold Coast Settlements from 1750 to 1874 (London: Taylor & Francis), p. 62. ISBN 978-0-7146-1647-6.
Edwards, Bryan (January 1999). The History, Civil and Commercial of the British Colonies in the West Indies. ISBN 9781402175473.
The Asante-Fante War of 1806–1807 and the Battle of Anomabu”. 11 December 2017

Egglestone, Ruth (2001). “A Philosophy of Survival: Anancyism in Jamaican Pantomime” (PDF). The Society for Caribbean Studies Annual Conference Papers. 2: 1471–2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2012.

28/03/2023

The Senior most tour guide Mr Blankson taking The US VP and the Second Man on the Cape Coast Slave dungeon tour.

28/03/2023

US Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks after touring Cape Coast Castle in Ghana.

"The horror of what happened here must always be remembered. It must be taught. History must be learned. We must be guided by the history of those who survived in the Americas, in the Caribbean ... "

🇬🇭

25/03/2023

25/03/2023

This is Fort Dixcove (also known as Fort Metal Cross) in the Western Region of Ghana. Because of its history in the Atlantic slave trade and its testimony to European-African trade, it was designated as a World Heritage Site

21/03/2023

Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and Visa have announced a strategic collaboration that will see the world leader in digital payments become an official payment partner at national tourism sites under GTA’s control, including all GTA-hosted events.

Following this agreement, Visa will serve as one of the accepted forms of payment by patrons at certain tourist sites throughout Ghana including the Kintampo Waterfalls, Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, the Bunso Eco park, Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm, Assin Manso, Anomabo Memorial Garden of Return, Bonwire Kente Museum, and several other tourist locations in the country

This partnership is significant ahead of the Kwahu Easter festivities in April 2023 and the much anticipated call for entries for "December In GH," 2023. Both are a special bundle of activities and programmes designed to make Ghana a top travel destination over holiday periods and beyond.

15/03/2023

New entrance fees for Assin Manso River

07/03/2023

People with one Ancestry

Kofi-Badukrom is one of the towns/villages with borders that divide Ghana and La Côte d'lvoire geographically. This town is located 33km from Agnibilekro in Côte d'lvoire, and can also be found in Dormaa, just like Masaakrom.

In the picture, the hen has just entered La Côte d'lvoire without any passport.

In this town;
√Some of the buildings have their kitchens in Côte d'lvoire with rooms in Ghana and vice versa.
√Some Ivorians go to school in Ghana and sleeps in Côte d'lvoire, and vice versa.

At the end we are still one Bono (Bron) people living unaffectedly by border demarcations.
📷 LES ETHNIES DE LA COTE D'IVOIRE ET D'AFRIQUE

02/03/2023

HAVE YOU READ ABOUT OFARNYI KWEGYA?

Ofarnyi Kwegya was part of Asebu Amanfi and his group of people that arrived from Ancient Egypt to present day Asebu town in the Central Region of Ghana. Asebu Amanfi and Ofarnyi Kwegya were both giants according to oral traditional history.

Asebu Amanfi on his arrival moved inland and founded Asebu township. Ofarnyi Kwegya was a master fisherman who settled on the coast due to the abundance of Mɔrolɛ (Stingray) in the rivers, henceforth the name Mɔrolɛ or Moree. Another name for Moree is Kwegyakrom.

Ofarnyi Kwegya was a master fisherman who was able to capture huge number of fish due to his size. His fishing activities took him and his men to several parts of the coast of present day Central Region. He settled in Moree, Winneba and other parts of the coast due to his fishing activities.

The late Ofarnyi Kwegya was the greatest fisherman ever to have lived in Ghana. After his death, no fisherman has been able to equal his achievements.

22/02/2023

ASAFA POWELL IN GHANA

THE GHANA OLYMPIC COMMITTEE HAS CONFIRMED THAT ONE OF THE WORLD'S FASTEST-EVER HUMAN BEINGS WILL BE IN GHANA NEXT WEEK

ACCORDING TO GOC COMMUNICATIONS, ASAFA POWELL, FORMER 100 METRES WORLD RECORD HOLDER, WILL BE ARRIVING FROM THE SPANISH TOWN OF JAMAICA AT THE INVITATION OF THE GHANA OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (GOC) ON MONDAY, 27TH FEBRUARY.

22/02/2023

HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT ASSIN STATE

Assin/Asen derives from the word ‘yɛ sen’, a word that emerged during the slavery period because Assin was a transit point for bought slaves from the interior and Northern sector of the country. Assin was the area where slaves were bathed and branded before finally arriving at the Cape Coast Castle.

According to Rebecca Shumway (a dedicated Fante researcher), Assin emerged from an Indigenous Etsi tribe known as Akanyi that lived in the Assin area in smaller numbers even before Fante Borbor. Thy were a major gold trader and supplied gold to Fantes and the British. Over the years, Slave runners, Freed slaves, war captives and some Fantes settled there.

Slave runners who were able to escape in the thick forest after their journey to be bathed used Assin as their home. Freed slaves? Yes Freed slaves. In the 1700’s, Nana Brembong Kojo Egyir (Aggrey II), then King of Cape Coast freed over 100 slaves that were being brought to the Cape Coast Castle. He dug holes in Siwdu and convinced the British that the Slaves all perished on their way so he ordered for them to be buried at Siw-Du. This is where Siwdu and the cemetery in the area originated.
Fantes used Assin as the boader between the confederacy and Asante and usually met around Assin Praso whenever war breaks out. Fantes built hideouts and smaller posts that were used as military camps whenever war breaks out with Asante. These posts and military camps led to some Fantes using Assin as thei home permanently.

In 1806, Assin captives in Asante ransacked a grave in Asante and fled to Cape Coast after Asantehene ordered for their heads. The request of Asante for Cape Coast to release the two Assin capitives were denied by Cape Coast severally and in 1807, the first Asante-Fante war broke out. This is where Osei Bonsu then Asantehene got the name “Bonsu” (Whale), because he reached the shores of the Fanteland at Anomabo.

In 1844, Assin joined other Fante states in the signing of the Bond of 1844. Having been part of Fante for a very long time, in 1868, Assin joined in the formation of the Fante Confederacy. It’s not surprising that you will find Assins with names as Fifi, Ekow, Essoun, Aba etc. For instance the then Chief of Assin Atandansu, Sir Nana Tsibu Darku IX who is known as Ekow Anaisie and born in Cape Coast.

12/02/2023

KJB TRAVELS IN COLLABOR...