The tour of Ghana, Togo and Benin is our most popular West African package. If you only have under 2 weeks and want to have a comprehensive feel for West Africa, this is the tour to take. You will enjoy Anglophone Ghana and Francophone Togo and Benin. One of the highlights in Benin is a visit to Ganvie, the village built on stilts on Lake Nokue and referred to as the Venice of West Africa. Here you will be mesmerized as you watch market women row their dugout canoes, piled high with goods, enjoy shopping on a floating market, watch as fishermen throw their nets skillfully and artistically into Lake Nokue; providing you with a wonderful photo opportunity. This is a National Geographic experience and you will pinch yourself to believe you are in the midst of it. Between Ghana and Benin lies Togo where you will visit the Grand Marche and Marche des Feticheurs. On this tour you will experience the culture and feel the beauty of these tropical countries.

Your journey will take you to Benin, the spiritual home of Vodoo, the traditional religion of West Africa. This authentic experience will inform you about the essence of traditional African religion. Vodoo, meaning spirit, is one of the world’s oldest religions and has been practised in Africa since the beginning of civilization. Contrary to what many believe in the west, its structure and belief system is similar to that of eastern and western religions. In Benin, Vodoo, is widely practiced throughout the country. Its seat is located in Ouidah. There you will experience a number of traditional religious ceremonies where the practitioners thank their specific deities for looking after them over a period of time and call on the ancestors to guide and support them. You will also witness a ceremony officiated by a high priestess who will sacrifice a live goat and chickens to appease the gods. During the ceremony, drumming and singing takes place and prayers are offered. Later practitioners covered in white powder and clothed in grass skirts dance themselves into a trance to the rhythmic and hypnotic beat of the drums.

The African Hot Spots Tour starts in the exotic country, Mali. Some have suggested that being at the sites in Mali was like transportation into the height of the Songhai Empire. Here you will delight yourself in the 800 year old vivacious city of Djenne, the most beautiful in the Sahel with its mud buildings and Sudanic architecture. As you trek down the Bandiagara Cliff you will be able to relate to the ancient Dogon people who brilliantly built their homes with the intention of camouflaging themselves against danger. If this climb wasn’t enough for the adventurous traveler, come with us as we take a walk on the brinks of the Timbuktu desert as you experience how others traveled this terrain on camelback. From Mali we will visit Ghana via air, stopping in Cape Coast to visit the Slave Castles and the renowned Kakum National Park. As you get closer to the end of your tour you will be given the opportunity to visit the sensational floating village in Ganvie, Benin and also visit Togo’s capital, Lome.