Sponsors:

Specially pre-arranged air and ground services for participants arriving from the United States via New York JFK International Airport on British Airways or KLM are available at the price of $3,555.00 per person to include round trip air-ticket, airport transfers with assistance, 14 nights hotel accommodation with daily breakfast on double occupancy at Novotel (4 star), ground transportation, excluding conference registration but including tours and meals where provided for in the following itinerary. [This price is subject to change.]

Day 1: Saturday, March 11, 2006

Depart New York JFK to Accra, Ghana.

Day 2:  Sunday, 12, 2006

Arrive at Accra airport; met and assisted by Africa First’s agents and transferred to your hotel of choice. Welcome dinner.

Day 3:  Monday, March 13, 2006  

Depart after breakfast to go on Accra city tour visiting the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Park, National Museum and W.E.B. Du Bois Centre for Pan Africanism. Drive past the Independence Arch and Black Star Square- Accra’s ceremonial grounds. View in the distance Christiansborg Castle, office of the President of Ghana.  Your last stop on tour will be the Arts and Crafts market where you may try out your bargaining skills on the local vendors and to “shop till you drop”.

Break for lunch at a local restaurant. After lunch visit few health centres to meet and interact with staff. Assist the health care professionals. Return to your hotel for overnight: Accra.   B.L.

Day 4: Tuesday, March 14, 2006

After breakfast, you will be transferred by bus to the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) for the commencement of the conference and exhibition. After the conference, you will be transferred to your hotel for overnight. B

Day 5: Wednesday, March 15, 2006

After breakfast, you will be transferred by bus to the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) for the continuation of the conference and exhibition. After the conference, you will be transferred to your hotel for overnight. B

Day 6: Thursday, March 16, 2006

After breakfast, you will be transferred by bus to the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) for the continuation of the conference and exhibition. After the conference, you will be transferred to your hotel for overnight. B

Day 7: Friday, March 17, 2006

After breakfast, you will be transferred by bus to the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) for the continuation of the conference and exhibition. After the conference, you will be transferred to your hotel for overnight. B

Day 8: Saturday, March 18, 2006

After breakfast, you will be transferred by bus to the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) for the conclusion of the conference and exhibition. After the conference, you will be transferred to your hotel for overnight. B

Day 9: Sunday, March 19, 2006

Depart Accra after breakfast for the Volta Region. Drive past several rustic farming communities and arrive in the Volta Region. Check into Chances Hotel in Ho for refreshment and light lunch.

Visit Ho Government hospital for interaction with the staff. From here visit Dr. G. Naomesi’s world renowned Herbal Centre and Laboratory which uses scientific research methods to administer traditional medicine.  The centre has the patent for 58 Herbal Drug preparations for diseases such as Asthma, Blurred vision, Stroke/Paralysis, Diabetes and Stomach ulcer. You may wish to purchase some herbal preparations for yourself or friends back home. 

Transfer to Logba Traditional District where the Paramount Chief, Elders and people of this territory, will receive and treat you to authentic cultural drumming, singing and dancing. At this gathering, you will meet with the local organization of traditional healers and learn about their medicinal therapies and products.

Return to Chances Hotel for dinner and overnight. B.L.D.

Day 10: Monday, March 20, 2006 

Depart after breakfast to the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, (a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre), for a guided tour of its facilities in Mampong Akropong.  You will settle down for a pre-arranged seminar on herbal medicine, touching on Traditional Medicine Practice Law and Food and Drug Board Law, microbiology, medicinal plants of Ghana, preparation and packaging of herbal products, identification of plant family and genera, chemistry of medicinal plants, basic principles in phytochemistry, extract, purification and isolation of plant constituents, cultivation, herbal formulations, processing and storage of plant materials, basic pharmacology, toxicological screening methods, etc.

The Centre has the patent of herbal medication for several diseases such as hypertension, baldness, malaria, impotence and diabetes.  You can purchase some of these herbal medicines for your family back home.

Arrive at Aburi Botanical Gardens established in 1890 as a convalescent for the British Colonial officers governing the then Gold Coast now Ghana and relax under the shade of huge trees, some of which are over hundred years old. You will have lunch here.

The Aburi Botanical Gardens were designed for scientific research and pleasure. It is a habitat for plants from all over the world. Over the years, the Garden has cultured a variety of tropical plants, which attract many birds and butterflies.  Go on a conducted tour of its many herb lawns and well-manicured gardens. Stop at the craft shops along the road to do some shopping. Return to your hotel in Accra by late afternoon for relaxation and overnight. B.L.

Day 11: Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Early departure from Ho after breakfast, to the Central Region of Ghana.  Drive past several farming communities to Tema and through Accra to Cape Coast.  The journey offers several photo opportunities as we drive through Ghana’s countryside.

Visit the Coast Castle and the West African Historical Museum. The guide will conduct you to the slave quarters and Negotiation Hall where our ancestors were bargained for and sold. 

Continue to visit Elmina Castle built by the Portuguese in 1482 and later used as an auction market for slaves for a comprehensive guided tour. See the Slave dungeons and the condemned cell where slaves who attempted to escape were incarcerated.

After lunch visit and interact with staff of local health facilities. Check into Elmina Beach Resort for dinner and overnight. B/L/D.

Day 12: Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Take breakfast and depart for a visit to Kakum National Park. Go on a walk through one of the remaining vestiges of the rain forest.  For the young at heart experience the “Canopy Walkway” with a panoramic view of flora and fauna of the rain forest.  Return to your hotel. Rest of day free to relax at the poolside or use the resort’s gym.  Dinner and overnight at the hotel.  B/D

Day 13: Thursday, March 23, 2006

Depart Elmina for Kumasi, capital of the Ashanti Region. Drive past Assin Manso, burial site of the remains of two former slaves exhumed from New York's Wall Street and re-interred on Emancipation Day 1998 and the "Slave River" which was the last rest stop for slaves on their "one-way" trek to the Coast for shipment into slavery. Note the change in vegetation from coastal shrub to forest as we drive northwards.

Cross the River Prah to the historic Ashanti Region. Arrive in Kumasi and check into Royal Basin Resort/Amashairo Hotel for refreshment.  Go on a city tour of Kumasi, which will include the Manhyia Palace and Palace Museum, National Cultural Centre, the Okomfo Anokye sword site, Prempeh II Jubilee Museum, Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the Kumasi Central Market – the largest open-air market in West Africa.

Lunch at a Ghanaian restaurant. After lunch, visit health facilities for interaction with staff and patients. Return to your hotel for overnight.  BL.

Day 14: Friday, March 24, 2006

After breakfast, check out and depart to visit a few Ashanti craft villages to observe craftsmen at work and to purchase souvenir gift items from the wide assortment of handicrafts on sale. Ahwiaa - specialising in woodcarvings such as stools and fertility dolls; Ntonso - where the primary activity is the Adinkra mourning clothe and tie-and-dye and finally to Bonwire, home of the famous Kente clothe. Break for lunch and continue to Accra.  Drive past several scenic villages and charming towns through the evergreen forests. Check in to your hotel in Accra for overnight. B/L

Day 15: Saturday, March 25, 2006

Breakfast and a day at leisure for last minute shopping and packing. You are on your own.

Day 16: Sunday, March 26, 2006

Breakfast and a day free for relaxation. There will be an evening farewell dinner in a Ghanaian home with local entertainment. Transfer to the airport for departure.