Travel in West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali or Burkina Faso, with a reliable African guide. Akwaaba will help you design your customized tour to West Africa where you can enjoy and absorb the differences this part of the world has to offer.

Fly into Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where you will be met by an African guide and driven along the coast to Grand Bassam, less than thirty minutes away. For the exact location, see the West Africa Map. While based in Grand Bassam, you may choose to spend your time in the Bassam area or travel to interesting places within Côte d’Ivoire or to the neighboring countries of Ghana, Mali or Burkina Faso. We, the Staff of Akwaaba, will help with your travel plans as much or as little as you like. Contact us to learn more about your options and prices, and a bit more about Akwaaba. You will find reasonable, helpful and rewarding service with Akwaaba, Special West African Travel.

Some possibilities for your self designed adventure in West Africa:

Lodging:
1. Luxurious hotel accommodations at Etoile du Sud on the beach in Grand Bassam.


2. Less expensive, but very nice Beach Side Hotels.


3. Hotels within the town of Bassam (Marvin and NSA).


4. Homestays with an African family in Grand Bassam for an effortless way to experience the culture of African home life.

Activities:
1. Drumming with expert African musicians.
2. Dancing traditional African dance.
3. Sculpting traditional African wood sculpture in Man with the sculptor of the years 1997 and 1999, Ahmed Diallo.
4. Learning about the non verbal messages in traditional African fabric with Beugre Dogny François, Assistant Director of the Costume Museum.
5. Cooking traditional African food with Amponsah Epouse N’Guessan Alice Dorothy, West African wife and mother of nine children.
6. Observing or participating in traditional African Ceremonies.

Travel from Grand Bassam
In Cote d’Ivoire:

Grand Bassam is located east of Abidjan on West Africa's south coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It was the first capital of Côte d'Ivoire from 1893 to 1900. The many colonial buildings are evidence of this period. As you enter Grand Bassam from Abidjan there is a village called the Carrefour with hundreds of artisans from different parts of Côte d'Ivoire and other West African countries making and selling their work in thatched roofed shops on both sides of the highway. On the island of Grand Bassam you will find Fodi's Shop with a large collection of sculptures and masks for sale and at the Artisans Centre you can see and/or buy most art objects made in Côte d'Ivoire and neighboring countries.

In Grand Bassam there are the artisans who keep the traditional arts alive, and there are also contemporary artists, painters whose work is a most intriguing combination of 20th/21st-century painting with definite African influences. One of these well know artists living in the Bassam area is Hayford Y. K. Okyere.

Abidjan is less than 30 minutes travel time away from Grand Bassam. It is the functioning capital and largest city in Côte d'Ivoire, and can be reached by taxi from Grand Bassam for visits to galleries, museums, football games, golf, the Cap Sud mall and Woodin’s. To get a feel for Abidjan, you may take a look at some photos of Abidjan.

Yamoussoukro is approximately four hours north of Abidjan. It is the home of the famous Basilica, Park and the Baule people. The official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, Yamoussoukro has been called the "Brasilia" of Africa.

Korhogo is six hours north of Yamoussoukro by bus. Everything, from the markets to the arts and crafts and nearby villages, reflects the culture of the Senufo people, very different from that of the neighboring ethnic groups to the south.

Man is located in the west central part of Côte d'Ivoire, Man can be reached by a six to eight hour bus ride from Abidjan. There are mountains to climb, an impressive Cascade waterfall to visit and monkeys who can be enticed out of the forest for treats. One of Whatcom's students, Alicia, wrote about her stay in Man with Diallo in 2000. She also wrote about the trip to Grand Lahou.

Grand-Lahou, an ocean side village located east of Abidjan and Grand Bassam, takes about three hours on public transportation to reach. Yonk, one of the students from Whatcom Community College, wrote about his trip to Grand-Lahou (also Man and Ghana). Photos from this 2000 student trip can be found in the Grand Lahou historical file.

Sassandra - is four hours west of Abidjan along the southern coast of Côte d'Ivoire, Sassandra is a beachside settlement with swimable ocean beaches. This most pleasant hillside fishing village is one of the more picturesque places in West Africa.

For additional information about the country of Côte d'Ivoire, it's ethnic groups, culture and art, see Christopher Roy's Art and Life in Africa site from the University of Iowa, or more updated U.S. Government information here.

For news about the political climate in Côte d'Ivoire, see Akwaaba's Côte d'Ivoire Political News Reports.

To nearby countries

Ghana

For information about the country of Ghana, it's ethnic groups, culture and art see Christopher Roy's Art and Life in Africa site from the University of Iowa.

We at Akwaaba are dedicated to providing an authentic African travel experience. With only one, two or three people (westerners) moving about on public transportation with one African guide, it is possible to feel and understand some of the differences between African culture and the culture of the western world. You might like to read the writing of Reshelle McNeil, one of the American students in Bassam in 2000. She told of her trip to Ghana with four other people – two students and two Africans.

Burkina Faso

For information about the country of Burkina Faso, it's ethnic groups, culture and art see Christopher Roy's Art and Life in Africa site from the University of Iowa.

Check out the photos in the Nonswaoga file for a description of travel in Burkina Faso.

Mali

For information about the country of Mali, it's ethnic groups, culture and art see Christopher Roy's Art and Life in Africa site from the University of Iowa.

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