Our cardinal rule is never ship anything…box it up and take it with you on the plane. If you have to pay overweight, so be it…but don’t ship. Based on that, we spent hours concocting boxes using pieces of cardboard, duct tape (a must for us when traveling – we’ve even used duct tape – [...]
“Travel Tips & Advice on Ghana, Togo and Benin”
“The Golden Kingdoms” of West Africa Revisited
January 5th, 2007 
Sheila Simkin 
Posted in Africa, Ghana, Togo and Benin 
Tags: adventure, africa, benin, culture, destination, elmina, event, ghana, log, nature, shopping, sightseeing, slave trade, slaves, togo, travel, West Africa 
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Elmina and The Slave Trade, Ghana – West Africa
January 4th, 2007 Sheila Simkin Ghana’s abundant gold deposits were found in the region we drove through on the way to Elmina. We also stopped at Kakum National Park, a protected virgin rain forest that has monkeys, elephants and other African fauna. It has one of the largest remaining rain forest canopies and we viewed the canopy on forest walkways [...]
Posted in Africa, Ghana, Togo and Benin Tags: adventure, africa, culture, destination, elmina, event, fertility dolls, ghana, log, nature, sightseeing, slave trade, slaves, travel, west 4 Comments »
An Ashanti Funeral in Kumasi, Ghana – West Africa
January 3rd, 2007 Sheila Simkin Attend a festive Ashanti funeral? This had to be carefully explained to us. The person for whom the funeral was held, actually died some time ago. It could have been years before. The family saves up their money and plans a major send-off when they can afford it. There are “funeral scouts” who do nothing [...]
Posted in Africa, Ghana, Togo and Benin Tags: adventure, africa, Ashanti Funeral, culture, customs, destination, event, ghana, kumasi, log, nature, place, sightseeing, travel, tribes, west 1 Comment »
Kumasi, Ghana – West Africa
January 2nd, 2007 Sheila Simkin On the road to Kumasi, we left our vehicles and made our way up stairs through dilapadated rooms and came out on the second level of a merchant with tons of “stuff” for sale. Burlap bags of trade beads…an entire room with carved chief’s chairs in different sizes and stages of disintergration; antique gold weights; [...]
Posted in Africa, Ghana, Togo and Benin Tags: adventure, africa, ghana, gold, historical and spiritual capital of Ghana, kumasi, place, tribes, west No Comments »
Wa, Wenchi and Kumasi, Ghana – West Africa
January 1st, 2007 Sheila Simkin Driving from Wa to Wenchi, we drove along the ancient caravan route that linked the Kumasi region to the Kingdom of Sudan. Gold and kola nuts were carried along this route. Traders imported kola nuts from the forests of Asante for hundreds of years, carried in large, donkey caravans from the middle Volta basin Sudan. [...]
Posted in Africa, Ghana, Togo and Benin Tags: adventure, africa, culture, destination, event, ghana, kumasi, log, nature, place, sightseeing, travel, tribes, wa, Wenchi, west No Comments »
More Lobi and Another Witch Doctor in Ghana, West Africa
December 31st, 2006 Sheila Simkin The Lobi are famous for ceremonial plugs worn in the lips of the women. We saw a few still wearing them but no photos. They too, build fortress-style, mud brick homes, have animist beliefs and still hunt with bows and arrows Very friendly people who played some traditional Lobi music for us. We then visited [...]
Posted in Africa, Ghana, Togo and Benin Tags: adventure, africa, culture, destination, doctor, event, ghana, kumasi, lobi, Lobi people, log, nature, people, place, sightseeing, travel, tribes, West Africa, witch, witch doctors No Comments »
Wa and Lobi People, Ghana, West Africa
December 30th, 2006 Sheila Simkin Continuing on once again to Wa, capital of Ghana’s Upper West Region, a predominantly Muslim area. Since it was Friday, we hoped to see the local people going to the Mosque. Jumu’ah (also known as Friday prayer) is held just after noon. Wa is the regional capital and the gateway to the Upper West Region [...]
Posted in Africa, Ghana, Togo and Benin Tags: adventure, africa, culture, destination, event, ghana, kumasi, lobi, log, nakori mosque, nature, people, place, sightseeing, travel, tribes, wa, West Africa 1 Comment »
The Gurunsi, Talensi and Kassena Groups, West Africa
December 29th, 2006 Sheila Simkin Moving along, our route followed part of the ancient caravan trail through territory inhabited by the Gurunsi, Dagarti, Talensi and Kassena (a subset of the Gurunsi) ethnic groups. these people all live in communal, fortified villages. The Gurunsi and Kassena people are known for the murals decorating the walls of their mud huts. Most of [...]
Posted in Africa, Ghana, Togo and Benin Tags: adventure, africa, culture, destination, ethnic, event, ghana, groups, Gurunsi, Kassena, kumasi, log, murals, nature, place, sightseeing, Talensi, travel, tribes, West Africa No Comments »
Northern Togo and Ghana’s Different Ethnic Groups, West Africa
December 28th, 2006 Sheila Simkin The Moba are a group of warriors who still practice the rite of female circumcision. (Owie. Not only does that hurt but it is so barbaric!) They inhabit the north and build their homes of clay, with conical roofs made of straw. A wall surrounds and protects the huts belonging to members of the same [...]
Posted in Africa, Ghana, Togo and Benin Tags: adventure, africa, culture, destination, event, ghana, kumasi, log, Moba, nature, place, sightseeing, Somba region, travel, tribes, West Africa No Comments »
Somba Villages in West Africa
December 27th, 2006 Sheila Simkin The Somba were also once famous for their nudity but most wear clothes now. They still hunt with bows and arrows and I seriously considering buying some as souvenirs…then thought about the problems going through airport security with a bow and arrows slung over my back… Their architecture was very unique with castle-like adobe dwellings. [...]
Posted in Africa, Ghana, Togo and Benin Tags: adventure, africa, benin, culture, destination, event, log, nature, place, sightseeing, somba, Somba region, travel, tribes, West Africa 2 Comments »
