Kumasi & Surrounds

Referred to as the 'Garden City of West Africa', Kumasi is the capital of the Ashanti Region, in southern Ghana. It’s known as a centre for Ashanti culture and remains the seat of the Asantehene (Asante king) and the site of the Golden Stool - a symbol of royal authority and unity of the people. In the huge, open-air Kejetia Market, stalls sell everything from glass beads to Ashanti sandals. The National Cultural Centre offers craft workshops and traditional dance and music performances. It incorporates the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum, which displays jewellery and ceremonial clothing belonging to the 20th-century Ashanti monarch. Kumasi is the largest settlement in the Ghanaian interior (second in size to Accra). You can enjoy visiting the nearby villages of Adanwomase for its wonderful Kente cloth workshop and Ntonsu for its Adinka cloth workshop - in both, you can learn how the cloth is made, along with gaining an understanding of the 'language' expressed by means of colour combination (Kente) or symbols (Adinkra). Kumasi is also an ideal base if you're wishing to visit the Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary, a hotspot for birding perhaps best known for its roost site of African grey parrots.