Service & Leadership

Sample Activities

Your program fee covers fun cultural activities:

• Learn to make traditional bead jewelry.
• Weave baskets with experienced local artisans.
• Take day trips to Shai Hills Resource Reserve, where you’ll enjoy guided tours to see baboons and other wildlife; and to the magnificent Akosombo Dam on the Volta River, where you’ll view dramatic scenery and learn about Ghana’s source of electricity.

Your program fee also includes two overnight trips and one multiday excursion hosted by CIEE staff per semester, so you’ll get the chance to take in the diverse sights and sounds of several Ghanaian landmarks:

Central Region overnight trip
Take off on a private bus for this overnight trip to visit the Cape Coast Castle and its slave dungeons, built by Europeans and nicknamed the “Door of no return.” Slaves were held here to be loaded onto ships headed to America. The castle has a long history of being captured by different European nations, as the slave trade was very competitive in Ghana. Along with a tour of this UNESCO World Heritage Site, you’ll attend a “courageous conversations” debriefing, discussing the impact slavery had on Ghana.

Hit the rainforest on part two of your trip. You’ll visit Kakum National Park, a lush rainforest and one of two locations in Africa that has a canopy walkway (rope bridges seen in pictures) connecting treetops over the forest.

Volta Region overnight trip
This overnight trip will take you to the Volta, an exceptionally beautiful ecotourism region that spans rolling hills and dramatic lagoons around the Volta River and Lake Volta. See the amazing Adomi Bridge, the largest of its kind in West Africa. You’ll visit the Wli Waterfalls, the highest waterfall in West Africa, and the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. Proceeds protect animals and are reinvested in the community to build medical clinics and fund social services.

Kumasi and Ashanti Region multi-day excursion
On this two-night trip, you’ll head off to Kumasi, one of the largest cities in Ghana, to learn about the culture of Ghana up close. You’ll see remnants of the homes of the Ashanti, a great civilization that fell in the 18th century. At the Manhyia Palace Museum, you’ll learn about Ghana’s history before it was colonized by the British. Other destinations give a glimpse of local life: In Bonwire Kente Village, locals weave cloth in the traditional, multicolor way. In Ntonso, they produce dye, cloth, and traditional carvings. Kejetia features a massive open-air African market.