By Sheila A. Williams
The unmistakable garden city of Ghana is a place rich in culture and heritage. It is home of the mighty Ashanti Kingdom and all its historic warriors and Kings.
This great Ghanaian city gets its name from back in the 17th century when Okomfo Anokye, a popular fetish priest in the Ashanti Kingdom, planted three “Kum” trees. One flourished and grew so big and tall that the Kings with his elders often sat under it to relax and hold important meetings. Hence, the entire town which later became this industrious city was named Kumasi, meaning “under the Kum tree.”
Business Day Ghana covers some few places and things that travellers to Ghana can go or do while on holiday in Kumasi.
Kejetia Market
The famous Kejetia Market is located in the centre of Kumasi. Often cited as the largest in open air market in West Africa; it has over 11,000 stalls and at an estimated 50,000 people working there. Various goods and services are sold here and it is often said that, at the Kejetia market, one can get anything that money can buy.
With many old fashioned stalls and table top shops with umbrellas to provide shade, the market often looks like a very colourful grand durbar when viewed from above. As a tourist or traveller, feel free to step into the Kejetia market on a holiday to shop from confectionaries, to fashion products, fresh foodstuff and household equipment or items. The chaos and massive activity often can also aid in having a different view or refreshing scenery instead of staying indoors all day.
Manhyia Palace
A visit to this Museum will give you the opportunity of viewing video-presentations explaining Asante history and the richness of its culture, as well as splendid examples of the gold-work for which the Asantes are famous all around the world. Also on display here are the life-sized effigies of Nana Prempeh I, Nana Yaa Akyaa and the legendary Nana Yaa Asantewaa, Queen of Ejisu, who in 1900 led the uprising and last of the seven Asante wars with the British, when the British Governor demanded the surrender to him of ‘’Asikadwa’’ (Gold Stool).
If you really want to know more about the great history and heritage of the Ashanti Kingdom, this is definitely the place to be.
Rattray Park
If you are looking to relax and de-stress in Kumasi while having fun at the same time, there is only one place to be. The Rattray Park provides affordable recreational, physical and cultural opportunities for all residents and tourists, with a focus on families, youth development and building healthy communities. The general nature of programmes and services offered here are safe.
There are also attractive and well maintained facilities that reflect the needs and interests of the public, whiles providing an outstanding park experience for visitors. The fountain view at night is just amazing. You can’t be bored in Kumasi when the Rattray Park is opened. It is a great place to be with your travelling family as well.
National Arts & Cultural Centre
The National Arts and Cultural Centre is situated within a quiet, shaded ground and is surrounded by many craft workshops. Many talented craftsmen are often on hand to showcase different crafts including brass works, woodcarvings, pottery making, batik cloth dyeing and kente cloth weaving.
A very beautiful art gallery and a craft shop is also available for art lovers to admire and purchase. The craftsmen also take some time to train visitors on how to make certain basic craft items. It is a beauty to see foreigners clad in artistic Ghanaian regalia. They also purchase some items to take back home as gifts for friends and family to actually tell the Ghanaian story.
Kumasi Zoo
Animals are just lovely. For the tame ones, you just want to keep them as pets as they are so much fun to be with or act like the perfect friends and companions. However, there are a few other animals that you can’t afford to keep at home or close by.
The very common wild animals and reptiles such as Lions, snakes and crocodiles may be abundant all the world over but certain species of Safari animals such as elephants are found mainly in Africa. This therefore makes the zoo a great place to visit when in Ghana. The Kumasi zoo presents a great place to have fun, learn and discover new things about animals while you take amazing pictures to reflect on.
Kumasi is never boring if you know where to go. There are actually a lot more but if you needed a quick guide as to where to go and what to do, here is your answer.
