General information
Program details
Take the chance to step inside one of Africa's greatest retail traditions on this Kumasi market tour through the city's monumental market. After all, there's no better way to experience the culture and community of Africa than at a busy local market!
If you didn't already know, Kumasi lays claim to possessing the biggest open air market in West Africa, meaning this is the place to shop, mingle, taste, bargain, and indulge. Just to be sure you're ready to go full-local, your experienced local guide will let you in on some local bargaining secrets and tips, and run through proper etiquette as well (hugely important!).
Once you hit the market, stop for a second to take in the wide variety of items being traded, some of which have come in from all over Africa. It's pretty impressive, if you think about it.
As you tour the market, pause to visit the enterprising people who take scrap metal and recyclable materials and transform them into works of art, jewellery, and other useful products. Saving waste from landfill by reusing commonly discarded materials is a burgeoning industry throughout Africa, and this is the ideal place to see the talented people who make a living from this special craft.
Continue making your way through the market, catching sight of items like long strings of colourful beds, vibrant fabrics, and delicate handmade slippers and shoes. Feel free to stop and chat with vendors, and if something catches your eye, don't forget what your guide taught you at the beginning of your market tour!
An absolute must in the Kumasi market is the food section, so don't miss it! From mounds of fresh produce to live animals, this is nothing like shopping at a supermarket or mall back home! Piles of yams, fresh meat, buckets of fragrant spices, bubbling cauldrons of stew, and wagons of bananas mixed in with crowds of people make the food section a full scale assault on the senses! Before heading out, be sure to try some local delicacies and take snapshots of the impressive array of fresh produce.
With your senses in overload we'll finish the Kumasi market tour and bring you back to the centre of town, leaving you with some local tips on what to do in Kumasi during the rest of your stay.
Meeting/pick-up point: At Kumasi Cultural Centre.
Duration: 4 hours.
Start/opening time: At 9am.
End/closing time: At 1pm.
Languages: English.
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