Our first stop was Manhyia Palace (the King's Palace). The only photo is the yard surrounding the palace...it is unusual to see a green grass lawn in Ghana. Unfortunately they don't allow photos in the palace so my text description will have to do.
The part of the palace that is open to the public is actually the house where the previous two kings lived. It is like an old English house, two stories. The current King lives across the yard in a newly remodeled, more modern home (he wasn't accepting visitors :)).
The guide we had was very informative and we learned so much about the way the Ashanti royalty has evolved.
Some of the displays items were comical, they had a TV that was a gift to the King in 1965 (supposedly the first TV in Africa), it was still there but not working. Then a fridge from 1952 that was still working....
They have loads of weapons, photos, paintings, and gifts of chairs and stools. The story is that when the King visits he is given a chair that only he may sit in and when the queen mother visits she should be given a stool that only she may sit in. You can see how well connected the previous kings have been around the world by the number of photos with other countries VIPs and the gifts from other countries.
These are my children inside the window at our hotel, there was a huge space between the windows and the screen... a perfect place to keep the kids :)
This is a parrot that we met at the Cultural Centre while shopping for carvings...
The next several photos are scenes we saw as we cruised around...
All of the circles (round-a-bouts) in Kumasi have statues...this can help you to know where you are going...was it the gold guy? the guy riding a lion? the guy with the seashell skirt? Any tricks that help with directions in Ghana are good...maps are virtually useless...as are street signs.
This lady is selling corn, she has a fire in the pot...we see corn sellers on every corner...
This place had such a Groovy name that I'm sorry we didn't stop in!
We saw loads of people going to and coming from church on Sunday, most of the shops in the centre of town were closed on Sunday.
This is where you would buy a gate for your house. Many of the houses in Ghana are walled in so you need a big gate to get your car in.
Every corner of every street is crowded with signs for local businesses...this is how you find the business you are looking for...a typical address like we are used to in Canada would be useless here...sign boards are the Ghanaian GPS!
It's kind of hard to see from this quick snap but these folks are on the roof of a building having an open air church service.
This is the first sight of the village at Bonwire where they make the Kente cloth.
This is a parrot that we met at the Cultural Centre while shopping for carvings...
The next several photos are scenes we saw as we cruised around...
All of the circles (round-a-bouts) in Kumasi have statues...this can help you to know where you are going...was it the gold guy? the guy riding a lion? the guy with the seashell skirt? Any tricks that help with directions in Ghana are good...maps are virtually useless...as are street signs.
This lady is selling corn, she has a fire in the pot...we see corn sellers on every corner...
This place had such a Groovy name that I'm sorry we didn't stop in!
We saw loads of people going to and coming from church on Sunday, most of the shops in the centre of town were closed on Sunday.
This is where you would buy a gate for your house. Many of the houses in Ghana are walled in so you need a big gate to get your car in.
Every corner of every street is crowded with signs for local businesses...this is how you find the business you are looking for...a typical address like we are used to in Canada would be useless here...sign boards are the Ghanaian GPS!
It's kind of hard to see from this quick snap but these folks are on the roof of a building having an open air church service.
This is the first sight of the village at Bonwire where they make the Kente cloth.
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