Pickup at the airport. Check-in at Hotel BKBG or equivalent in Cotonou. Dinner and briefing on the route ahead.

Morning city tour of Cotonou: the Amazone monument, the Red Star Palace, and the Dantokpa market — several hectares of stalls, the largest open-air market in West Africa. From the port at Abomey-Calavi, a wooden pirogue carries us to Ganvié in the middle of Lake Nokoué. The Tofinu people moved here 400 years ago specifically because the Fon kingdom's army never pursued enemies onto water — the lake became protection. From Ganvié we continue to Porto-Novo, Benin's capital and a city shaped by returning Afro-Brazilian families who brought Portuguese architectural styles back with them in the 19th century. Return to Cotonou overnight.

The drive to Abomey takes roughly two hours. Abomey was the capital of Dahomey, one of the most powerful kingdoms in West Africa between 1625 and 1900, and one of the most active participants in the Atlantic slave trade. Twelve kings ruled in sequence; their individual palaces form a complex now on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We visit the historical museum, the bas-relief walls that document each reign, and attempt a meeting with the current king or queen mother. Overnight in Abomey at Hotel Bois Vert.

Ouidah was the Atlantic gateway for Dahomey's slave trade. We start with a walking tour of the historic centre: the Python Temple (sacred pythons have been housed here since the 17th century), the cathedral, and the Afro-Brazilian houses. The sacred forest of Kpassè contains trees planted by the kings of Dahomey, each one tied to a specific spiritual covenant. The Slave Route walk covers 4 km from the city to the beach, passing monuments that mark each stage of the embarkation process. We also attend a Vodoun circuit — not a demonstration, but a real engagement with the religion's ritual structure and what it means in daily Beninese life. Overnight at Résidence MGA Hôtel.

A morning stop at Potossomé for the thermal spring and a fish lunch on Lake Ahémé — catch-your-own, using traditional fishing methods. Then Grand-Popo's fishing villages and beach, among the least-developed coastline in the region. An evening pirogue ride watches the sun go down over the Mono river estuary. We cross the Togo border and settle in Aneho for the night.

Stop at Agbodrafo to visit the Maison des Esclaves. A canoe crosses Lake Togo to Togoville — a town reachable only by water, home to the Notre-Dame du Lac cathedral and the site of Togo's first treaty with a European power (Germany, 1884). Arrive in Lomé for the afternoon. The city tour covers the Akodessewa fetish market — the largest market for Vodoun ritual objects in the world — the National Art Museum, and the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart completed in 1902 during German colonial rule. Overnight at Hotel BKBG Lomé.

Two hours northwest brings us to Kpalimé, at the foot of Togo's forested mountains. The town is known for woodcarving and weaving. We walk to the Womé waterfall through rainforest, then continue to a cocoa plantation to understand the crop that defined this region economically under French colonial rule. Mont Agou, Togo's highest point at 986 metres, is visible from the plateau. Return to Lomé overnight.

Cross into Ghana. Border formalities typically take one to two hours. Drive to Accra for an afternoon city tour: the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and mausoleum, Independence Square with the Black Star Arch, the 17th-century Osu Castle (built by the Danes), and the Kane Kwesi Carpentry workshop where fantasy coffins are made — a genuine Ghanaian funerary tradition, not a tourist fabrication. Close with the Jamestown Lighthouse (1930s). Overnight at Consir Executive Lodge.

Coast Castle, built by the Swedes in the 17th century and passed through Danish, Dutch, and British hands. On the same stretch of coast, Elmina Castle dates to 1482 — built by the Portuguese, it's the oldest European-built structure in sub-Saharan Africa. Both castles now operate as memorials and museums. Between the two, we stop at Assin Manso: the riverside site where enslaved Africans bathed and drank for the last time on their own soil before the Atlantic crossing. Overnight at Lemon Beach Resort or equivalent.

Kakum National Park covers 350 km² of dense tropical forest — one of the few remaining areas of primary West African rainforest. The park's famous canopy walkway runs 350 metres through the treetops, suspended 30 metres above the forest floor. Seven rope bridges, purpose-built for ranger access, now carry visitors through a forest canopy that most people never see from the inside. Return to Accra overnight.

Transfer to Kotoka International Airport, Accra for the return flight. End of services.