Kumasi & the Ashanti Heartland

The Akan states of the forest grew on gold and kola trade with the north. One of the earliest was Bono, with its capital at Bono-Manso near Techiman, which flourished long before the rise of Asante. In the late 17th century Osei Tutu, with the priest Okomfo Anokye, united several Akan chiefdoms around Kumasi; tradition holds that Anokye called the Golden Stool down from the sky as the soul of the new nation. The Asante defeated their overlords of Denkyira in 1701 and over the next century conquered Bono, the Akyem states and much of what is now Ghana.

Asante wealth rested on gold, kola and the sale of captives to the coast, and Kumasi became a planned royal capital. Rivalry with Britain over the coast led to a series of Anglo-Asante wars: the British burned Kumasi in 1874, exiled King Prempeh I in 1896, and in 1900 faced the War of the Golden Stool, led by Yaa Asantewaa, queen mother of Ejisu, after a governor demanded to sit on the stool. Britain then annexed Asante. Prempeh returned in 1924, and the title of Asantehene was restored in 1935.

To the east, the Akuapem ridge became a Basel Mission centre, and in the 1870s Tetteh Quarshie is credited with bringing cocoa seed to Mampong-Akuapem, beginning the crop that transformed the forest belt. The Akosombo dam, completed in 1965 in the Eastern Region, created Lake Volta. The Asantehene remains a powerful figure: Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has reigned since 1999.

Twi is the language of the region, and the Asante see Kumasi as the capital of Akan culture. Chiefs and queen mothers are enstooled rather than crowned, and the stool, not the throne, is the symbol of office; courts keep linguists who speak for the chief, carrying staffs topped with gold-leaf proverbs. The Akwasidae, held every sixth Sunday, sees the Asantehene receive chiefs at Manhyia under great umbrellas, with drums, horns and gold regalia on show.

The crafts are specialised by village: kente weaving at Bonwire, adinkra cloth stamped with symbols at Ntonso, and wood carving at Ahwiaa. Funerals are the great social occasion, with mourners in red, black or brown cloth, drumming and dancing, and weekend processions through towns.

The Eastern Region adds the Akyem and Akuapem Akan and the Krobo, known for glass beads and the Dipo rites that mark girls' coming of age. Bono and Bono East have their own Bono dialect and shrines, including the Tano sacred grove at Tanoboase, and the monkeys of Boabeng-Fiema are protected by local taboo. Christianity dominates, with a strong Muslim presence in the zongo quarters.

Kumasi is Ghana's second city and its busiest inland trade hub, with Kejetia market at its centre and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on its edge. Koforidua is the Eastern Region's capital, Sunyani the capital of Bono, Techiman of Bono East and Goaso of Ahafo; Techiman's market draws traders from across the north.

Cocoa is the backbone of the countryside, grown on small family farms, along with plantain, cassava, timber and oil palm. Gold mining, from big industrial mines at Obuasi and in Ahafo to illegal galamsey pits, has made fortunes and poisoned rivers, and is the region's most bitterly argued issue.

Days begin with church bells and street hawkers, markets peak mid-morning, and weekends are dominated by funerals and church. Kumasi's traffic, the price of cocoa set by the state board and the effect of mining on farmland are the standing topics.

This is fufu country: cassava and plantain pounded in a wooden mortar, served with light soup of goat or chicken, abenkwan (palm-nut soup) or nkatenkwan (groundnut soup), and eaten with the right hand. Nkontomire, a stew of cocoyam leaves with egusi seeds and dried fish, is spooned over ampesi, boiled yam, plantain or cocoyam. Eto, mashed yam or plantain with palm oil, is another favourite.

Kokonte, a brownish dough of dried cassava flour, is a cheaper staple, eaten with groundnut soup. Snails, bushmeat and smoked fish give the soups their depth, and Kumasi's chop bars are known for their fufu. Bono and Bono East add yams from the transition zone, and Techiman's market, one of the largest in West Africa, trades them.

Palm wine is tapped from felled oil palms, and akpeteshie, a strong spirit distilled from palm wine or sugar cane, is drunk at wakes and bars; chocolate made from local cocoa is now a small but growing industry.

Kumasi is the obvious base. Manhyia Palace Museum, in the palace used by the Asantehenes from 1925, tells the story of the kingdom; Kejetia market is a vast maze of stalls; the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum and the Okomfo Anokye sword, said to be immovable, add Asante lore. The craft villages of Bonwire, Ntonso and Ahwiaa lie on the roads outside the city, and the Asante traditional buildings around Kumasi are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lake Bosomtwe, south-east of Kumasi, lies in a meteorite impact crater and is about eight kilometres across; its villages fish from planks rather than canoes by custom, and the crater rim offers walks. Further north, Bono East has the Kintampo Waterfalls, the Fuller Falls and the Boabeng-Fiema monkey sanctuary.

The Eastern Region is closer to Accra. Boti Falls, near Koforidua, drop in twin streams into a green ravine, with the Umbrella Rock nearby. The Aburi Botanical Gardens, opened in 1890 on the Akuapem ridge, have old trees and views towards the plains, and the ridge villages sell carvings. Akosombo, where the dam holds back Lake Volta, has boat trips on the lake.