Blogs from Elmina, Central, Ghana, Africa
July 24th 2010
Saturday 24th July 2010 This was a purely tourist day - a trip to the village of Elmina, on the coast about 180 kilometres west of Accra. One of the main attractions in Elmina is the fort/castle - supposedly the oldest European building in Africa south of the Sahara. The fort was originally built by the Portugese in the 15th century, was captured later by the Dutch, and was then bought from them by the British when the slave trade ended. Finally it was given to new Ghana republic in 1957 when it became independant. Bus journeys in Ghana can take quite a long time, so to be sure of being able to get to Elmina and back in a day, we needed to leave quite early. We set our alarm for 5:30am and were leaving ... read more
April 27th 2010
Technically we went to Brenu Beach again which is near Elmina.... So this weekend we decided that as it was pretty much our last weekend travelling around Ghana we wanted it to be relaxing after quite a stressful week at the hospital. (We saw a still birth at the same time as a healthy birth resulting in me passing out, i'm going to blame the heat and well the fact that it was very distressing! The still birth baby was breeched as well and all blue, horrifying.) We left bright and early on Saturday not really sure how to get to Brenu but we knew its where we wanted to be! So got a tro to Accra and then somehow found a tro to Cape Coast. That tro was luxury! By far the safest and fanciest ... read more
TGIF actually, the time is going too fast!
Published: February 5th 2010Africa » Ghana » Central » Elmina
February 6th 2010
We've changed locations. Our work in Cape Coast is finished. We met with the board and staff of Progressive Womens' Co-op Credit Union Ltd this afternoon and once done headed for the Elmina Beach Resort for a day of R n R. This was not to be the case as there was no room at the inn. We travelled on to the township of Elmina and on to the Coconut Grove Beach Resort. I must say that we are in beautiful accomodations. The internet in my room does not work well so it may be difficult to post pictures. I will try. For some reason, I am unable to access my email through the Sask Tel site. So, Hi Todd, I love you and Miss you! and will talk to you on the weekend. We must ... read more
February 6th 2010
Ghana is a developing country. Even though there is a great deal of poverty which we are seeing daily, the spirit of the people, their warmth and welcoming nature is everywhere. People we see on the street are curious as to why we are in Ghana and and from where did we come. Today Barry and I will have a day to ourselves. We will be visiting the Elmina Slave Castle and the historic community of Elmina. I hope to share many pictures and impressions soon... ... read more
September 12th 2009
I just got back from a weekend trip my program CIEE took us on. We left early on Saturday morning heading to Cape Coast. Since I had been there the weekend before, we had a little better idea of how to pack and what to expect. But unlike our solo trip, we got to stay in a high-class hotel. Once we arranged our roommates and dropped off our stuff at the hotel, we got back on the bus and headed either to the Cape Coast Castle or the Elmina Castle. I chose to go to the Elmina Castle because it is older and is in a different part of the city than I had been. Here is a little history background… The Portuguese originally built Elmina Castle as a trading post in 1482 as St. George ... read more
July 10th 2009
Wren writing: Rachel had a nice surprise this morning when she found a large bite out of one of her sneakers. Ralph comforted her by saying, “Oh yeah, that’s rats. For sure.” She was not so happy. And then, as I was walking to breakfast, I stepped over a short wall and because of rain, my foot slipped which caused my other foot to smash into the rock wall (ouch!). “A scar to remember Africa by,” said Ralph. Good thing he’s always here to cheer us up! After breakfast we went to see Elmina Castle, where the Dutch held slaves that were to be sold to the Americas. The rain and the cold of that morning made the huge, white castle, which has seen so much cruelty and suffering, even gloomier. On the tour, they told ... read more
December 1st 2008
Its been some time since I've written...I don't really have an excuse because I haven't really done much with my time. Without classes and finals most of my time has been spent sitting on my pretty behind. I've gotten some productive things done -- I did an outline for my thesis, got some shopping done before coming home, and enjoyed some leisurely reading. The days have been hot and long and I generally try to find little ways to try and make them seem shorter...sleeping through most of the heat, watching movies, playing soccer and football and things like that. I would have liked to gotten more work done over the internet but alas its been pretty crappy across campus and "service" I subscribe to is about as terrible and frustrating as can be so blog ... read more
October 12th 2008
FRI. OCT. 10 2008 Resided for 2 nights at the One Africa Beach-front Lodge. The lodge had a very Afro-centric and Rasta themed design through-out the place. Each room was an individualy thatched roof hut, named after outstanding people of color. My room-mate, M. Pilcher chose hut #6 - named in honor of Queen Mother Moore. The place was clean and tidy...no air, a non-working fan, but lots of breeze off of the Ocean, which was just a few steps away. Oops...forgot to say, there was no hot or even warm water...but, it was "all good" as we were not "ugly American tourist"...we endured! On Fri. morning, we had a choice of activities for the early part of the day: some took batiking and most of us opted to visit an agricultural farm, which was owned ... read more
September 2nd 2008
This internet is very unreliable and frustrating, but I must be thankful for what little I do have. That being said, I shall give a recap of what I've been up to the past few days. Last week all of my classes met but one. I was supposed to go to the orphanage but in true Ghanaian form, those plans did not happen. We are still in rainy season here so that has been interesting. We have massive downpours for hours and hours. I put my bucket outside so I could collect the water, it filled up fast. I have not had to use my bucket yet, but the water we're getting now is brown when it comes out of the faucet... so maybe I should use the rain water. We left Legon for Kakum National ... read more
July 27th 2008
After a somber day at Cape Coast, this morning was much more pleasant in Elmina, a neighboring town that is smaller and centers around a crazy fishing industry. I don't think I will ever lose my fascination with the long, sleek wooden fishing boats you see across the world in small fishing towns. I love the angles, the simplicitybut sturdiness of the construction, the colors painted bright and randomly with flags from all over, Ghana, US, UK, Japan, Italy, and the huge crews of fishermen riding aboard the long ones. And the harbor in Elmina on the Ghanaian coast may be the greatest one for boat-watching I've seen. The coast bends around to a long channel, protected by a jetty, with stone walls on either side, teeming with people watching the ships come back ashore. All ... read more
