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Published: March 3rd 2008
We (SUNY Brockport program ppl) left Friday morning for Cape Coast, Kakum, and Elimina this weekend. Although it was a relatively short trip, I feel like I got to see a lot- including a blue sky and stars!! (although today in Legon is really blue as well). Cape Coast is about 160 km away from Accra, but on Friday moorning during rush hour it took us almost 4.5 hours to get there. From the van, it was really cool to see the surroundings change from city and dusty to a bit greener with small villages to rainforest to ocean. We arrived at our hotel and realized- umm a/c and a tv as well as a king sized bed for 2ppl... wait, really? Although Eleanore and my a/c did not work, nor did I use the hot water for the shower, the tv and huge bed were fabulous. Caught a little Jon Stewart and The Princess Diaries... good times.
After lunch, we went to Elimina Slave Castle in the small fishing town of Elimina (a bastardized Portuguese word- as our tour guide said). It was really intense. Lots of feelings of anger and sadness and then unsure if I could even feel that legitimately. But anywho, some facts: the castle is the biggest in West Africa and was built in 1482 by the Portuguese. The Dutch late took over in the 1600's, and then the British bought it in the mid 1800's. Many people were forced to walk for 2 months from Burkina Faso, Togo, and Northern Ghana, and then stayed another 2months or so depending on ship availability. The rooms where the Africans were put were dark, not ventilated, and crowded. There was no toilet, so people lived in their own excrement. Women were only able to bathe before they were then raped by the Governor. The "door of no return" the one which people boarded the ships from was so small I could not fit through. The size of the Governor's bathroom was bigger than a room that held 150 men. Yeah, intense, I think I'll continue to process what I saw and heard for a while. Exhausted after the tour, ate dinner, watched some Princess Diaries and then conked out.
Saturday, we headed out to Kakum National Forest to go on a canopy walk, Indian Jones style. The rope and wooden bridges lay above the trees, and are a bit shaky, but really fun to cross. No animal sightings though because we were there in the mid-morning (night and very early morning is the best time to get there for that). I wanna head back to do a night tour and also spend a night actually sleeping in the trees! I have some pretty great pictures from the weekend, many from the walk in which I look a lot like Rambo, hopefully the internet will allow me to upload a sampling onto the blog at some point.
We were then dropped off in Cape Coast, where another slave castle is, and a bigger fishing town. Eleanore and I met Eric, a kente weaver, early on into our wandering. We watched him use the weaving machine for awhile, and then he let us try. I wasn't great, but I think I got the hang over it after a couple tries... maybe? Regardless of my skill... or lack there of, it was really cool to be inside the machine and talking to someone who has spent most of their life weaving beautiful cloth patterns. The colors throughout the city were gorgeous. The ocean is so blue and then houses are pink and yellow, and blue. Roosters and pigs and goats roam around and children were playing soccer. It was really nice to be in a smaller city, with a free afternoon. We then headed down to the beach to watch some of the fishing boats, and then a little shopiing, although I've already become really cheap, and none of the vendors had things I was particularly interested in, nor would their touristy price go down much. (Slowly, I'm getting better at bartering...)
Sunday we got to sleep in late and then headed to paradise. I have never seen a nicer beach in my life. Huts on the beach with chairs under them. A bbq and a restaurant/bar. And of course, the Atlantic Ocean with huge waves and free boggy boards. I stayed in the ocean for probably about 2 hours until lunch was served. Today I'm a lovely (ha) shade of pink because of it, but it was definitelyworth it. Not like this obruni didn't stick out already. The ocean was still really salty, but so much cleaner than the beaches around Accra, and the waves are huge. Renting a hut there is really reasonable, too, so I plan to go back a few hundred times before leaving.
All in all, I had a really great weekend, and am so pumped to have 3.5 more months to explore Ghana, a bit of Togo and maybe even Cote d'Ivoire....
thanks for all the e-mails and messages, off to grab some lunch (lots of pineapple) and maybe a little reading before baseball.
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John
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The Paradise beach
Hello, I have been following your blog and wondering what the name of the beach is that you went to. we are planning a trip to Ghana next month and trying to find the best places to visit. thanks.