Canopies and Castles

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Before I left for Ghana, one of my professors at Stanford told me that I HAD to visit the canopy walk at Kakum National Park (near Cape Coast) while I was here. So, with just a little over a week left and without any other Obrunis to go with (Zach left last week after getting malaria), I packed my bags and went to Cape Coast on Friday night with Davis, the guard from CDD.

The trip there was relatively uneventful but, just as we were nearing Cape Coast, Davis turned to me for some money and I realized that he expected me to pay for his entire trip (ie he had NO money on him). In retrospect, I guess that was fair, considering that he was serving as my personal translator and guide for two days, but I did not have nearly enough money. So, after walking around the streets of Elmina (a town outside of Cape Coast) and looking, unsuccessfully, for a place that would take both of us for a little under 150,000 cedis (about $15), we decided to sneak into a restaurant/bar on the beach and sleep on their pool deck until morning :/

The next day, we woke up at the break of dawn and went to Kakum National Park to go on the canopy walk. I was tired as hell, but the prospect of seeing baboons and boars in the rainforest kept me going. We arrived in Kakum at 6:30am, which was supposed to be the best time to see wildlife, and got on the canopy walk at 8:00am. But all we saw was a squirrel. Davis seemed pretty excited about it but, at this point, I just wanted to go back to sleep. Walking over the rainforest was a pretty amazing experience and I would definitely recommend going to Kakum if you have the chance....but don't get your hopes up about seeing lots of wildlife.

After Kakum, Davis and I went to Elmina Castle, a large fortress on the bay that served as a slave fort for the Dutch and Portuguese in the 16-18th centuries. In many ways, the experience reminded me of my visit to Auschwitz a few years earlier, but there were a few striking differences. First...unlike the Holocaust, the slave trade was, first and foremost, a business venture. As a result, the conditions, while horrific, were supposed to keep many of the slaves alive so that they could be sent off to the Portuguese/Dutch colonies in South America and the Caribbean. Thus, while the slave fort still reaked of injustice, murder, and brutality, I did not sense hatred so much as a general indifference toward human life. Second, while the Nazis at least made a superficial attempt to cover up their atrocities by burning the victims' bodies and displaying "Arbet macht frei" (Work will make you free) signs in the front of the camps, the slave traders were generally open about their activities. One room, for example, was labeled "The Room of No Return," and, when slaves died in the fort, they were usually thrown into the bay to wash up along the shore.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Davis and I left Cape Coast and took the long tro-tro ride back to Accra, where I slept straight through to Sunday. And now, I am back at the CDD for my last week in Ghana. And I have to admit, I am definitely feeling ready to come home 😊

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Photos

Davis...
...looking pensively into the understory

At Elmina Castle...
...trying a little too hard to look serious

Ray of light...
...just before entering the 'Room of No Return'

Canons...
...the fort was taken over by the Dutch in 1637 and by the British in 1872

Looking down the water hole...
...at Elmina Castle

View of Elmina Harbor...
...from the top of the fort