Cape Coast is a coastal town about three hours west of Accra. Ever since we got here Kirsten and I have been wanting to visit there. Cape Coast is best known for three things: (1) Cape Coast and El Mina slave castles, (2) Kakum National Park, and (3) being the site of President Obama's first visit to Africa. This third one they are especially proud of. Our friend Raymond attended senior high in Cape Coast so he offered to escort is on our journey. It was so wonderful to have him along. I don't think we would have even made it onto the correct bus to Cape Coast if he hadn't been with us. He is also super funny. His birthday was two days after our journey so we were able to celebrate with him. We started off around 5:15am to meet up with Raymond and catch a trotro. Using public transport in Ghana involves lots of waiting. I know it takes more time anywhere but here you have no idea how much time it will take because you just wait until the bus is full and then you depart. We arrived in Ghana around 9:00am. When we arrived we arranged for a taxi driver for the day. First we headed off to Kakum National Park. Kakum features a rope bridge built in the tree tops of a rainforest. Sounds cool, eh? It is cool but also a little nerve wracking. Imagine a 1,000 foot long hammock with planks of wood installed in the bottom for you to have something to walk on. About every 100 feet there is a platform built around the top of a tree. Now imagine that the hammock is 120 feet above the rainforest floor. I never felt unsafe but I was extremely focused on making it from one platform to the next. It was a great experience but it was also nice to be back on solid ground. Next we went to El Mina Castle. Well... I can now say that I have experienced some serious white guilt. Our tour guide did a wonderful job at telling us the straight facts. He didn't sugar coat it and it wasn't biased either. It was just sad to hear about how people were taken from their villages and then treated horribly once they arrived at the castle to wait for a ship. I've heard all of these things before but it became so much more real when I was standing in the cell where the women were held. If I were a crier I would have been balling my eyes out. The experience brought many thoughts to my mind about all that I have been blessed with. This has been a constant part of my thoughts while I've been here in Ghana but this experience made it especially poignant. Our final stop was the Cape Coast Castle. The tour guide at this castle was much more blatant about pouring on the white guilt and I did not like it at all. I will feel guilty on my own thank you very much. Seeing the castle was still interesting and sad all at the same time. I cannot even begin to imagine what the slaves went through. It's been interesting to be here and see that the African people know what happened but many of them don't hang on to it. They seek to make tomorrow a better day by working hard today.
Here are many pictures that I took on our adventure. Enjoy!
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1 comment:
I'm loving all these pictures and stories! I have been following every post. It looks like your having the time of your life:)It sure does make me jealous of all the sunshine;)
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