Weekend Adventure

This past weekend, the ISEP group set out to the Central Region of Ghana.
Destination: Cape Coast
Estimated time: 2 hours
Actual time: 4 hours!

That's right, it took us four hours on a bus because of the traffic in Accra. We didn't even get out of the city until after 11 am, when we left our hostel at 9. The traffic in Ghana is a whole different story that I hope to explain better in a different post.

So finally we arrive at Cape Coast and have lunch at the University of Cape Coast. It was cool to see another public university in Ghana, since there are only 4, and to compare/contrast them. Unfortunately the only sightseeing we were able to do was through a bus window. I would have loved to have walked around, but that was not an option.

After lunch we went to the Cape Coast slave castle, which housed nearly 1,000 enslaved Africans during the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade in, I believe, the 14th century. It was an absolutely ridiculous place. Gigantic. Castle is definitely an appropriate term. The white building sat on top of a hill, overlooking the rest of the city, bordering the ocean. Huge, crashing waves greeted us as we stood on the second level of the castle. It is crazy to know what actually took place within the realm of that castle.

The tour guide took us into the male slave dungeon and explained that more than 100 males stayed in a tiny room, from 2-6 weeks. There were 3 of these rooms for males. The rooms where the men stayed was the same room where they defecated and ate from. There was very little sunlight that entered the dungeon, making it nearly impossible to see when the guide turned out the light for a second so we could experience the darkness.

Ironically, but purposely so, above the male slave dungeon was the first Anglican church of Ghana. Near the entrance to the church was a "peep hole" where people entering the church could catch a glimpse of what was happening in the dungeon.

The female dungeons held the women in similar conditions.

The door which led to the ocean, where the shackled chains were led to the ships, read a sign that said: "The door of no return", since the fate of the slaves were already decided by that point.

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The next day we headed to Kakum National Park which has the notorious canopy walk... you know, the one displayed in every guidebook for Ghana! Haha! And yep! I for sure got my picture on it too... so guidebook here I come! :)

It was really neat though. The canopy walk consisted of 7 rope bridges that took us above the treetops. The view was amazing. It took 2 Canadians and 6 Ghanaians six months to build. At parts it was a little scary when it started to sway, but I made it through!

I wish we could have spend more time at the park because deeper in, there are elephants and monkeys, that visitors can sometimes see. So that would have been cool, but maybe I'll get a chance to go back before I leave.

Before heading back to campus, we stopped for lunch and a swim in the ocean at Amobando (sp?) beach resort. It was beautiful. Palm trees lined the white, clean sand. Salty waves met us as we eagerly went further into the ocean. The best part was that there was not a single person trying to sell us things, relentlessly! I kinda forgot that I was in AFRICA for a second! Which is kind of sad, knowing how most of the population in Ghana live...

Well, that's all for now. Hope you guys aren't missing me too much back in the U.S.A. Haha! JkJk.

Mel