Cape Coast

This weekend was our first free weekend for us to travel and see parts outside of Hohoe! Our group of 8 decided to travel to Cape Coast for the weekend to go to the beach, visit Kakum National Rainforest and check out the third oldest slave trade castle in Ghana, Cape Coast Castle. Turns out it was only a 7-hour car ride instead of the 9-hour ride we had anticipated and we were able to pass the time with games and story telling. We arrived to our hotel (that looked straight out of a horror movie) late Friday night and went right to bed in order to be ready for the canopy rainforest walk! 

The canopy walk at Kakum National Forest was incredible. We hiked a bit up into the rainforest and then proceeded to cross 7 rope bridges that were suspended up in the canopy treetops! It was so exciting and thrilling, knowing that we were so high up above the ground. We were dripping sweat by the end of it, but it was easily one of the most exciting and hilarious things I have ever done. 

After the canopy excursion, we made our way to Cape Coast Castle for a guided tour of the third oldest slave trade castle in Africa. The castle was absolutely stunning: completely white stone with blue-ish, grey-ish stones intermingled in the architecture. It faced the ocean and had the most wonderful beach breeze flowing around every corner. Though the castle was stunning, it's history was extremely unsettling. Our tour guide informed us of how it passed hands between the Portuguese and the Dutch when it was just a colonization and trade site. He then explained in great detail of how it came to be a site for slave storage just before the slaves set off in ships to join the American slave trade. We visited the different cells where slaves who misbehaved were sent to die, the male and female dungeons where slaves were kept until shipment, and also the cell for female slaves who misbehaved and refused the advances of the Europeans. This part of the tour broke my heart most of all. We learned how the female slaves would be locked up in this terribly small, dark cell as punishment if they fought back against European men who would try to take them up to their rooms and take advantage of them. Our guide also explained how if women unwillingly became impregnated while on the slaves ships, the European crew would just throw them overboard, like unnecessary cargo. The cherry on top of the entire tour was when our guide showed us the dark, terrible male dungeon and then the church where the Europeans would rejoice in worship, which was located right above it. The slaves could hear all of the singing and music through a tiny opening in the floor that led to their cramped and filthy cells. Irony in it's finest. We've all learned of slavery in school, but being in an actual slave castle and seeing first hand the terrible conditions that humans forced other humans to live in was so incredibly emotional, but also something that I feel everyone should experience at least once in their lives. 

After the tour, we collected our thoughts and decided to the beach for lunch and swimming. It felt amazing to be swimming in the ocean, and the water was honestly like bath water. The waves were ridiculous through, in such a great way. They were HUGE and were breaking right at the shore so it was such a struggle to even remain standing before they swept you off your feet, rolled you around in the sand and washed you up on shore. There was a pretty big undertow that we had to be careful of, but we still spent so much time jumping and cascading around in the waves. While this was happening, there were several groups of pigs that would just casually be walking past us on the beach. When in Africa... 

All day today we just drove back home, had dinner, and have been resting up for the week ahead of us. One week down, and it went by way too fast. Until tomorrow!

Xede nyuie! (Good bye), 

~ Sarah