Rastafarian who sold me some bracelets at Reggae Night
On Friday, we went on a tour of Accra. We started at the W.E.B Du Bois Memorial Center for Pan African Culture. Dr. Du Bois is one of the most celebrated black scholars. The center is located at Dr. Du Bois’ house in Accra and is now a museum displaying his books, various university gowns and other belongings, there was also a mausoleum that held the remains of Dr. Du Bois and his wife. After that we went to Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, which celebrates Ghana’s first president. The park was very beautiful and impressive. After that we went to the Art Center, which is a large market. The market was probably my favorite part of the day! There were rows and rows of venders selling fabrics, woodcarvings, clothes, jewelry, bags, etc. The vendors were quite persistent but also very nice. It was a bit overwhelming though because everyone was calling us over to look at whatever they were selling. They call us sister, brother or obruni, which means foreigner, but is not an offensive term. Walking through the market gave us a chance to talk with some locals, which is one of my favorite things to do. I want to experience as much of Ghana as I can and talking to the local people helps me get a deeper understanding of what their culture is all about.
Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
Art Center
On Saturday, we left Accra early in the morning and headed to Cape Coast. The drive was about three hours long. Accra is intresting in that it very quickly goes from nice houses to slums and back again, and it was intresting to observe the changes in the city as you moved further away from the center, the nicer looking houses became less and less frequent and eventually it was basically all shantytowns. Lining the main road for most of the drive were small villages with tons of people trying to sell food, shoes, and other goods. There was a definite difference in the living conditions here and even the poorest parts of Accra. It was pretty incredible. I love driving by these places an imagining what life is like to live there. Honestly, looking at their the conditions of their homes, I would think it would be terrible but the people seem happy. There were tons of kids running around playing soccer and jump rope; it almost seemed peaceful.
When we got to Cape Coast we went to the Cape Coast Castle, which was first built in 1653 and Elmina Castle, which was built in 1482. Both castles had many dungeons that were used as a holding place for up to 1000 slaves at a time. The dungeons were dark and damp, with little to no circulation. The Elmina Castle had a strange smell that was very unsettling. It was much more eerie then visiting historic places in the States and seeing slave quarters. The experience was chilling. My only complaint about the tours was that at the Cape Coast Castle they split our group up according to race. When we asked why, our guide said that because the experience can be very emotional for some and there have been times when people lashed out at each other. I understand 100%, that it is an emotional experience, it was very emotional for myself as well, but separating us made me feel guilty for the acts of white men some 400 years ago. I just feel like separating the races almost reminds them of the anger and in turn prolongs the healing process. They don’t give the Jews a separate tour when you go to Auschwitz, so why should they give black people a separate tour here?
Canon's at Cape Coast Castle
"Door of No Return" at Elmina Castle
Fishing boats at Elmina Castle
More fishing boats at Elmina Castle
Sunset at Elmina Castle
After that we went to lunch. A few of us shared banku and okra stew, it was not my favorite dish I have had here, but it was interesting. After lunch, a few of us walked around the town of Cape Coast, which is primarily a fishing town. We met some adorable children who sang us songs and let us take their pictures. I also got to talk to a lady selling bananas and she let me hold her baby, Cecilia, who had malaria. For most Ghanaians malaria is just like getting a cold, but for the young and old it can be very serious. The baby seemed to be fine though and did not fuss when I held her. She was beautiful.
We left the town around 7 and went to a near by hotel were we stayed the night. The hotel was quite seemed luxurious to me simply because they had relatively hot water, toilet paper, a mirror and most luxurious of all, air conditioning!!! I never thought I would get that excited over a mirror, its funny what one takes for granted. The hotel was right on the beach so we went down and enjoyed a few drinks and some live music. It was a very entertaining evening!
Woman and baby in Cape Coast
Boy in Cape Coast
Children in Cape Coast
Cecilia and her mom
Cecilia and I later on in the evening
My new friends and I enjoying a drink on the beach
The next morning we were supposed to enjoy at the beach but it was raining so my suite mates and I slept in. When it stopped raining we went to Kakum National Park, which is about one hour north of Cape Coast. There we did a canopy walk, which consisted of 7 canopy bridges that were 40 meter high. The views of the forest were amazing! And I surprisingly was not afraid being up that high! On our hike back we saw a variety of butterflies and a six-inch long giant millipede. We got back to Accra at around 7:30 and I enjoyed a relaxing evening in the hostel.
Me on the canopy walk
Canopies at Kakum National Park
Love,
Lindsay
