Last Friday, ready to leave the hectic hustle and bustle of Accra we hopped on the 4:30pm STC bus to Cape Coast. We were pleasantly surprised with the accommodation the 7.50 cedi ride provided us over the next 3 hours; reclining seats and AC. We arrived at our destination, the small town of Elmina, just 10 minutes further west from Cape Coast around 8:30pm (note that we're on Africa time so we didn't actually leave at 4:30pm...)
Ahhhh finally...the beach weekend had begun.
As we were escorted to our room at the Coconut Grove Beach Resort we heard a celebration under way. We ventured over on our walk to dinner and found a local group of dancers and drummers performing for what seemed to be the last night of a conference at the hotel. The dancers were doing everything from throwing each other through the air, doing back flip after back flip and putting fireballs out in their mouths. It was impressive and to a good beat. The show finished so we headed to dinner and enjoyed a nice meal next to the beach as the sea tossed and turned over rocks near the shore.
Saturday morning after breakfast we enjoyed a nice stroll on the beach. As we walked along the waters edge I came upon several pieces of sea glass. The further down the beach I walked I found even more, so for the next hour or so I began hoarding.... I now understand what Brian feels like when he sees a kiosk full of DVD's, it just calls to you saying, "come on in, have a look..." That's what the beach was saying to me Saturday moning "Keep on looking, maybe you'll find another piece over here and over here or over there......"
Brian was finally able to pry me off the beach plus I started to get a bad sunburn so it was time to go about the rest of our day. We took a taxi up to Kakum National Park, just about 45 minutes north of Cape Coast. Along the way, we enjoyed peering out the car window at interesting shop sign after shop sign. Favorite one reads: "Jehovah is My Refuge Mini Market Dealing in Airfresheness & General Goods Retail & Whole Sale". - priceless -
Kakum National Park is famously known in Ghana and throughout Africa for it's canopy walk. It's one of only four in the world. The walk consists of a series of 7 bridges suspended about 40 meters above the forest floor held together by ropes and cables. Brian and I were the first in our group to walk across. We took it slow and at first I didn't look down. Once I did however, I felt slightly dizzy but kept on. A few people in our group took one look at the suspended bridge and said no thank you and headed right back to their car. We took our time taking pictures and enjoying the view. When else do you get to see the forest from this height?
After the canopy walk we added on an educational hike of the surrounding forest. This only lasted about an hour and soon found ourselves back at the entrance taking in some lunch. I had the local Ghanain dish, red-red (fried plantains and black eyed peas) which was fantastic and only 3 cedi!
Originally our taxi driver was going to wait for us in the parking lot but he had received another call so appointed a fellow driver to take us back to the hotel. This was all arranged prior to us going on the walk. However, when we returned after lunch at the agreed upon time, he was nowhere to be found. We waited for about a half an hour and noticed that the park was closing. We befriended some other tourists, a couple from Nigeria, who let us use their phone to call our original taxi driver at the hotel (of course our mobile had died at the most inopportune time). We didn't have much luck and couldn't get good service so this couple agreed to drop us off in Cape Coast where we could hail a taxi back to the resort. So there we were, Brian, myself, driver from Accra, and a Nigerian couple in Ghana on holiday squished in a car talking about Lagos and the Nigerian film industry. They were the nicest people we've met so far in West Africa and are so thankful for their hospitality.
We enjoyed a magnificent sunset before dinner and then called it an early night. A fun day in nature wiped us out.
Sunday the beach was calling me again so I scoured the sand with my eyes, again finding a nice little hord of green, white and brown sea glass. We had to be on our way so we checked out and then got a lift to the St. George's Castle in Elmina. The castle, over 500 years old, was originally built by the Portuguese when they came to Ghana to trade gun and gun powder in exchange for gold and ivory. Soon thereafter they began to trade human lives. Then the Dutch came, over 100 years later, fortifying the castle and also dealing in the slave trade. The British defeated the Dutch and operated both Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle from then on.
Our guide said that over 12 million people had been shipped overseas during those years the castles were in operation. The rooms where people were held were dark, had poor ventilation and no place to go to the bathroom. Over 1,000 people were held at any given time: 400 women and 600 men; separately of course. Ironically there is a church in the center of the castle. What were they thinking?
It was a tough and emotional place to be. Such a dark part of human history but an important one to learn about so not to be repeated.
After spending a few hours at the castle we departed to a nearby lunch spot for a drink. Elmina is a bustling harbor town with a bridge near the castle that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. We found an outside patio where we could people watch before we left to catch our return bus home. Everywhere we looked, wooden boats were strewn about the water, some ready to take on the day's catch, some barely floating.
Hailing a taxi back to the bus station, we grabbed a local bite and waited for our bus to arrive. We boarded around 4pm and were back in Accra just after 6pm, made better time on the return trip. The beach getaway weekend was just what we needed after feeling couped up in the capital city for a few weeks.
Ghana continues to slowly grow on us but it's important to note that it is not the job of a developing country to make its visitors feel comfortable but rather its own people feel comfortable. (I recently read this and it resonated at a time when I most needed it....)
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