Another CRAZY African adventure... almost needed a vacation from my vacation! Saturday 5am scrambled in our hired tro tro with 14 mercy ship friends for a weekend around Cape Coast. 1st stop 3hrs down the road rolled up to one of the old British/Dutch Slave Castles built around the 1500's. Took a tour with this amazing Ghanian man, who had literally got choked up himself, telling us about the horrific events that took place here... lead us through dark, smelly, male & female slave dungeons built RIGHT BELOW the CHURCH the soldiers attended reguarly!!!! Winded through pitch black passageways they would take after up to 6 weeks of dungeon life to the DOOR OF NO RETURN, filing the chained, malnourished slaves into ships to be taken to Europe, or North, South America for free labor, mostly to start plantation farms. Saw the auction rooms where they were sold for $4-6! Even heard stories of local chiefs selling their own people (never knew that!) and of soldiers raping the woman and forcing the woman to name them after themselves, adding SON at the end. To this day, many of the popular last names include "Williamson", "Peterson" ie! Makes you think... how can we sometimes get it SO wrong?...
Settled in for the night at a charming brick hotel, called THE BRIDGE. It sits in the very middle of a big fishing village, bustling with carved canoes going in and out from the Atlantic carrying piles & piles of fish, and another slave castle about 200 yards from our hotel window, Elmina Castle. People watching was amazing. Scary carnivel costume parades down the street to beg for money.
Started the next day off casual, moosing around the town, then cramming in the tro tro again to head for KAKUM NATIONAL PARK, where we took a canopy walk into the rainforest. So MUCH fun :) Even got to take a 2 hr hike THROUGH it to learn about different medicinal uses of the trees & plants. As you can probably guess... i was pretty pumped about this. So interesting.... trees where Tylenol comes from, medicine that "cures" Measles & makes the placenta come out after birth (the tree i'm standing by above), some pretty funny explanations! Saw bark they use to make casts, sap for calcium, root systems as tall as me.
A bit exhausted...stopped at the crocodile farm for some lunch...(at 5pm!) This farm was UNREAL... no real fences or gates to contain the crocs... they could go anywhere they wanted..even up to some patio furniture if you were brave enough to sit there!!! ahhh. Got up the nerve to touch one...after i convinced our tro tro driver to be my bodyguard!... (it's smiling... i think it likes me ;) )
Fun was had by all. Just a bit crazy. I was nominated leader of the group, being the youngest..but in this crazy country for the longest amount of time. Some of the group on Africa time, some on U.S. time made some things difficult.. but we all laughed and had good conversation all weekend. Even braved a flat tire on the way home together.. taking stations around the tro tro at night as some of the local teenage boys where eyeing our bags. Never been so happy to see my cabin!
Fun was had by all. Just a bit crazy. I was nominated leader of the group, being the youngest..but in this crazy country for the longest amount of time. Some of the group on Africa time, some on U.S. time made some things difficult.. but we all laughed and had good conversation all weekend. Even braved a flat tire on the way home together.. taking stations around the tro tro at night as some of the local teenage boys where eyeing our bags. Never been so happy to see my cabin!
