Elmina Slave Castle and the Rainforest!

So this weekend was really fun. We had a field trip to Cape Coast in the Central Region. Contrary to Ghana's geography, the Central Region is actually along the coast in the southern part. It is called the central region b/c 1) the original capital of Ghana was Cape Coast and was the center of Ghana's commerce and 2) This region was the Central Region before the Ashanti Region joined.

Anyway, Saturday we woke up super early to be on the bus by 7:30 a.m. so we could leave by 8:00 a.m. sharp. I ended up sleeping almost the entire 2 and a half hours to our first destination: the Elmina Slave Castle. I would like to preface the following statements by saying that I never knew the extent of what occurred in the slave trade and feel guilty for never attempting to learn more. We arrived at the Castle and took a tour of the Men's and Women's Dungeons as well as the chapel and the living quarters for the soldiers and religious leaders. It's shocking how close the soldiers and missionaries lived to the slaves. We were discussing at dinner later that night how atrocious it is that people could actually see the living conditions for these people and still allow it.

Later on in the day, after the tour of the Elmina Castle, lunch, and a nap, we drove to the location of many slaves' Last Bath: the Assin Manso Slave River. This is where the soldiers and slave traders herded the slaves that were to be traded soon for their last bath. Right before they got to the river where they bathed them, they inspected the slaves and if they had any cuts or injuries, they were killed and thrown into a mass grave nearby. If a woman was carrying a baby, they smashed the baby's head and threw it in the pit as well. They then herded the slaves to the river, shaved off all of their hair and rubbed oil on them to make them look more attractive to potential buyers. Our tour guide told us that there were 25 million non-Ghanaians involved in the slave trade, and those were the ones that lived. He also told us that the path on the way to the river used to be a virgin forest so many Africans were bitten by snakes, eaten by wild animals, or stepped on thorns. Even though it started raining while we were by the river, nobody minded and told him to continue his spiel. It was a really interesting and emotional day. I knew close to nothing about the slave trade except for the diagram they show us in the history books of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Apparently Ghana was one of the major trading posts. There is also a Cape Coast Slave Castle that we were supposed to tour, but Mr. Gyesi took us to Elmina at the last minute b/c Cape Coast is supposed to be much more emotional. According to Akuba and Akosua (2 of our U-Pals), you can see on the walls how high the piles of human excretion rose to - about waist-high in some areas. The castle was probably a third of Elmina's size, but housed nearly twice as many slaves. It's disgusting really.

After our tour of the Last Bath, our tour guide took us to a house and showed us how heavy the chain was they used on the slaves as they led them to the bath. While he was doing that, some of the local children followed us and were chattering to us. They held our hands and kept asking questions. It was fun to practice our Twi with them. They were sooo adorable. Later that night, during dinner, Mr. Gyesi asked us our reactions to the field trip that day and Ghana so far. We shared some great stories about our interactions with the locals and had a lot of laughs, as well as some deep discussions about how our trip today related to other atrocities in the past and today and what we can do when we get back home. It definitely made me think.

On Sunday we went to the Rainforest! We had breakfast at the hotel then drove to Kakum National Park. Once there, we hiked through the rainforest to a canopy walkway, which was incredibly high up. Yes!! Kate and I had fun scaring other people by bouncing up and down on the walkway. Don't worry, it's pretty much a bunch of two-by-fours nailed together as the bridge with nets on either side and is strung between some really high trees. There are 5 separate ones you have to walk on until you get back on solid ground. It was a lot of fun. Apparently 6 Ghanaians and 2 Canadians took 6 months to build it. The rainforest is absolutely GORGEOUS.

Speaking of gorgeous, it is so... unreal to see the disparity between the lush, beautiful landscapes of Ghana and the poverty that surrounds it. On the bus ride to Cape Coast, the view of the countryside and seaside was amazing, but there were shantytowns everywhere. Barefoot children running in the dirt with the goats (speaking of, this trip goats were everywhere instead of chickens like in Accra) is something that you don't see as often in Accra. When we were driving up to Elmina, the fishermen had just brought in their catches of the day so the city was filled with people buying and selling things. Once again, women were walking around carrying the most absurd things on their heads. I saw the ultimate multi-tasking mom: She had a baby tied on her back, a baby on her hip, and was carrying I don't even know what on her head. I was impressed. I am still intent on learning how to carry a baby on my back before the end of the semester. Aileen - one of our program directors - promised she would teach me one weekend while I babysit her twins and she'll cook me dinner. :)

This weekend was great. We were able to leave Accra again and do the whole touristy, informational stuff. I took some great pictures, but unfortunately still can't figure out how to load them on here/don't have enough time to do so. Also, Tuesday is the end of Ramadan, which is a national holiday! That means we get off of school!! I doubt I'll do much more than sleep and watch movies, but it's better than going to my Africana classes.

Tidbit of the day: Children love pens b/c they can sell them for 2-3 pesewas. It's also getting tougher thinking of things that are drastically different from culture back home.

Love love love from Accra!!