Category: Ghana, Botswana 2018

Elmina Castle and a Canopy Walk

April 5. April 5. Daniel drives us to visit to the famous Elmina Castle. We tour the castle, which housed slaves during the days of the slave trade.  Cape Coast Castle is one of about forty “slave castles”, or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally built by the the Portuguese, then controlled by the Dutch for trade in gold, ivory and other goods, but later used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The castle and its story are very grim, but necessary. Slaves were held there and treated grimly, before those who survived were loaded onto ships and sold in the Americas, especially the Caribbean. This “gate of no return” was the last stop before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. After the castle, we spend a little time looking at and photographing the bustling harbor, loaded with fishing boats.

And we saw other sights in the harbor, as well.Our next stop is Kakum National Park, which is on coast of southern Ghana. It protects an area of rainforest, home to endangered mammals such as forest elephants, bongo antelopes and primates like the Diana monkey. The park is rich in butterflies and birds, including African grey parrots and hornbills. We walk on the Canopy Walkway, suspended almost 100 feet above the ground, which provides treetop views of the forest.  The forest is hot and humid and the hike up and down was very challenging. I plan to do it again, though, when they install escalators.

We head for lunch by the sea at a lovely setting. Service was horribly slow, for no apparent reason, and the food was not very good.

From there we drive to Kumasi (about three hours) and check in to Four Villages Inn, a cozy B&B, which will be our home for the next four nights.  We are greeted by Charity Scott, the owner and hostess of the Four Villages, and her son, Frank.  This is our sixth time staying at the Four Villages, so it really is a homecoming.

We have a very good Chinese dinner with Daniel at one of his favorite restaurants, less than a 5-minute drive from the hotel. Back to blog, clean up and collapse.

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