This weekend we took two tro-tros full of people (21 of us) to Cape Coast, which is west of Accra, with two castles that were built in the 15th century and occupied by various colonizers (Dutch, English, Portuguese) until the mid-1900s. Both castles were used primarily for slave trading; the Europeans bought slaves from the natives in exchange for goods, which usually included the guns that were instrumental in perpetuating intertribal warfare; warfare resulted in captives, captives were sold as slaves for more guns, and you get the idea. We toured the Elmina castle, and were quite depressed by the end. The most disturbing part was the chapel that was built directly above the ‘door of no return’ through which the slaves who survived the squalor of the castle would board ships bound for various destinations around the world and, well, not return. Great location for a church!
We were supposed to stay at a small hotel in the fishing village surrounding the castle, but there was a mix-up with the booking (mix-up?? in Ghana?!?!) so we were relegated to its partner hotel, the five-star resort called Coconut Grove just a mile down the beach, for the same rate. Two of us decided to walk the distance through town to the hotel rather than waiting for the tro-tro to show up (always a gamble), and had the delightful experience of being escorted by a growing horde of children who wanted to talk to the ‘obrunis’ (white people – sp?) about fishing (‘my father is a fisher and my mother is a fishmonger’), soccer (I have an appointment to watch Sylvester play for Ghana in 2014), the songs they sing in church, and then more about soccer. They were also very concerned for our safety, insisting that we were walking too close to the passing cars – delightful bunch.
Sunday morning we rallied the troops, all of them, and three hours later departed for the Kakum rainforest national park, where we walked amongst the treetops on a tightrope 70m above the ground (more like a suspension bridge, but it felt like a tightrope) and took a nature tour with a rather hefty guide named Doris who described to us the medicinal qualities of various trees. The only thing I remember is that Mahogany wood is nature’s Viagra. I remember this because Doris spent a good 15 minutes talking about it, sans euphemisms, and made it very clear that she was available after the tour if anybody needed some to take home. Her parting words were, ‘Doris likes tips.’ Subtlety, like prepositions, is often lost in translation...
We were supposed to stay at a small hotel in the fishing village surrounding the castle, but there was a mix-up with the booking (mix-up?? in Ghana?!?!) so we were relegated to its partner hotel, the five-star resort called Coconut Grove just a mile down the beach, for the same rate. Two of us decided to walk the distance through town to the hotel rather than waiting for the tro-tro to show up (always a gamble), and had the delightful experience of being escorted by a growing horde of children who wanted to talk to the ‘obrunis’ (white people – sp?) about fishing (‘my father is a fisher and my mother is a fishmonger’), soccer (I have an appointment to watch Sylvester play for Ghana in 2014), the songs they sing in church, and then more about soccer. They were also very concerned for our safety, insisting that we were walking too close to the passing cars – delightful bunch.
Sunday morning we rallied the troops, all of them, and three hours later departed for the Kakum rainforest national park, where we walked amongst the treetops on a tightrope 70m above the ground (more like a suspension bridge, but it felt like a tightrope) and took a nature tour with a rather hefty guide named Doris who described to us the medicinal qualities of various trees. The only thing I remember is that Mahogany wood is nature’s Viagra. I remember this because Doris spent a good 15 minutes talking about it, sans euphemisms, and made it very clear that she was available after the tour if anybody needed some to take home. Her parting words were, ‘Doris likes tips.’ Subtlety, like prepositions, is often lost in translation...
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