Ghana is a deeply-religious country. Vehicles, stalls, and small businesses are named with biblical references. We have seen the "Sweet Jesus Hair Salon", "God is Able Snack Bar", "Psalm 21 Bar", and others like "Sister Mary's Blessed Children and Who Jah Blessed We don't Care Shop" that seem to be referring to the Rastafarians.
We took a taxi to a hotel that was run by an American-Ghanaian family. There were not many people in the place and it was clean and quiet and a short stroll from the city centre. We had a TV, fridge and air conditioning. We were able to eat Western and local food in the restaurant and sit in the garden in the shade in the hot muggy afternoons.
We visited the Cape Coast Castle, a UNESCO site. It was originally a trading post, converted to a castle by the Dutch in 1637. The Swedes expanded it in 1652 after which it changed hands five times before the British held it from 1664 for the next 200 years. There were about 37 forts/castles built along the Gold Coast by the end of the 16th century. The British, Danes, Dutch, French, Germans, Portuguese, and Swedes were all vying for commercial dominance here. The forts were originally built to trade gold, ivory, and spices until slaves became the main trade. The Arabs traded slaves from this area in the 15th century taking them to the Mediterranean.
During our tour we saw where the women slaves were kept and where they were paraded before the governor who would choose one for sexual favours. As they were often kept for three months in the cells waiting for transport many women became pregnant and were no longer able to fetch a good price. They were returned to the village and later many of their children were educated in religious schools and went on to become religious teachers.
The conditions of the male dungeons were depressing as well. Some of the rooms had been excavated by archaeologists while others still had the remains of the dead and their waste compacted onto the stone floors. We walked down the dark underground tunnel, where the slaves were loaded on to the ships. The exit door now has a sign "Gate of No Return".
Today the sight from where the slaves left is a busy jumble of nets, people, and wooden boats.
The castle museum was an interesting place looking at the past and the present. This oratory staff of a grey parrot is used to depict a chief who is an eloquent speaker. The parrot is a great imitator and apparently many speak English, which is Ghana's official language!
While at the Cape it was the Independence Day parade. Dozens of schools carried their school banners and marched in front of the VIPs.
Some groups danced for the VIPs and this bamboo stick dance looked similar to ones we have seen in Asia.
It was so hot that the soldiers, band members, and lots of school children fainted from standing in the heat for too long. Red Cross volunteers were kept busy taking them away.
The local traders were able to watch the parade and sell their goods as well.
There are a few small signal forts on hills around the coast and they were used to signal to other forts and castles along the coast with flags by day and oil lights by night.
We hired a driver to take us to the nearby Kakum National Park. We invited a young lad called Sam, from Australia, to join us. He was feeling unwell and taking medication for malaria and resting in our hotel.
There was a canopy walk built by some Canadian engineers and it was very busy. There were lots of large groups of teens and they made a lot of noise. The boys jumped up and down shaking the board walk and the girls screamed at their antics. It was not worth the money and effort to see it. There were no animals and no birds.
We left the canopy walk and did a short nature walk. The guide pointed out 300 year old trees in the park. This tree buttress was used by the locals as a drum to send messages across the forest to other groups of people.
One day we took a shared taxi further along the coast to Elmina to visit St George Castle. There were loads of foreign tourists here. We haven't seen such large numbers of foreigners since South Africa. This castle was built by the Portuguese in 1482, captured by the Dutch in 1637, then taken by the British in 1872. It is the largest slave fort on this coast and the oldest European built structure still standing in sub-Saharan Africa.
Elmina has restored many of the original houses and streets from the time of the Dutch. Many locals have Dutch surnames.
We were not able to watch any of the football games that John wanted to see on our room TV so we found a place near the market. There are blackboards outside places that have TVs where the locals meet to watch the games. We were the only foreigners amongst about 50 or 60 men. I was the only women. The room was down a dusty path and there were plastic seats set out and about four TVs in the two rooms. Luckily there were fans as well as it was pretty hot. The Ghanaians talked to their friends, and argued with opposition fans across the room all through the games and it was impossible to hear the commentary. They are passionate about football and all have favourite English teams.
