Cape Coast

Not even 2 weeks after we arrived back in Ghana from our Egyptian adventures, we welcomed our first visitor…my youngest brother, Joe! Both for practical reasons (our car is not large enough to fit 7), and for the simple fact that Don and I were too exhausted to haul the children on another adventure so soon, my brother and I decided to strike out on a West African road trip, just the 2 of us. I was a little nervous that this meant all the driving would be my responsibility…this being Joe’s first time in Africa, within 2 seconds of being on the roads, he was like NOPE. I don’t blame him one bit, I would have responded with terror and absolute refusal if I’d been asked to drive 11+ hours in Ghana within my first 4 months here. But the human brain is a WILD thing; it never ceases to amaze me what we adapt to, and what becomes “normal.” Over the past 7 months, I had gotten so used to the rhythms and chaos of driving here, (and so used to bucking up and putting on my big girl panties to try new things), that I swallowed my minor apprehension and we went for it!

At no point in our childhood, when I was hauling that little boy around on my hip (he is 8 years younger than me), did I think that one day, he and I would be road tripping in West Africa, just the two of us. My husband, while being willing to let me gallavant off into the African countryside without him, did make sure he had trackers on both my phone and car 😂. Not only did we survive, (WITHOUT crashing or killing anyone!), but we had an absolute blast with plenty of laughs and loads of stories to tell.

Our destination was the Cape Coast area, which is about a 4.5 hour drive west from the capital city of Accra. While they are currently constructing a beautiful, smooth, wide highway between the 2 cities, at the present time, half the drive is over red dirt washboard roads that will rattle your teeth out. Due to the construction and an utter lack of signage whatsoever, at times it’s not even quite clear where one is actually supposed to be driving. The best rule is just to follow the car in front of you wherever they decide to go 🤣. Joe liked all the different phrases on the rear windshields of the tros tros and cars, and started compiling a list of his favorite. Some of the best ones, (which I kinda loved but also made us laugh at the same time) were “1 Jesus”, “100% Jesus”, and “Father, forgive them.” The last one in particular seems fitting for high stress traffic situations! Following the line of cars and their unique mottos, we made it to our hotel and the next morning, set off on our sightseeing quests.

Our first destination was Kakum National Park, about an hour and half inland (north) from Cape Coast. We had driven less than one mile from our hotel, however, when to the side of the road, we spotted a maximum security prison. Oops, should have had my law enforcement husband vet my hotel choice! Maybe we just won’t tell him about this part. It’s fine. It’s maximum security, meaning they can’t get out…right? Except then we came across the work gangs doing their odd jobs on either side of the roadway in their orange jumpsuits. Even ended up stuck on the road driving directly behind a little 3 wheeled truck with 4 inmates in the bed, staring right at us as we drove. (On a different day of this road trip, we saw a different 4 inmates in their orange jumpsuits get in a taxi. WHAT? They’re allowed to take TAXIS? What kind of maximum is this maximum security???)

But the inmates eventually pulled off the road and we made it through the vicinity of the prison. Only to be greeted a couple minutes later by a “Leper Hospital” sign. Oh dear, maximum security prison inmates and leprosy all within the first 10 minutes of the trip. We’re traveling north but this trip is going south fast! Well we drove past without catching leprosy…only to be greeted with another wonderful sign mere seconds later. “Psychiatric Hospital.” Joe and I were simultaneously busting out laughing, praying we didn’t break down or get a flat tire, and making a mental note to find a different route back from Kakum National Park.

Thankfully, the remaining hour of the drive was mercifully uneventful. At Kakum, we learned about Kyenkyen, Osonoafe, and Esa trees and went on a treetop canopy walk through the rainforest! Considering that a different treetop canopy walk in Ghana had collapsed a mere 2 months ago (there were injuries but no deaths thankfully), I suppose we were just continuing on with our “survival” theme for the day. We walked across 7 (wobbly) bridges that were over 160 feet in the air…an amazing way to see the African rainforest!

After our nature hike, we headed back to Cape Coast to see by far the most famous and most riveting tourist attraction in Ghana…the slave castles. There are 2 main ones in this area, Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle, both fascinating in their own ways. We visited Cape Coast Castle first. This site was originally a Portuguese trading post, built almost 400 years ago in 1555. A castle was then built by the Swedes there in 1653, for the purpose of trading gold and timber. Due to the highly lucrative nature of this trade, and then of the slave trade, there were many battles over the castle between European rivals, and it changed hands several times between the Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, and British. The British became the ultimate victors in the 1660s, adding dungeons to the castle soon after for the sole purpose of holding slaves.

Most often, Africans were captured by rival African tribes inland, then marched hundreds of miles in chains to the British at Cape Coast Castle, where they were traded for weapons, textiles, and other goods. These slaves, up to 1500 at a time, were then held in the dungeons for up to 3 months, awaiting the arrival of ships to take them to the Americas. There is so much to tell about these castles, but the detail that struck me the most was the actual floor of the dungeons. Parts of the dungeons have been excavated to show the original red brick floor, but the vast majority of the dungeon floors are covered in a black, rock hard sediment that is several inches thick. Scientists have done extensive testing to determine what this sediment actually is, with horrifying results. This thick layer is a mixture of human blood, sweat, urine, feces, and tears, solidified over hundreds of years. It is estimated that over 100,000 slaves passed through Cape Coast, living for months this way, inches deep in filth, unable to even lie down. In this particular castle, this scenario replayed over and over again, for almost 150 YEARS. To realize that human cruelty knows no bounds, that there are NO atrocities that we are unable or unwilling to commit as human beings…it’s just unfathomable.

This room is where they put those slaves who took the risk and fought against their captors. They were put in this room with no food or water and left there until they died. Their bodies were then placed in the open for the rest of the slaves to see, as a warning. The door to this cell is still the original door.

The cannons used to protect the castle from European rivals, who would attack by sea. There were additional forts/watch towers on higher ground in the Cape Coast area, which would alert those in the castle of enemies approaching. One such watchtower can be seen on the top of the hill in the picture on the right.

The Door of No Return. Past this door, the slaves were loaded onto ships to take them to the Americas.

The second castle, Elmina Castle, is even older, built in 1482 by the Portuguese as a gold trading post. It is the oldest surviving European building south of the Sahara on the African continent. Granite blocks were shipped from Portugal to build the castle, and there are many historical accounts that Christopher Columbus himself was on one of these ships, 10 years before his voyage to America. The Dutch attacked the castle several times, eventually gaining control of it in 1637. The Dutch continued transporting slaves via this castle for almost 200 years, until 1814. It then became the property of the British in 1872, when Ghana officially became a British colony.

The upper floors of Elmina Castle consisted of the governor’s quarters, a chapel, offices, and living areas for the other Europeans on site, while the lower levels consisted of the dungeons for the slaves. The governors’ quarters were quite lovely, with large windows overlooking the sea and a constant, refreshing sea breeze. A stark contrast to the dungeons below. Perhaps the most jarring was that they had a chapel built directly on top of one of the dungeons. Why or how you could worship knowing the slaves were rotting in filth directly below your feet is something I can’t wrap my mind around.

In one area leading to the female dungeons, there was a small courtyard, overlooked by the governor’s quarters. At the governor’s request, the female slaves would be paraded through the courtyard, so that the governor, from his window above, could choose which one he would like to take to bed with him. This was the only time a female slave would be allowed to bathe. She would then be led up a ladder that led directly from the slave dungeons to the hallway in front of the governor’s quarters. This way the governor could enjoy his vices without the rest of the castle staff being privy to it. Yet one more atrocity piled atop the rest.

Fortunately, we were able to balance out the heaviness of the castles with some more laughs as we *attempted* to drive to a restaurant at a local resort for dinner. The city of Cape Coast itself is an INTENSELY busy place to drive, with throngs upon throngs of stalls and people lining both sides of narrow streets. You just wind through the narrow pathway in between, trying not to hit anyone. After about 10 minutes of this driving, we abruptly came to construction completely blocking the road ahead. The construction workers motioned to 2 dirt tracks branching off to the left, where children were walking home from school, indicating that we had to go that way.

Wondering if we should abort the mission and find a different restaurant, we nevertheless decided to forge ahead on our adventure, and turned down the tracks. The tracks meandered through village houses, with new dirt tracks breaking off in different directions. Soon we were hopelessly lost and ended up in the “backyard” of a shack house at a complete dead end. But Ghanaians are thankfully very helpful and kind, and the locals happily pointed us in the right direction. A little boy, maybe about 8 years old, ran in front of the car to show us the way, grinning excitedly when I handed him 20 cedis for helping the poor lost obronis. We never did make it to the resort we were actually aiming for, BUT we did find a different one that actually had amazing food! Though we tried to eat quickly, the restaurant operated on Ghanaian time (e.g. very relaxed!) and we realized I would have the extra challenge of doing the drive back through the dirt tracks and the throngs of people…in the dark. But with the help of our guardian angels, we DID make it back to our hotel next to the maximum-not-so-maximum-security-prison, slept through a massive thunderstorm that knocked out all power to the hotel, and woke hopefully rested enough for the hours of washboard, rattling, red dirt roads ahead.

We did a little exploring around Accra as well, including wandering around Makola Market, the biggest open air market in all of West Africa. We learned that being obroni in such a place has its perks!! We decided to Uber there and back, and when I booked our ride for the way home, the Uber driver called me to try to figure out how to find each other amongst the thousands upon thousands of people at the market. All I had to say is “we’re 2 obronis” (white people), and even though he was still faaaar down the road from us, he IMMEDIATELY said “Ah! I see you!” 😂. Its like the opposite of Where’s Waldo…crazy busy scene, but all too easy to spot the 2 Americans amidst the thousands of Africans!

I bought a few different fabrics at Makola, (a seamstress at the orphanage is making me some dresses!), and the owner of that particular stall started chatting to my brother while I browsed. Very early on in the conversation, before my brother tried to explain where Idaho is 😂, the man said “You are white, I am black. God has made it so.” He said it in a warm, friendly, but-matter-of fact way, unafraid to call out our obvious differences while pointing to the simple, beautiful truth that, ultimately, we are all the same. We all came from the same Creator, and in the end, ALL of us are on the same journey home. Indeed He has made it so. May we never again forget it.