Cape Coast/Kakum Day 2
Did I mention my friend name is Simone? Sorry boo! We began our day bright and early, apparently Ghanaians start their day at the crack of dawn when the roosters are crowing (literally). We ate breakfast (toast and pineapples for me) and began our journey to Kakum National Park. The roads were the roughest roads I have ever experienced; the battery of the car kept shaking out of place causing us to stop on the side of the road but we made it. Kakum is a tropical rainforest stretching over 375 square kilometers; it was established by the people. The park included animals such as monkeys, snakes, birds, antelopes, etc. We completed seven Canopy Walks (1,150 ft.), which are narrow bridges crossing over from tree top to tree top. Simone is afraid of heights (hilarious) even though this adventure was her idea. She was yelling the entire time and screaming about me stopping to take pictures and the bridge shaking when more weight was added. The Canopy Walk was so beautiful and peaceful. There was a fifteen-minute hike in order to get to the beginning of the trail, I definitely wish I had my luggage because wearing slides made this journey a little slippery. After the Canopy Walk, we went to the souvenir shop and purchased: bags, dresses, elephants, black soap, and headbands.
Our next adventure was to Cape Coast Castle, which was built by the British merely 300 years after the Elmina Castle. This tour was not as private as the previous one, we were with a very large group which was very interesting. We saw Caucasian females with box braids, faux locs, and dashikis (“Cultural Appreciation”). We firstly entered the Men Only Dungeon, which had five different compartments. Within each compartment 200 men were held and there was only one tiny window used by the guards to watch the slaves. The men were fed in this dungeon and it was also their place to urinate and defecate. There was a drainage system that was supposed to be used to get rid of feces. They slept on hard concrete floors and on top of one another. Due to these individuals (owners) fucked up minds, they too supposedly practiced Christianity as their religion. Next to the church there was a window on the ground that looked into the dungeons where the slaves were kept. The governor’s suites were nothing like the dungeons; there was high ceilings, arches, and pillars with large bay windows that looked out onto the beach. The merchants and military men would select a woman for the governor to sexually abuse. Before sending her upstairs, they would bath her to make sure she is pure. The governor would have sex with her on the floor because she was not good for the bed. They would then send her back to her dungeon. It was the Castles duty to hide their actions from the local people and everything was done a secret.
During the middle of the night slaves would be transferred, branded, and pushed down a 70m long tunnel, where they were put onto small boats. They would walk through the “Door of No Return”; The small boats would take them to larger ships and they would be sold as if they were objects for physical labor. Any dead slaves would simply be tossed over the sea because the sharks would dispose of the bodies. Currently, the sharks’ migration pattern remains the same due to the history of them feeding off of human bodies. The icing on top of the fucking cake (if you didn’t get the sarcasm, here’s your hint), the unjustly merchants fed the same sharks that had eaten the slaves’ brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunties, uncles, cousins back to the slaves that were alive on the boat.
Around the castle there were shrines dedicated to the many lost souls and sculptures of heads with faces of despair in the dungeons. The castle had the original cannons used to fight off invaders and it actually seemed bigger than the Elmina even though it wasn’t.
In order to bring our spirits up, we decided to grab some lunch and walk the beach. The beautiful scenery and oceans waves were definitely needed!
Our day was over before 5:00 p.m. but we definitely were exhausted. We chilled at the hotel and ate dinner later that night. The night before we had Calamari and fries (regular food, yay!) but today I ordered the Snapper and fries. I did not expect for an entire fish to be served to me…y’all, I am talking about the head, bones, and all that. Displeased was an understatement but to my surprise it actually was flavorful. I had to eat it with my fingers in order to make sure there were no bones…
We only had one night left in the shit hole! All in all, today was a good day!