HISTORY AND BEAUTY IN GHANA

Have you ever been asked to name any place of your choice to go for a birthday? If so, have you ever thought of going to Africa, specifically Ghana? Imagine yourself in a country such as Ghana:

I know you are seeing poverty and lack of development as you are imagining right now because I mentioned it is in Africa, but I tell you that Ghana is one of the most history and beautiful country you would ever go to. Ghana is a country in the West of Africa and has eleven regions, officially. When the country is mentioned, all people imagine is lack of infrastructure and low standard of living by the people in it, but forgetting what could be found in it. The truth of this is that, Ghana has got a lot of beautiful places that would interest a person a persona and tourist as a whole. To name a few of such beautiful and historically site, there is the La Tante DC in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, Kakum Canopy walk and the Cape Coast castle which are in Cape Coast. Due to the beauty and history of these places, people are always attracted to this country, to learn and see more.

La Tante DC is a ground passenger Jet which has now been renovated into a restaurant with rows of seats and flight attendants. Before, it was called the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 passenger jet and there was no restriction on who could board. It was operated by Ghana airways to Europe and the United States. The aircraft sits along the route to Kotoka International Airport (Ghana’s biggest Airport) in Accra but it is not for traveling. It has not been for traveling since 2005 when it was partnered with Ghana Airports Company Limited and a decade later, it transformed into an eatery. Today, curious visitors and residents can enjoy unique service delivered and offered by workers of this refined restaurant. Their foods is to die for, from the way waiters and waitresses are well dressed and organized to the presentation of the food in trays and properly served makes one feel at home and welcomed. There is nothing as enjoyable as arriving home on your birthday from the states to being served and warmly welcomed by this conducive environment and people. This jet-like restaurant offers 118 seats, has a big space which as used as walkways and a place for dining tables. First-class seats are accented with festive pillows, serving as a waiting area, and bar seating while the economy class seats house the dining room, which is composed of tables with rows of airplane seats facing each other. Menu offerings include traditional cuisine, as well as international dishes. Foreign food includes spaghetti and sandwich, populate one section of the menu, but the “proud to be Ghanaian” page which offers diners as the country’s authentic local specialties such as mouthwatering palm nut soup, grilled tilapia, and garden eggs stew. Due to the restaurant’s location in the terminals, IDs are requested before entry, but this is to ensure security, so people are never bothered by this. The day I had the opportunity to visit, I never wanted to get out of this place again and know that by this description, you are ready to visit and in for more adventures.

One might think this is the best place on earth from this description but wait till we hit the adventurous part. Whenever I hear or talk about this place, I am reminded of one of the most famous quotes which go like this, “ People accompany you to a bridge, but they might not be able to cross with you and this leaves you to face and cross the bridge alone”. Though this is supposed to teach people a lesson about life, it is somehow related to this place called Kakum Canopy Walk.

This canopy walk is a series of rope-style bridges that brings visitors into a jungle layer that is usually reserved for birds and monkeys, hence making some people call it the monkey sanctuary. Due to how the structure is built, if you go with a friend who is not ready to take risks, afraid of heights and not adventurous as you might be, you would end up crossing this canopy bridge-like walk alone. It is unique in the African continent because of the attraction it brings. Hikers love to experience a portion of the jungle and it is usually reserved for climbers and fliers, thanks to a trail of its hung suspension bridges. This canopy is in a thick tropical jungle designed by two Canadians who were looking to increase tourism in largely ignored national parks. They wanted to create a unique feature that would make the park destination, thus an elevated trail through the canopy was devised. Opened on Earth day 1995, the canopy walkway consists of seven separate bridges that hang from the trees over 130 feet above the ground. Across over 1000 feet of walkway, the bridges look as though they are constructed like a traditional rope bridge made from the materials for the forest, however, the sturdy spans are made of wire rope, aluminum, and wooden planks, and even have safety netting to keep people from plummeting off the trail. One thing I learned from this experience is that it doesn’t matter who comes with you or who helps you, once you cross, you will walk on that bridge alone. Stopping for lunch at Hans Cottage botel on a river, where you can pet a crocodile traditional music, great folktales, stories about the place, freshly baked fish right from the river and local palm wine (a traditional white drink made from the palm tree). The Kakum walk is a place to visit for adventure, learning new things, creating unforgettable memories.

Not only does Ghana give adventure, beauty, fun, creation of memories with loved ones but also history. Ghana is a country mostly known for its great and rich minerals ranging from gold to diamonds which attracted colonists to come and exploit the people and its resources. Ghana has all this fun but the history of it make people sad to the extent of tearing up. Cape Coast Castle is one of the oldest slave homes in the country. Slaves were sold in the castle. Cape Coast Castle is one of about forty “slave castles”, or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa which is now known as Ghana By European traders who came in the 1500s. The first group of Europeans to enter the cape coast city straight to the castle for trading were the Portuguese. They came trading in the barter-style, where they gave technologies such as guns, bombs, and materials such as mirrors and anything else Ghanaian’s had not seen before in exchange for human beings or even the resources such as gold, diamond and other minerals inherited by the people of cape coast. The Europeans cape coast to build the castle because it was close to the sea which could make shipping easy. The castle has a room which is very dark and according to history, both men and women were kept in these small rooms with no ventilation hence leading to deaths of many, but these colonists did not care. There is a place called the “room of no return “from its name, we can tell that the people who made it there never came back and this is because they died.

The moment I got into parts of the castle and imagined how people were kept in these rooms and how they survived, how innocent lives were crying for help and souls giving up because of the torture, I began to tear up. There were rooms also called the “Slave holes” by the British where 200 slaves, mixed-gender slept in the same room and they did everything ranging from eating, urinating and defecating in that same room. These only lead to the fast spread of diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhea and any other communicable diseases you can think of. Great and well-known people in the United States, Mr. and Mrs. Obama, Melania Trump and Steve Harvey have made visits to this historic and tragic place and they could not hold back their tears.

Getting away from the castle, about a 2 mins walk, there are good restaurants with wonderful traditional foods and a great view of the ocean that one can go to, to release their sad moments and feel at ease. At these places, songs are sung in remembrance of our great leaders who fought to gain freedom and commemorate our future journeys ahead as a country who has suffered in the hands of colonists. Songs that make you feel at home and release stress are also sang.

The reasons why I still have vivid memories about this moment of my life is that this taught me about my roots. I learned that the country I call mine today, was fought for by great leaders of my country and now I enjoy the freedom of not living as a slave. If I am given another chance to go visit any other place, I would choose to go to cape coast because a city is a beautiful place with all its vegetation intact and all the people are caring and loving. Also, this place has a lot of stories to tell and I would like to learn more about my country and roots.

There is no better place to call home like cape coast, in the central region of Ghana. You do not only learn about Ghana in this place but Africa as a whole. Not forgetting the loss of the airline which turned into a profitable partnered restaurant which serves a revenue for the country as it invites and attracts tourists. Also, the Kakum Canopy walk which serves as a place for treasuring different and as many plants, trees and animals for tourists, researchers and every interested person. There is no better place to call home than these few places in Ghana. You do not only learn about Ghana but the world.