Cape Coast, Ghana - a Hot Town With a Chilling Past
In Cape Coast, the men greet travellers with a flash of white teeth and a limp, drawn-out handshake which ends with a rather complicated finger click. Children refrain joyously from that ditches that line the roads, "Hello. How are you? I'm fine." Women smile shyly from the side of the road where they are braiding each other's hair in divinely-named boutiques such as "˜Believe in God Hair Cut' or "˜Rely on Jesus Beauty Salon.'
Such friendliness towards visitors goto, Lugano: A Piece of Italian Heaven in Switzerland , San Jeronimo, Peru [A nice place to visit; or retire] is a dwindling commodity in some parts of the backpacking world See, The Hotel Room Issue , Read This Article if You Want Sunny Weather Again but not in Ghana. And certainly not in Cape Coast, which is made all the more meaningful by the fact that this town See, Read This Article if You Want Sunny Weather Again , Preparing for Possible Emergencies During Your Caribbean Vacation Part I: Health Emergencies was once a busy slaving port on the notoriously brutal Transatlantic Slave Route.
Visiting the slaving forts of the Gold Coast - the former name of the area Try also, Ideas for a Get Away Golfing Adventure , Alabama Beaches encompassing much of modern day Ghana - is a sobering, yet enriching, experience. Try also, Siberia , Russia Part 1 - Here I Come! , What is HOT in Honolulu, By Heather Davis Dotting the Ghanaian coast line from Prampram, in the east to Beyin, in the west; these fortresses are chilly reminders in a very hot country Try also, Nuevo Progreso Mexico, Dental Care Pharmacies, and Lots More , Siberia , Russia Part 1 - Here I Come! of humanity's past wrongs against humanity.
Undoubtedly, the most fascinating of these fortress towns also related, My History of Walt Disney World , Berlin Germany Insider Sigtseeing - TOP 10 Sights - Part 1 of 4 is Cape Coast with its infamous castle which bears the same name.
Entering Cape Coast, a visitor might be forgiven for mistaking this UNESCO World Try also, The Forbidden City, China , A Community in Crisis Heritage castle for one of the many rundown colonial buildings that line the town. also related, Daytona Beach Florida is a golfer's paradise , Celebrity Cruises; For The Delight Of It Crouching by the coast, it is not as visually magnificent as some of the other coastal forts. However, the castle's somewhat shabby exterior belies its shocking slaving history which has rendered it the most visited of all the forts in Ghana.
Used originally to trade commodities far less innocuous than human beings, the strategic location Try also, A Community in Crisis , 10 Ways to Make Traveling Partnerships Work (For Everyone) of the castle on a rocky cape, with an adjoining natural harbor, made it an obvious choice for European also related, Travel Tips for Austria and Germany , What is HOT in Honolulu, By Heather Davis occupiers from the mid 1600s. Swapping numerous times between rival colonizing administrations, it was eventually captured by the British check out, Six Mistakes to Avoid at the Taj Mahal , Shopping On Bahamas' Great Abaco Island in 1664 and made the government headquarters for British also related, Preparing for Possible Emergencies During Your Caribbean Vacation Part I: Health Emergencies , Radisson Cruises- A Six Star Luxury Experience colonial administration until 1877. It was here, during the height of the slave trade, that many thousands of people were imprisoned in squalid dungeons before beginning their perilous journeys to the Americas. view, I Know a Man Who Can Take You To Narnia... , Car Rental Safety During Traveling
Touring the castle is a paradoxical experience. view, International Cruises: What To Expect When You Get Off The Boat , Travel Tips for Austria and Germany Walking around the battlements, it is difficult to reconcile the idyllic view of the surrounding palm-fringed beaches goto, Tourism in Cuba: an unforgettable experience. , Siberia , Russia Part 1 - Here I Come! with the dank, airless dungeons that lie below. However, the urge to take endless photographs of the stunning vista soon dwindles as the castle's gruesome secrets begin to reveal themselves.
The tour also related, Cruise Jobs , I Know a Man Who Can Take You To Narnia... starts with a short introductory video on Ghanaian culture Try also, Siberia , Russia Part 1 - Here I Come! , Relax and forget your problems with top spring break spots both past and present and is followed by a visit Try also, South Africa: Pressing for Black Liberation , The classy way to do WA to the very informative museum housed within the castle's walls. Rather than focusing solely on the slaving period, the museum approaches the history of the area goto, The "Richest Square Mile on Earth" May Well also be the Most Haunted Square Mile on Earth! , South Africa: Pressing for Black Liberation chronologically and begins with a display on the traditions of local goto, The classy way to do WA , Find Turkish Delight When Visiting Istanbul, Turkey tribes before the Europeans Try also, Radisson Cruises- A Six Star Luxury Experience , A Community in Crisis came. It then moves on to the slaving period which, with its graphic displays, descriptions and pictures, leaves the visitor in no doubt as to the horrific conditions in which slaves were kept prior to their forced migration across the Atlantic Ocean. Try also, A Community in Crisis , The Orange Show Monument: A Houston Original The exhibition does, however, end rather more buoyantly with a celebration of African-American heroes such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali.
Visiting the museum though does little to prepare you for seeing the dungeons themselves. Eerily dark with little natural light and no breeze, the guide See, Brazil Carnaval 2006! , The Hotel Room Issue describes, in his softly-spoken voice, how these sweltering rooms were made to hold hundreds of enslaved people at a time. With little in the way of sanitation, apart from vastly inadequate sewerage channels, the imprisoned were forced to wait in up to two feet of excrement as their fates were determined by those who resided in the comparatively luxurious administration quarters above.
As I listen to the guide, goto, Daytona Beach Florida is a golfer's paradise , Relax and forget your problems with top spring break spots the stifling Ghanaian heat is making me sweat until my eyes sting. The humidity is so overwhelming, it is almost impossible to imagine how anyone managed to survive at all.
Many of course did not.
The tour See, Tips for Taking Better Vacation Photos , Key West ends at the poignantly named "˜DOOR OF NO RETURN'; a huge arched doorway with two black doors which open out to the blue waters You may also consider, Siberia , Russia Part 1 - Here I Come! , Visitors Guide to Houston, Texas, USA of the Atlantic Ocean. also related, Brazil Carnaval 2006! , I Know a Man Who Can Take You To Narnia... Sticky with sweat, everyone on the tour goto, Visualizing A Healthy Family Vacation and Holiday , Key West finds the view from the door refreshingly cool. Yet for the slaves that came before us, this very same view would have represented the beginning of a treacherous voyage to far flung lands - never to return. It is a subduing thought and one that remains with me for the rest of my visit. also related, I Know a Man Who Can Take You To Narnia... , Find Turkish Delight When ing Istanbul, Turkey
Although the castle is the primary reason visitors Try also, The Hotel Room Issue , Summer Attractions in Melbourne, Australia come to Cape Coast, the town also related, Visitors Guide to Houston, Texas, USA , Ideas for a Get Away Golfing Adventure itself is a lively place goto, Visitors Guide to Houston, Texas, USA , Himalaya or Snow Abode to stay. The markets that line Kotokuraba Road are filled with colourful characters: brightly-dressed women carrying nail polish, peanuts, even knives, on their heads, men selling electrical plugs in dazzling boubous, the air pounding with the rhythmic sounds of African See, My History of Walt Disney World , Alabama Beaches drums. An easy daytrip is also possible to the pretty port town Try also, Visualizing A Healthy Family Vacation and Holiday , Celebrity Cruises; For The Delight Of It of Elmina with its stunningly beautiful St George's Castle - another UNESO World view, Visitors Guide to Houston, Texas, USA , Brazil Carnaval 2006! Heritage fortress.
During my visit view, Car Rental Safety During Traveling , Read This Article if You Want Sunny Weather Again to Cape Coast I am frequently stopped and asked to take photographs. At the exit to the castle, a Ghanaian man and his son ask to have one taken with me by a pile of corroded cannon balls. A fort-keeper at nearby Fortress Victoria makes a similar request. It is hard to know whether to smile or grimace when posing next to such bleak reminders. While I have learned that the villains who perpetrated the slave trade were many: European view, Unique Holidays - Exchange Conversation for Accommodation in Spain’s Englishtown Project , Celebrity Cruises; For The Delight Of It occupiers, greedy plantation owners, warring tribes; I had expected to feel a little more uncomfortable in a town also related, San Jeronimo, Peru [A nice place to visit; or retire] , Dolphin Intelligence: Are They Really as Smart as We Think They Are? where the only thing paler than me is the castle's white-washed walls. Instead, however, I find I am being welcomed as warmly as the beating African sun. You may also consider, Visitors Guide to Houston, Texas, USA , Ideas for a Get Away Golfing Adventure
Cape Coast, it would seem, is more than happy to be occupied by visitors check out, The "Richest Square Mile on Earth" May Well also be the Most Haunted Square Mile on Earth! , Brazil Carnaval 2006! these days.
Currently completing a freelance couse with the London check out, Packing Tips for Simpler Traveling , My History of Walt Disney World School of Journalism,I have had two short stories published in the United Kingdom through a writer's websure community.
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