Cape Coast

I had a great time with Megan in Nalerigu this past month and she did a wonderful job taking care of the maternity ward.  We were able to operate with each other on a few cases which was a lot of fun.  I am not sure when we will ever have that opportunity again. 

 

We were able to do some traveling in the south of Ghana which was awesome.  We traveled to the Cape Coast and stayed in the town of Elmina at the Elmina Bay Resort, which was a nice little resort tucked away on a very private beach.  If you ever have heard a reference to Africa’s “Gold Coast” that is a reference to this part of Ghana. 


Picture from our balcony.

 

The first day we went into Elmina and took a walking tour of the city and visiting the Castle of St. George.  The town is mostly a fishing village and the first Europeans that settled in the area were Portuguese and later Dutch.  It was the heart of the African gold trade to Europe in the 1400-1600’s.  The city is bustling with activity and was sort of overwhelming.  The fishing vessels, called pirogues, are colorfully painted and decorated with flags.  We had a wonderful morning walking around the city, learning about the history of the area, and then spent a relaxing afternoon poolside.

 Pirogues parked on the beach outside of the castle.

The lagoon where pirogues come and offload their catches of the night.

In the cemetery in Elmina many of first European settlers are buried.  That includes the Brothers and Sisters that came to teach Catholicism .  A group of Irish nuns where some of the first to travel and live in Ghana and their graves are marked with Shamrocks on the headstones.
 

This picture is of the “door of no return.”  The slaves left this door of the castle and where loaded onto the boats that were directly outside.  The majority of would die on those boats before reaching their various destinations. 

In 1482 the Portuguese started to build the Castle of St. George.  It is said to be the oldest European structure in Africa.  It was first build mostly as a trade center to trade arms and ammunition to locals in exchange for gold.  The Portuguese (and later the Dutch when they took over in 1637) started to trade European good for slaves instead of gold.  It remained one of the centers for slave train until it abolishment in 1807.

 

 

 

 

This is a picture of the Castle of St. George from St. Jago Hill where Fort St. Jago was built by the Dutch.  This fort served as protection for the castle.  The watchmen at the fort could look out at the bay and see any ships that might be coming to attack the city.  When the Dutch took over the castle they actually first took this hill and then bombed the heck out of the castle until the Portuguese surrendered.  They later built Fort St. Jago for protection.   

 

The second day we headed on a whirlwind tour of different sites.  We started the day driving north to Kakum National Park.  This is an area of protected rainforest in Ghana about an hour north of the coast.  We enjoyed walking on the hanging bridges and through the forest.  We then stopped at the Monkey Forest Resort where we made friends with some cute baby monkeys.  The resort is a sanctuary for orphaned and injured animals and the home of the most eccentric Dutch couple I have ever met.  We had lunch a restaurant that is built over a lagoon full of crocodiles.  For a small fee the staff will get one out of the water for you to take a picture standing next to.  Megan and I both decided that our parents would not be please if we were eaten by a crocodile in Africa so we stayed put on the deck and just watched other gullible tourists risk their lives.  We ended out tour in Cape Coast the capital city of Ghana’s Central Region. 

 Kakum National Park

Monkey Reserve

 

Cape Coast Castle was built by the British and was one of the largest slave-holding sites in the world during the colonial era.  Unlike the castle in Elmina, it was built specifically for slave trade.  Here slaves that had been traded to the British by the African chiefs for alcohol, guns, and gun powder were held for months while awaiting the arrival of merchant ships that would take them to the west.