Elmina Castle/Kakum National Park Weekend

We woke up at six in the morning on Saturday and all headed to Cape Coast on the bus, arriving at Coconut Grove Resort for brunch under a palapa by the pool on the beach. It was stunning. Where am I again? We took our time settling into our rooms before heading to Elmina Castle, the first slave castle built by the Portuguese in 1493. It was unbelievable, being so close to such a significant part of our history. The location was absolutely stunning, which was such a sharp contrast when we saw all of the horrific conditions that the slaves were kept within the walls of the castle. It was an incredibly emotional experience for all of us. Many people were crying, and deeply disturbed. It was hard not to be, when we see the darker side of humanity’s capability in such graphic terms. We even went to the “room of no return,” a dungeon in the back of the castle that the slaves would leave to board the ships towards the Americas. It was incredibly moving.

We left the castle and drove towards Kakum National Park, stopping on the way at a restaurant on stilts over a giant pond of crocodiles. I faced my fear and touched it. As my mama can attest, this is BIG for me, I really am terrified of them. We continued on to the Park and went on the Canopy Walk, a beautiful bridge in the rainforest, suspended hundreds of feet in the air. Those of the group who were afraid of heights had a hard time, but it was so magical being up so high! I loved it. The bridge was broken up into different sections and we were on it for about twenty minutes. The view was unbelievable, I felt like I was completely in the jungle, no civilization in sight, only lush green trees, vines and blue skies. It was a big contrast to the way we had spent the morning.

We returned to our bungalows and swam in the pool and the ocean, walking, running and playing on the beach and in the warm, warm sand past sunset until dark. We had a lovely dinner on the beach, followed by palm wine and dancing and drumming around a bonfire until extremely late. We met a lot of people from all over the world, families and international students..

My roommate Molly and I got up at sunrise the next morning and jumped in the ocean first thing, a perfect way to start the day. We showered, had another lovely breakfast and then got a group of us to go into Cape Coast town, where we had an hour to explore. We literally made it about 4 blocks because children materialized out of nowhere, and we happily played with them, learning dance moves, taking pictures, and meeting their families. I took out a pencil at one point to write something for one of the little boys and all the children crowded around me, they all wanted my pencil, or something to write with, and didn’t own any. This took me by surprise and I am planning to go somewhere when I get back to Accra and buy a huge pack of them to keep in my bag to hand out to all the people that we meet.

We headed back to Accra after swimming some more and checking out of our hotel. We arrived and I was able to go for a run while it was still light before we all gathered to eat dinner together, whatever was in our refrigerator. It was an exhausting, glorious weekend, and I get to officially begin my work in the classroom tomorrow at New Horizons, and I am really eager to start.

All my love.