Day 21 (friday)

A look at Cape Coast castle from the restaurant.

Above: An actual piece of history (a branding iron used on slaves to match them with their respective boats) that many people will never see (I took a picture and then read a sign that said no photographs inside the museum...oops).  Below: A look from inside one of the male slave dungeons...that was the only source of light and air available.

A look at a passageway from the above picture to another dungeon (all together there are 5).

The original 'door of no return.'

Me standing by one of the original protective cannons.

Just behind the bricks and mortar I'm standing in front of was the original passageway that led to the door of no return.  The shrine you see was built many years later to serve as a reminder of what lied ahead.

A look through the door of no return...unbelievable!

Me standing at the steps where the slaves would walk down to the boats that would ultimately take them to their respective ships.

A plaque to read before entering and before leaving the castle.

This was the door of no return at Elmina castle.

A picture of the slave exit towards their boats...the doors were so short.

Just a shot driving from Cape Coast castle towards Elmina castle.

 

Oh boy, where do i start...oh yeah, just before 4 am.  I woke up a bit earlier than i needed to but we had to be out of the house by around 4:30 so we could catch a bus to cape coast.  We eventually got to the yard and were one of the last people to buy tickets (ironically i was in the back of the bus).  We ended up having to take the mass metro system because all the other options were sold out (apparently there was some kind of holiday today) and oh my was it cramped.  There was very limited space on the bus (3 seats on one side and 2 on the other with an aisle barely big enough to walk through [you had to go sideways]) and several stops along the way.  The roads were absolutely atrocious and there was never a highway (as i know it anyway) and plenty of construction (which i am familiar with) and with a rickety old bus, we could feel every bump in the road (so uncomfortable, i don't know if i made that clear enough).  We finally approached Cape Coast and it was raining pretty hard which was a little discouraging but i was just excited to get off the bus...we finally got to this little town (i figured that we still had a ways to go) and several males aggressively stormed the bus (there was a door near the back right by us) and i was certain that we were getting robbed because they were loud and saying this is where it stops, amongst other things.  We ended up taking a taxi to the castle but were fortunate to take one stop so we could use the restroom (we stopped along the way and half the bus, males and females, got off and took care of business all within sight, and only a few short feet away, of the bus), what a relief (oh, except the part where i almost knocked myself out walking into the room because, as i'm learning, the doorways and ceilings are not really made for tall people).  We stopped into a nice little restaurant on the beach and i could finally have some food and COFFEE!  We sat around for awhile and the weather started lifting a bit so we decided to go into the castle and have a tour...i'm not sure if i've mentioned this before but there is a considerable advantage to being a local (the prices for non-resident adults can be up to 10 times as much and some times more) but there is a break for being a student so whenever you travel bring a student id, it might save you some money.  We started the tour and immediately it was humbling (i was the only white person in my whole tour group) and we started into the male slave dungeon (where people would stay from 2 weeks to 6 months).  The walk down a slippery spiral tunnel led to 5 rooms (up to 150 people per room were kept here) with little to no ventilation and little to no light and no system for restrooms (in fact, there is still some of all of that stuff settled into the stones)...the tour included several other rooms (including the governor's quarters) and a look at the door of no return!  We finished there and took a taxi to Elmina castle (which is the biggest) and had another tour there and it was another humbling experience (on the way to and from, the town was very busy, dirty, and run down and people urinating in the middle of the streets [which isn't really all that uncommon anywhere]) but unfortunately the guide was very boring and seemed to want to rush through the tour.  It was common in both places to be approached by 'hustlers' who want to be your friend and ultimately want your money (as they called it, donations...they'd ask your name then when you were done they'd have something made with your name on it).  We found another taxi and took it to the STC (the bus system we wanted originally) station to book our trip for sunday and waited for Maureen's doctor friend (Dr. Diallo).  We waited for quite some time and called several times and finally Maureen decided to try a friend that may be in town.  Fortunately her friend was in town from Accra (she was an old classmate) and we took a taxi there to stay for the night.  We had some dinner and then i laid down a bit early (i was pretty exhausted and had a huge headache).