Cape Coast '08!

Instead of sitting around the chief's house in Asenemaso this weekend and being lazy, the GRLP team decided to be adventurous and see another part of Ghana. Immediately after school on Friday, the fifteen of us hopped in a rented Tro Tro (with air conditioning!!!!) and made a squished five hour drive to Cape Coast. Usually in a Tro Tro I would feel suffocated and very trapped, but the AC made all the difference. I was completely content and in a great mood, even though our driver Gabriel got us lost severalt times. We arrived at a hostel late in the afternoon that was situated on a hill, overlooking the rest of the city. Beautiful view with a glimpse of the beach! The hostel, on the other hand, was frick nasty. It only costs 4 cedi a night, which is a good indicator of the quality. I shared a room and bed with Kelsey and Kat. Our bed had these bright pink Barbie sheets on them, but smelled like they had never been washed. We were careful not to lay face down on them. Ha ha. The running water wasn't working either and things were just covered in dirt. I've noticed that all the buildings in Ghana have this same awful stench. It must be something in the building material or the fact that things don't get washed regularly. Besides the pure filth of the hostel, it was still close to the center of town.

Once situated with the hostel rooms, we trekked downhill to a beach restaurant right next to Cape Coast Castle. We got to the beach right before sunset, so it was very scenic. As the night took over, we went into the most touristy restaurant we've been in so far. Of course it took two hours to get food though. Regardless, the meal was good and then we just hung out around the area for a while and talked.

In the morning we took a tour of Cape Coast Castle, which was interesting and haunting at the same time. This castle was the original site for slave trading in Africa for the British. The tour guide took us into the dungeons and described the horrors that went on within them. Apparently, in a space the size of my kitchen and family room, 250 people were kept for three months without sunlight or the ability to move. They slept, went to the bathroom, and were fed in that one area. The theory was if a black man could survive three months in the dungeons then they were strong enough to make the three month journey across the Atlantic. The British governor's room was the same size for one person with ten windows, clearly the complete opposite conditions. It's hard to fathom the racist mentalities of the Europeans at that time, and how such injustice against humanity was allowed to take place for centuries. And what I often don't think about, is how recent the slave trade took place. It didn't really end until the 1870's. The castle was cool to see but disturbing at the same time.

That same Saturday afternoon, we took the Tro Tro to a beach resort area. It was only supposed to be 20 minutes away, but it took an hour and a half to get there because Mike couldn't remember the name of the place he went the summer before. We stopped at three different places before we got to the right one. It was worth it though! The beach area, called KoSa beach resort, was owned by a German lady and in the middle of nowhere. We had lunch, sat on the sand and drank right-off-the-palm-tree coconut milk. Reluctantly we returned to the hostel that evening though, because we had left some of our stuff there. Otherwise we for sure would have stayed the night there.

This morning we left the hostel in Cape Coast and drove to Kumak National Rainforest. A tour guide took us for a quick rendez-vous around the outskirts of the forest. There were seven narrow canopy bridges we got to walk across, which were definitely the highlight of the tour. The bummer though was no animals!! I'm in Africa and I've only spotted a monkey once! Otherwise, there's only scrawny goats, dogs, tons of chickens, dinosaur-lizards, and cats that you wonder how they stay alive. After our brisk hike in the rainforest we had lunch at the tourist spot, which was a very bad idea. I have learned that restaurants are no fun in Africa, unless you like waiting for two hours for a spam sandwich. I prefer eating the cultural dishes my homestay family makes by far.

Overall, it was great to see the coast of Ghana. It almost felt like we weren't in Africa for a day. When we got back to Asenemaso tonight, however, I had this weird homecoming feeling I didn't expect. The town already has a sense of familiarity and comfort that I never saw coming.