Kakum Canopy Walk, Crocodile Farm and Cape Coast Slave Castle

Saturday July 26^th 

Eric and Thomas picked us up at 7:30 for the drive to the Kakum Canopy Walk. This is a 350 metre walk on suspended walkways about 40 metres above the forest floor. It was built by a couple of Canadians in the nineties. It was fun and the views were fantastic. There were a couple of gift shops there and I bought a pair of kenti cloth pants. After that they took us to a crocodile farm where we saw some small to medium sized Nile crocs and a lot of weaver birds who were nest building. We had lunch there before continuing on to the Cape Coast castle. Originally built as a fort by the Swedes for their timber and mineral exportation, and then taken over by the Dutch before the English wrestled it away from them, the history of Cape Coast Castle remains the focal point of this coastal city. Cape Coast, a city of about a million people, was once the capital of what was then known as the Gold Coast. The British moved the capital to Accra in 1877.

However, the first European settlement on these shores was at Elmina -- named so by the Portuguese who landed there in 1471. At Elmina, located about six miles from Cape Coast, the Portuguese built a similar castle, which also was the grounds of the slave market. We had a tour there which was similar to the Elmina Slave Castle. After the tour we climbed up to the top of the castle walls. The view from the walls was amazing! From the top we looked out over the fishing village which was right below. Walking out the 'door of no return' (through which the slaves were taken to the beach to board ships for the new world) we met fishermen who were mending nets and servicing their boats. 

On the way back I asked Thomas and Eric if we could stop along the road (that we have driven back and forth on all week on the way to the school) so we could take some photos. A group of us got out and went in different directions. I took some pictures of the village and boats and fishermen on the beach. A man from the village started yelling at a couple of us because we were taking photos. Eric and Thomas managed to settle them down but it was an awkward situation and we apologized to them. We get caught up in taking photos but sometimes forget that we are taking pictures of their lives and we wouldn’t want people walking up and taking photos of us at our homes without permission. I am guilty of that as I am always trying to get the perfect people shot. Lesson learned.

When we got back to the hotel we went for a swim before Owen and I went for a walk along the road back to the Elmina Slave Castle. As we walked I waded in the water on the beach for a photo op, but the water is filthy with lots of black plastic washing in with the waves. The route is an amazingly fascinating street with so much to see. We walked right to the castle and watched the sun setting over the fishing village. We walked along the shore and watched the fishermen leaving the harbour for the night. Owen and I enjoyed the unsupervised nature of our walk, as we could go as slowly as we liked and talk to whom we chose. The union here is very protective of us and does not want us to get into any trouble. As a result whenever they are with us they supervise us closely, usually with one member in front and one in the rear, much like a school trip back home. It was nice to have a bit of time to explore on our own.

We had dinner when we got back and waited for Angela's husband, who has been in Ghana for a week, to show up at our hotel but he never did, unfortunately he went to the wrong place. David and Angela are going to travel to northern Ghana for three weeks after the project.