Cape Coast and Kakum National Park

[CLT: "Happy Day" - Steve Fee]

We just went on the first ISEP group excursion to Cape Coast! We left early Friday morning, and drove about 2 1/2 hours to Cape Coast. It was crazy to see the landscape changing so drastically after we left the city of Accra. After we left the busy streets and buildings behind, the terrain began to drop hints of a jungle. Clusters of palm trees could be seen growing on the side of the road. It was really amazing to see the little houses in communities as we drove by. In Accra and around campus in Legon, there are simple cinder-block houses and some nicer ones reserved for special people; some of the houses we've driven past in Accra even looked like mansions. Driving to Cape Coast, the houses we saw were literally mud huts. You could see several under construction where the builders had made grid-walls out of giant bamboo stalks, and they had just packed the squares with mud. When that dried they would pack more mud on top until it looked like smooth walls. The roofs were either metal sheeting or something like palm leaves. There were always people spending time outside, women hanging some laundry and kids kicking around a "football". Even when we got to the beach of Cape Coast, the houses along the ocean were nothing like the high rise luxury condos we have in the States. It was the same kind of little houses bordering the gorgeous beaches.


Our first stop was Cape Coast Castle. It used to be one of the three ports in Ghana used during the Atlantic Slave Trade. Our guide told us that Michelle Obama had traced her ancestry back there. The castle was so beautiful, yet with such an ugly history attached to it. We went out by the old cannons to look at the amazing ocean , not knowing that we were standing over the tunnel that took slaves from the dungeons to the "Door of No Return". I think the thing that most stood out to me was when the guide showed us into the Male Dungeons. This is where the male slaves were kept before they were shipped to their new owners who bought them in the auction house. On the second floor, directly over the entrance to the Male Dungeons, was the room where the church met- where people who organized and operated such an inhumane and detestable place met to worship God. I don't understand how that ever came to be okay, but I praise God that it was put to an end there.


The "Botel" was cool. They had a pond underneath the restaurant there that had crocodiles in it, so I had breakfast w/ crocs in the morning. Then it was off to Kakum National Park. I was super excited because I've always wanted to go to the jungle and see all the animals. We went around 10 in the morning, so the monkeys and cool birds were already gone because they're nocturnal apparently. But the park was still amazing! There were massive bamboo plants; I guess I just didn't expect to see that there, but they were huge. And there were vines hanging everywhere. They made these really elaborate knots around trees that had an enormous roots growing off it. And the best part was the canopy walk. They had 7 walkways that went above the canopy level of the trees. They were swinging walkways above the trees with ropes holding them up. The guide told us that the walkway was strong enough to hold up dancing elephants, so I felt pretty safe. It was such an amazing experience to look out over all the different trees and vines and the beautiful sky behind it. It took time getting used to walking on it, but I wish it had gone longer to see more of the jungle. I can't even begin to imagine what was beneath the trees. I really want to go back sometime in the early morning to see if we can spot some of the incredible animals that live there!