Day 25: Haunted--Cape Coast

What a perfect day. Today marks the best time in Africa so far (tourist wise, of course). We started the day off by visiting Cape Coast Castle, the largest port for the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It was a great trip, but a very haunting experience. It's one of those places you have to visit within your lifetime, like a Nazi concentration camp. The castle is large with British-style architecture (Ghana was a British colony until 1957) with white stone. Without knowledge of its use, the castle simply resembles a trading port. Rows of charcoal black cannons face the raging sea, ready to blast away any other European competition interested in the Gold Coast. The actually slave dungeons are divided by male and female sexes. Each chamber had a small and high opening that offered the least ventilation and sunlight possible. The rooms had a spy hole high above the room so British troops could overlook the slaves in their shackles. In order to connect with the female slaves, a long and narrow passage connected both the chambers so the men could travel through the castle, unwillingly. What struck me the hardest about the castle was the conditions that the women were forced to endure. Our tour guide told us stories of how many women threw their babies out the small window so that they would not have to watch their children succumb to slavery. The women even had a special punishment room where they were sent if they resisted rape by the British soldiers. In this room, they were tortured to death. The most horrific room in the castle was by far called, "The Cell." This room was no bigger than an average-sized bathroom with no windows and no sunlight. They were sent simply to die. They left nail markings on the wall out of the agonizing pain they endured. This place was very difficult for us to be in. It's as if they pain they suffered through hundreds of years ago never left that room, or the castle itself. But despite the uneasy feelings brought on by the castle, I am still glad I experienced it.

The remainder of the day was spent at the Ko-Sa Coast Resort on a private beach. This adorable little hut resort was one of the most relaxing places I've ever been to. It was just us, the ocean, and a few palm trees. It resembled the beach that Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth get stranded on in the second Pirates movie (the rum question was constantly being spoken today). It was so relaxing to sit on a rock for a hour, overlooking the ocean and thanking God for this wonderful opportunity He's given me.