Trip to Kakum and Cape Coast...

Saturday I went with Rebecca Watt (Fulbright teacher from the US at another school in Accra) and Samuel (Ghanaian) and Kasa (Ghanaian) from Achimota School to Kakum National Park and St. Georges Castle at Elmina near Cape Coast. A very interesting trip. They picked me up at my house at 6am and they said it would take about an hour to get there; 2 and a half hours late were arrived in Cape Coast and still had 45 minutes to go to get to the park. I think that I am learning that when Ghanaians say a time, double or triple it and that is closer to reality. However, when we got to Kakum, it was neat. It is a tropical rainforest that has hiking trails and a canopy walk. They have taken not quite half a mile of rainforest canopy and suspended a path 40 to 50 feet in the air so that you get a very unique look at the area. There are only 4 canopy walks in the world so this was pretty cool. The park was neat, but it was definitely a very “touristy” location; many “Obrunis”.

We then left and went to visit Samuel’s wife and baby girl at Cape Coast University. Samuel stayed with his wife, while Kasa, Rebecca and I went to the St. George’s Castle. We took the tour and it was fascinating on many levels. In Springfield the Lincoln Home is kinda neat, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is pretty cool, but this was different. The castle was built more than 500 years ago; white men were not even in America; Columbus had not sailed the ocean blue. In addition to its age, the most astounding part is that between 12 and 14 million slaves passed through the castle on their way to being shipped across the Atlantic on the Middle Passage. We were allowed to see the actual cells and the “Room of No Return”- the last time the slaves were in Africa before the Middle Passage. Still not sure how I feel about the whole tour, I think I need to let it sink in a little bit. We also visited a festival they were having in Cape Coast where the President of Ghana had come to visit. The traditional chiefs invited him and they paraded in with great pomp and circumstance. But also, from each neighborhood, there is one youth chief that paraded down the street. They were not allowed into the formal ceremony, but it was neat to see all the costumes and the dancing. They were all just having a good time.

We left and then need to “quickly” stop at Kasa’s village. Probably the most remarkable part of the trip. We drove about an hour from the main road over a very bumpy dirt road through these tiny villages with mud huts with no electricity or running water before we got to his village. When we arrived, Kasa went to talk to the elders about a scholarship that would allow any of the children that could pass a specific West African Standardized Test free secondary schooling. Meanwhile, here I am, sitting in a car waiting. Within 120 seconds, 40-50 children, 11 and under, gathered about 10 yards from the car and were just staring. I can assume that they don’t see cars that often, but it could be the first time in their life, that they have ever seen a white person. So I got out and was really nervous, but introduced myself (I wrote my name with a stick in the dirt and we all sounded it out), asked them their names and ages, and did a magic trick. It was really just kind of an eye opening experience. Places like Americans see on TV really do exist.

On the way back to Accra we were stuck in traffic and had not eaten so I decided to get a loaf of bread for a vendor to share with everyone. Kasa was in the front seat, so in Twi he called the lady over and asked how much for a loaf. She told him 5000 (about 50 cents). So from the back seat I handed it out the window to her and she looked at my hand, saw I was white and said 10,000 ($1). As soon as she saw I was white, or that a white person was buying the bread the price doubled. I have no problem paying 10,000 for the bread, if it is a fair price, but I told her no and gave her 5000 and that was fine. Everywhere I go people stare. Sometimes they will yell out “Obruni” (white person). They think that because I am white I have money. I have already seen people try to befriend me because they want something. It is difficult sometimes to have to be so careful as to who you can trust and not. However, the vast majority of people have been very nice and very friendly in a very forthright and honest way. Everyone that is associated with the school has been genuine with me thus far, which is nice to be able to fall back upon.