Shaken...not stirred...

January 12, 2013 (by John) We were picked up at 6:30 am by the University of Ghana driver (Owusu) and then we picked up Dr. Sampong and his daughter (Anna Maria) on our way to Cape Coast for the day.  John, Anna Maria (all school children and college ages shave their heads) & Kofi Sampong It was about a 3 hour drive to the place where Anna Maria goes to school. We then traveled a very pot-hole ridden road (Jukwa Road) for several kilometers to reach our second destination--Kakum National Park.  This is not like your US national park as far as road system, but nice nonetheless. The path to the offices was made of unhewn stones. There was a place to wash up and a covered place to eat. Ann got a photo of a local lizard just outside the restrooms. Kakum is one of the only areas of preserved Rain Forest left in Ghana, covering about 360 sq kilometers.    Ann stayed at the rest area with Dr. Sampong and the driver while I went on a climb up to a rope bridge that is 120 feet off the grown in the canopy of a rain forest. It is the home to 240 forest elephants, 320 species of birds, also snakes, butterflies, crocodiles, antelopes and leopards, many endangered.  I did not see the wild life; they come out mostly at night. Besides the others in the group were making a lot of noise crossing the bridge.  The bridge is a floating bridge with a 5 inch wide board under your feet and two rope net fences on either side.  (view from atop the bridge up in the tree canopy) The weather was good, fairly clear day and not too hot. To get to the bridge walk-way you have to ascend a rocky (very uneven path) that is a bit of a work out, particularly if you are old and the others in the group are considerably younger than you. I think we will return in early May when the USU students come for their humanitarian mission. This reminded me a bit of my military days. We had to go over different types of  rope bridges (one rope bridge, not easy to negotiate; two rope bridge with one rope below and one above, farily challenging to balance yourself; and the three rope bridge with one rope below and two on the side,  a little bit easier). After the bridge experience we had an ice cream bar and headed back the way we had come on our way to Elmina Castle. The potted road provided quite a view that helped us get a better feel for the country and its people. There were speed bumps every kilometer or so which made driving rather challenging.  Our driver would get up a head of steam only to have to slow down for the 3-4 bumps in a row.  (By the time we got home, we were thoroughly shaken up!)  The roads are narrow which means one has to do a lot of passing of other cars with the prospect of playing chicken with oncoming traffic. There are very few driving rules in Ghana!  All along the way there were thatched-roofed homes.  Many of the houses in Ghana are built with cement bricks as compared with Mexico where the buildings are built with cinder block.  There were a lot of similarities between the two countries when you look at where most people live. Poverty is poverty no matter where you go. People make do with what they have and quite often they don’t have much. Some families in Ghana spend the whole day on the side of the road trying to sell fruits and vegetables. Those are 12x12 homes the size of storage sheds in the back...usually made of metal & wood. You can find anything for sale along the ides of the road.  Here in Ghana there are huge yams, pineapples, potatoes, plantanes, etc. There is also an animal they sell already roasted called a grass cutter. We think it is a rodent.  Needless to say we did not stop to buy any of the above.  Most buildings are partially completed.  Ann will comment on this later on. Along the way we beheld several LDS chapels. They are like an oasis amid the squalor that some folks live in.   We passed several towns with large market places. There were hawkers everywhere. It is hard to imagine so many people in one place. (Notice the huge loads they carry on their heads...selling right in the middle of the traffic!) We finally arrived in the town where the Elmina castle is located.  Again very narrow streets and lots of people in a very old town on the edge of the Gulf of Guinea.  We were approached by some young men as we exited the van. They were looking at our name tags and wanted to make us a gift. We said no thank you.  The castles dates back to the 1400s and had many occupiers, Dutch, Portuguese, British, and Swedes. It was the holding place for slaves that were sent out to various parts of the world. The conditions were worse than deplorable. Words cannot describe the conditions. Three million went through the castle, only one million survived. One of the holding areas today has hundreds, if not thousands of bats!  Right in the middle of the castle is the building that served as a Christian church.  It is hard to imagine going to church and praising God and only a few feet away seeing other human beings treated like animals or trash. Moat around the castle that was filled with water at the time.  John standing in one of the dungeons that held up to 300 people for months at a time. girl from our tour standing in the "Door of No Return" that led to the slave ships. After the tour we went to a local restaurant that had air conditioning. The castle had very little ventilation. You were lucky as a slave if you got some breeze from the sea once in a while. People were held in the area upwards of 3 months with no bathing facilities.  Ann standing by one of the cannons used to defend the fort...against Portuguese, or British...or whomever  Our tour guide, Seth.  An extremely knowledgable and nice person.  We toured with a group of teachers from PA This is the Mission Statement posted just a few years ago be the combined Chiefs of tribes in the area. As we departed the castle we were approached by the young men mentioned earlier. They had made us both souvenirs from sea shells. They had put our names on them. Even though we had not asked for them to be made, I think we felt compelled to help these young men who were trying to make money for their soccer team. At least that was their story, so now we have our first souvenirs. The ride home was a never-ending 1-2 hours longer than it took to get to the Kokum Park. We were quite exhausted after a very long, but rather enlightening day in Africa.