GHANA Day 2: Cape Coast

Liz and I woke up early and finished packing so that we could meet Tracy outside of the port by 7am.  Tracy and Noah (our driver) were already there waiting for us.  I had not seen Tracy in almost three years, so it is really a blessing that she would be able to meet me on the other side of the world.  We immediately set out for Cape Coast.  We bought some papaya from a woman selling it in the street.  I am still not sure how I feel about papayas, they seem like something I would like (although since I like most things, that is not saying much), but I am not sure.

                It was a long drive and I spent most of it trying to keep my eyes open.  I am pretty sure I was asleep for most of the ride.  We stopped at one of the slave castles and dungeons in Cape Coast.  Before getting out of the car Tracy turned to me and Liz to make sure we knew that we were going to get surrounded by people trying to sell things the moment we stepped out of the car and we just had to say no thank you and walk fast.  It was a little harder than it sounds, since we are supposed to be polite at the same time.  It is honestly, really annoying, but I guess they have to make a living somehow.

                We went through a tour of two of the slave castles.  It was an emotionally draining experience.  Everyone knows that there were slaves being sold from Africa, but seeing the building made it much more real and horrible.  Despite all of that, it was still a really good thing to see while we were in Ghana. 

                On a happier note, I got to drink my first coconut!  Obviously I have had coconut before, but never from a vendor on the side of the road in Ghana.  It was awesome!  I have pictures, but I don’t have my camera cord to put them onto my computer at the moment.

We met up with Caitlynn at the second castle (Elmina).  She wanted to come with us, but had a trip to the dungeons that she need to do for one of her classes.  We stopped in a shop and bought some necklaces and beads before leaving.  Now that we were all together we headed off towards where were planning to spend the next two nights.

                I didn’t know anything about where we were staying the night.  I had left it up to Tracy since she had been in Ghana before and knew much more than I would.  All I knew was that we were going to a place called Hans Cottage, which she referred to as ‘the cool crocodile place.’  It turns out there are crocodile wandering around.  I have not seen one yet, but I expect to before the trip is over.

                While they were getting our rooms ready we went to the restaurant and got some dinner.  Since we had missed lunch we were all starving, except for Caitlynn, who ate with her tour group during lunch.  As we were eating we talked about Tracy’s work on MercyShips, where we were going next on SAS, and what happened during the past three years.  In the tree beside where we ate were a ton of bright yellow birds.  They were called Weaver Birds (or that was what we called them), because they actually weaved their nests.  It was amazing to watch!

                After that we all went to the internet café (meaning table next to the pool) where we could Skype our families.  I got to talk to my parents for a little while, which was great since it was the first time I was able to get Skype on the voyage so far.  We went back to the restaurant for a late night snack of fan milk (sort of like ice cream in a bag) and Milo (sort of like hot chocolate) before heading to our rooms for the night.

                I am so glad to have been able to meet Tracy in this country, since I would have had no idea what to do with myself and would have had to spend the whole time in tour groups.  We were able to get far enough away from Tema that there are not buses of SAS kids crowding us, but amazingly enough, there is another girl from SAS that lives on Deck 2 here as well.  You just can’t get away from these people!  (Disclaimer: Just kidding!) 

Anyways, we are off to Kakum National Forest in the morning, so I should get some sleep!

Clarification:  Liz is the one I met in Nassau and was discussing starting a bible study with, I will now be referring to her as Liz K.
Other Liz is part of the Officer's Club, I will now be referring to her as Liz O.
Other Other Liz lives down the hall from me and is a part of my extended family, I will now be referring to her as Liz C.
This blog post and the previous one both have Liz K.  Hopefully that helps!