Adventures of RyC & Afua: Accra, Ghana Pt 1

It had been about a decade since I'd last been in Ghana (my homeland).  After postponing the trip many times, I finally made it back home last Christmas and RyC was along for the ride.  It was a great experience for the both of us.  He saw first hand where I came from, met some of my family members and I saw all the changes/growth that had occured in ten years.  We both had a blast celebrating Christmas in Accra with my family.

 I like to think that to celebrate my homecoming, my cousins planned a night out on the town.  Jet lagged and all, we still managed to make it out.



The last time I saw some of cousins, they were these tiny little boys and girls, so I was a bit shocked when I saw them holding a glass of wine and died a little when they were actually drinking it!



Starting off the night with a toast...cheers!

Later on, we shamelessly crashed a birthday party and took over the dance floor



Next on the agenda...Bojo Beach.  Getting there is an experience in itself considering the roads are a bit pot holey but it's all worth it.

Me and my "all grown up" cousins...they all used to be little munchkins

•We gathered around, ordered some kebab (which tastes a lot different than the kebabs in the U.S.), laughed, teased each other, and reminisced about the past.  It was amazing to see that even after ten years and everyone lives going in various directions (marriage, children, college, etc), we still have the same type of fun.  And that I missed and still miss a lot.

•Since I was the only child with my parents, my cousins are my siblings.  Not being able to be around them as much saddens me so I was very appreciative that I was able to hang out with them, gossip, hug, laugh, tease, drink, eat, and enjoy life with them even for a few days. 

RyC and I HAD to visit some tourist sites, so we made our way to the infamous Cape Coast Castle.  Cape Coast Castle is one of the tourist sights that EVERYONE MUST see when they visit Ghana.  Even President Obama and his fam toured the castle in July 2009.  Yes, it's that important!

The castle was built by the Swedish for trading goods then turned into a place of keeping slaves, before shipping them off. 
 

I had been to the castle during my elementary school years.  As a little girl, any excursions I went on was a fun day out of school or an exciting trip with my family. I didn’t quite comprehend the significance of the excursions.  This time, as an adult, it was of course a different experience.

 The significant part of the tour for me was when the tour guide led us into the dark dungeons where thousands male and female slaves were imprisoned.  The conditions of the dungeons described by the tour guide were horrific.  I just couldn’t help feeling depressed and angry at the inhumanity of the slave trade.

The tour guide described showed us what used to be the tunnel that led from the male dungeon to the beach where the ships would be docked to be loaded with the slaves.  After, slavery was abolished, the entrance to the tunnel was covered.  The symbolism of that act, was touching to me.

I knew about the history of the Cape Coast Castle as a school girl in Ghana but it is quite different when you actually visit the Castle.  It all becomes real and not just some story you read in a book.

After visiting the castle, we then went to Kakum National Park.  The tour of the park begins with an educative nature walk and ends with a death gripping stunt (not really!).  However you have to walk across this.....

...SCARY CANOPY WALKWAY

..

I don't know if you can tell that I was a TINY bit scared.  Boy was I happy when it was over!