Day 7 - Kakum National Forest and Cape Coast Castle

Today we had two big things on the agenda: a visit to Kakum National Park and a tour of Cape Coast Castle.

We went to Kakum National Park because they have a really neat suspension bridge that is about 350 meters in total length and appears to reach approximately 60 meters high in some spots. Also, the nature walk was recommended because it will help us learn about the surrounding wildlife and the materials that the local people use in fishing and foodways. The national park was about 30 kilometers from a main junction on the way to Cape Coast. We arrived at the visitor center and patiently waited for enough tourists to crowd the place before the tour commenced.

The suspension bridge was designed and built by Canadian engineers and is said to be very sturdy with the ability to hold 8 tons. Our guide said elephants could happily dance on it (this I would like to see). The suspension bridge certainly shakes and Tom and I had a good time swaying and bouncing. And this was not just one long suspension bridge; it was a network of a number of suspension bridges that entangled the forest that one could glide through.

Segments of the impressive suspension bridge.

The nature walk was even better. We meandered through a trail in the dense jungle and mostly our guide located trees. We saw an ebony tree early on. The bark of the tree is very coarse and the elephant loves to scratch its hide on it; probably the first take on ebony and ivory before the piano. Another tree locally known as Onyina or silk cottonwood can be used for paper and clothing. The tree is soft enough that with sufficient pounding it can be made into a fabric known as bark cloth. Another tree known as the Celtis has very long roots that extend further up the base of the tree like webbing and the top part of the root is long and round like a staff. This portion of the tree is removed and used as a pounder for cassava and plantains. By far the coolest tree was the Fagara which contains large spikes on the trunk and they gradually become smaller up the tree. This is the tree’s defense mechanism to keep away animals such as elephants and even the 5 species of primates that roam the forest such as the white colobus monkey.

Local tree known as Fagara with spikes on the trunk to protect it from animals.

After we arrived on the main road, we stopped at a local restaurant and I stuffed my face with more banku and tilapia. Mmmmm good.

Cape Coast Castle was the next important historic site that I needed to familiarize myself with. I have been to Cape Coast Castle a number of times already during my stay thus far as we do business with the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board simply to secure permission to conduct archaeological investigations in the coming weeks and rub elbows with the VIPs and curators. Cape Cope Castle was originally constructed by the Swedes in the 1650s and later taken by the Dutch in 1663 and the British took it a year later. The castle was an important administrative center for the British, more importantly in the mid-nineteenth century. It is a very important historic site for the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Cape Coast Castle appears much larger than Elmina Castle with a large entryway and impressive courtyard. Similar structures also remain such as a holding cell for insubordinate slaves as well as male and female slave dungeons, but they are much larger. The male dungeon alone could likely hold 1,000 slaves at a time.

View of the courtyard inside Cape Coast Castle.

Before you enter the male slave dungeon a plaque commemorating current President Barack Obama’s visit to Ghana on July 11^th of last year is visible. Furthermore, the President took a tour of the castle with the first family and also gave a speech in the grandiose courtyard that overlooks the ocean.

Plaque commemorating President Barack Obama’s visit last year.

Deep inside the entrance is a huge dungeon. Our tour guide took us to a dungeon that had very little access to outside light and explained that this was one of the main portions of the dungeon that was stuffed to the brim with slaves during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Like most of these dungeons, they have been cleaned out. However, a portion of the accumulation of filth was left by the curators to demonstrate the amount of excrement that had built up over the years of dungeon use. Another gloomy feeling passed over me while thinking about the horrid and inhumane living conditions the slaves were put through.

A view looking out of the male slave dungeon.

A portion of the 5 cm of filth that accumulated during the holding of male slaves in the dungeon.

Another long day packed with many events...time to soak up some salt air and get some shut eye.