Ghana: A Return to the Motherland

 AAE recently had the distinct pleasure of visiting Ghana, a West African nation bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Guinea in the South, Cote d'Ivoire in the West, Togo in the East and Burkina Faso in the North. 

The beautiful nation has been independent since 1957, having become the first sub-Saharan nation to break from colonial rule. Cocoa, gold and oil are among its key natural resources. It has a population of nearly 33 million. 

One of our first stops was Kakum National Park. It is situated amid lush forest land that offers ample natural beauty. 

The national park's key attraction is a series of suspension bridges that allows visitors to walk atop the canopy of the forest, providing a bird's eye view of the vegetation below. The walk might be challenging to those who aren't comfortable with heights, or those who don't like the surface they're walking on to be a little shaky. But if you can overcome those two concerns, it's a beautiful hike. 

One of the next sites we visited was known as the Last Bath. This site was where captives who were seized by human traffickers involved in the slave trade were taken to be cleaned up in a river before being sent to auction several miles away at one of the castles on Ghana's coast. The march for some of these captives was as long as 400 miles and could take as long as three months or more. Today, the site is seen as sacred ground, to commemorate the enormous sacrifice and the gross atrocities committed against the Africans who were brought there. 

Pictured above is a view from the bottom of the staircase that led to the river. The inscription on the arch reads We Are Back Home, a symbolic message indicating that despite the site being called the Last Bath (the inscription on the arch as you descend the steps), people of African descent can now return and celebrate the triumph of generations of survivors. 

This is the river at the Last Bath site. Captives were bathed in these waters before being taken to auction. Today, the keepers of the site encourage visitors of African descent to get in the water and meditate on their ancestry and heritage, and what they want for their future generations. 

Shown above is the Cape Coast Castle. This massive facility held residences, a church and, most notably, dungeons where African captives were held as they awaited being auctioned off into slavery. 

Pictured above is the floor and wall of one of the dungeons where captives were held. It is now common for visitors to leave flowers and other mementos to commemorate the suffering and lives lost in these awful rooms. Humans were held in these rooms with almost no light, and were forced to urinate, defecate and perform other bodily functions right in the room with no privacy or comfort and virtually no drainage. The stench is said to have been awful, as one might imagine. 

Those who tried to escape were abused. And repeat offenders were taken to another dungeon where they were left to die, with no food or water. If there were multiple captives in that room, it was not cleared of dead bodies until the last person perished, forcing that person to spend their waning days suffering among death. 

If captives in the main dungeons went on hunger strikes to try to prompt their own death, often their teeth were removed by hammer and chisel, and they were force fed by having some type of gruel poured down their throats. 

Women were frequently raped by captors. In some cases, these attacks resulted in pregnancy. Depending on the wishes of the captor, once the woman gave birth, she could be allowed to spend the first two to three postpartum months in a house a few miles from the castle. After that, she would be returned to the castle and sent back to the dungeon. The fate of the baby would be decided by the rapist/captor. In some cases, the child was allowed to live at the castle. In others, the captor would give the baby his last name, but would still auction the child off into slavery, forcing the child to grow up without their mother in a strange land in the Americas or England. 

Above is another view of the floor of one of the dungeons. The white spots were scraped many years ago, with the scrapings scientifically tested, tests which confirmed the human waste and other byproducts that lingered on the floors for many years. The only real cleaning that the floors received during the time that the dungeons held captives came when rain would blow in through some of the few windows that were present. 

A captive's stay in the dungeon could last anywhere from a day to three months, depending on which and how many ships were awaiting human cargo. Prior to being sold at auction, they were taken to a room in the castle where they were thoroughly inspected by potential purchasers. When it was time to ship them off, captives would go through the Door of No Return, pictured above. The view in the photo above is from outside the door, which now has a sign that reads "Door Of Return," symbolizing how now, African descendants can come back through the door and triumph in their freedom. 

Shown above are the cannons at Cape Coast Castle, which protected the facility from would-be invaders. The castle is situated in such a way that ships coming toward it could be easily spotted. If it was established that a ship was hostile, it would be fired upon by the cannons. 

This model shows the vast expanse of the castle. 

This is how the port area outside the castle looks today. It bustles with many small fishing boats. 

This plaque commemorates the visit to Cape Coast Castle made by U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in July 2009. 

Shown above is a local market in Accra, the capital of Ghana. It holds many vendors selling a wide range of goods. 

Just a few blocks from the local market is this luxury hotel, which forms a sharp contrast. 

The hotel featured an art gallery that contained beautiful works from Ghanian artists. 

Another stop on our tour was the W.E.B. Du Bois Museum in Accra. Du Bois, a civil and human rights leader who was a key figure in the Pan-Africanist movement, lived in the home during the last two years of his life, 1961-1963. He and his widow, Shirley Graham Du Bois, are buried at the site. 

To support the W.E.B. Du Bois Museum, please visit https://webdbmf.org/

Another market in Accra that we visited was near the beach and offered more goods that tourists would be interested in, such as apparel, drums, artwork and more. 

Our final-day excursion was a trip to Boti Waterfalls, a twin waterfall located about a two-and-a-half hour drive from Accra, in a very remote area. 

Unfortunately, our visit came during the dry season, which meant we were unable to see falling water from the dual waterfalls. However, the area still had plenty of natural beauty to offer. 

Boti Waterfalls is located near a tiny rural village called Asiafo. 

Asiafo has a local gathering spot called the Umbrella Rock, which offers shelter from the rain and a place to stop and enjoy the local scenery. 

Asiafo also features the three-headed palm tree, another local gathering spot that also has rock seats at its base that allows visitors to make wishes for good luck. 

Ghana's people, culture, scenery and food are incredible. If you have the opportunity to visit, you should by all means do so.