Back in Accra

After three days away from Accra we are back and sadly today is Vivian's last day with us. She has been such a great addition to this trip I know everyone will be sorry when she leaves tomorrow morning. I don't know how we could have done this without her. Thanks Vivo!

We had a great time in Cape Coast enjoying nature, walking on top the the trees in Kakum on the rope suspension bridges, seeing a real live Crocodile up close, and visiting two slave castles for a dose of reality. The town of Cape Coast is much smaller and cleaner than Accra. It was nice to go walking and not feel totally dirty just going outside. Our first day we went to Elmina, just a bit up the road, and saw the massive slave castle there. We thought that since there was a festival going on it would be more fun, but nope. It was soooo crowded and crazy we barely could see the castle because of the throngs. Once we decided to leave it took forever becasue the streets were jammed with partiers. We ended up having dinner at a niceish place on the beach called mable's Table before returning to our hotel.

The next day we got up early. Yes, we actually got everyone up and out by 10. That's pretty early for us. We went to Kakum National park for a morning of hiking and walking across the Canopy rope bridges. Everyone did great despite a few fears. After lunch at Han's Cottage, with the crocodile, we went to town and met up with Kojo who happened to be there with a dance group he teaches with. We were invited to watch the group perform for a small group of American tourists at the university. It was really fun. Lots of the young dancers and drummers were so good. They made us all get up and dance at the end. Not sure if what I did was really dancing, but it was fun!

The next morning we got up and out even earlier and went to the Cape Coast Castle, another slave castle. That was much better. No crowds and a really good tour guide meant for a more meaningful experience. It is really pretty overwhelming to realize how many people these dungeons held and how they were treated. The museum there also had a lot of interesting information too.

After that it was back home on the bus to Accra. Last night I had no AC which made for a sticky evening. Hopefully today it will be back. The fan seemed to run extra slow too and the lights were dim. Maybe a brown out?

It looks like we're off to the beach and then to Nima soon, so I will say good bye for now.

Happy 4th.
Erik