Ghana - A daytrip to the slave castles

The plane to the capital Accra was almost empty and therefore a very pleasant flight. The whole planning for the visit to Ghana was easy because the country is relatively well visited by tourists and therefore a lot of information is available on the internet.

My plan for Ghana was to spend a day in Accra and then visit the Cape Coast with the slave castles. Those castles were the most important sites from where a couple hundred years ago slaves were transported all over the world. Now they are well preserved or restored and a big tourist attraction.

I did not have much time, with only a few days in Ghana. So I wondered if it is possible to visit the major castles in a one-day trip from Accra, without joining a relatively expensive tour operator.

Visit the cape coast castles on a day-trip from Accra? 

I asked around when I arrived in Accra and also the staff in the hotel. Basically, they all say yes, but much it would be too stressful to do this in only one day. However, they told me:

Yes, its possible. If you organize it in advance and pay a lot of money on private transport and then run through the castle quickly, and then drive back to Accra in the dark, with tired drivers on roads full of potholes.

So I decided to visit there by local minibus and stay one night in Cape Coast area. It was easy and pleasant, and in addition, very cheap. So basically said it was 24 hours overnight trip to the Cape Coast and its surroundings.

Day 1 - Arriving in Accra

I landed at 10pm and got picked up directly by the hotel shuttle. After asking all the questions and stressing the great patience of the staff, I was prepared for tomorrow's to walk through Accra.

Ghana has very nice beaches and the crime rate is very low compared to its neighbor Ivory Coast. This makes it a suitable country for masses of people who want to travel to West Africa.

Day 2 - Visiting Accra in one Day

One day in Accra city. After breakfast, I started Google Maps to check the pins that I planned to visit. My hotel was next to Oxford street and therefore most central to Accra.

There are not too many sights here in Accra, but by African standards it's OK.

One day in Accra was not stressful, especially because the transport was very comfortable. Also taking photos is no problem here, unlike in their neighbor Burkina Faso.

From A to B and C and D and... with Uber

Compared to conventional taxis, Uber was extremely! cheap. Quite a few kilometers can be driven for 1$.

However, I noticed that payment with a credit card was not desired by any of the many Uber drivers and therefore it only worked with cash. So if I waved an Uber with cash, the drivers came within a few seconds. While waiting for Uber, many other normal taxi drivers asked me how much I pay for Uber and I felt a little sorry when I showed them what low price Uber demands.

Things to see in one day in Accra

I don't know why but before planning for Accra, I had the feeling that Accra is a city with many things to see, a somehow famous city. There are indeed some things to see, although I thought there was more than the following few things.

Along the "Oxford Street"

It was hot already in the morning. As my hotel was just around the corner I walked this street from north to south. It was a great place to get started (and get good money exchange rates with cash).

It was interesting to see the modern buildings and the local street vendors and communities and goats. Everyone (including the police) is friendly and respectful, not a problem at all in those regards.

See the impressive "Black Star Gate"

Nice is that big triumphal arch at the Independence Square with a Ghanaian star on it.


There were some guards trying to collect the entrance fee. However, the gate and the complex were free for everybody including the white tourist.

That day was a public holiday and on the square a huge church service taking place, with dozens of white-dressed Ghania women and men singing with full power some church songs.

The square was right beside the beach.

Interesting building in the "Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park"

This thing was made for an important Ghanian who died.

Behind the tower is the museum. The museum consists of a single room, with photos and a few rotten pieces of furniture. In the corner a coffin wrapped in plastic foil.

African people-watching in the "Moccala Market"

Next to the Memorial park was this market. It was loud there but unique, here is Ghana's heart, which consists of a lot of traffic jams. It's not a tourist market but safe to walk around. Although it might be a bit too much hassle for TUI or holiday24 tourists.


I went to one of the higher floors of the buildings along the streets to watch the scenery from above. And its always fun to watch African people doing their business.

I didn't find any proper restaurant in the market area and continued walking to the north, where I found a busy but good fast-food restaurant called Champion Dishes, which seems to have proper food for "Europeans".

With the Uber to "Jamestown Lighthouse"

Another Uber brought me down to Jamestown.

The driver didn't recommend me to go there, because people are notorious for not being the friendliest and finest people of Accra and that they don't like visitors flocking in and walking through their neighborhoods.

 
Indeed, when passing the lighthouse and walking towards the beach to the fishermen's settlement by the sea, some strange characters told me that it's not possible to walk to the beach without a guide. I friendly declined but it didn't work.

You must have a guide to continue walking to the beach!

It was a bit stressful and I didn't want my afternoon getting annoyed by a so-called guide, so I took a look at the area from where I was and continued walking in the other direction.

 

Korle Gonno street art festival "Chale Wote Street Art Festival" 

On the way to the lighthouse in Jamestown, I saw many people with costumes or preparing for it and artists walking around with artifacts. Found out that this weekend is the Chale Wote Street Art Festival, which takes place every year.


It was located around the area in Jamestown but in different places.

I went to Korle Gonno which is a short ride from Jamestown and there was one whole street dedicated to these artists and painters. It was like a carnival with lots of African dances. Unfortunately, I arrived on time in the afternoon which was a break and so didn't see much of it.

Day 3 - The Cape Coast and the Slave Dungeons

At breakfast I tried to get an Uber to bring me directly to the Cape Coast, so I requested and also one accepted, but when he arrived and asked where exactly I wanted to go he just replied with a laugh:

Cape Coast? Are you a crazy white man? No Uber will take you there, because in Cape Coast is no Uber.

So instead, he brought me to the taxi stand called "Kaneshie Lorry Station" (Ford minibus station).

Many huge Ford minibusses serve as common public buses. From there the Ford minibusses go to Cape Coast. However, it can take up to 1 hour until these 9-seats were filled, but they have A/C and the ride was only about 5 Euro.

The drive takes two hours to the Cape Coast.

Cape Coast is no big city but also not a rundown town. It had only a few hotels and restaurants for relatively cheap, but it is not really an area where I would have wanted to spend more days.

Apart from the slave castles, there's not much to see.

Cape Coast Castle

First after arriving, I went to the hotel and then with one of the very cheap taxis to the first slave castle.


The castle was massively bigger than I had expected. A white temple appears at the end of the road and the ticket counter right next to the front door.

There are many slave castles in Ghana along the coast, but this was the best known of them all.

In the castle itself, a certain strange atmosphere came up quite fast, especially when thinking how thousands of slaves were deposited here in the dark dungeon in the underground and were held for several weeks in such a way, without light, a normal sleeping place or normal food.

One day their door opens and a few dozen of them are sorted out and shipped overseas.

From the dungeon, there was direct access to the ramp which led to the ship. The slave castles were also called "Point of No Return" because once there, this was the last time on soil back home. Most of them never return.

In the upper and above-ground parts of the castles, the slave masters and the nobility live, with beautiful rooms and rooms with a perfect view of the sea and the beach.

The coast in Ghana is called the "Gold Coast".

But not for everybody! Even in high season, these fishermen get no more than 100 Euros per month.

Above the fish market is the "Fort Coenraadsburg".

Before entering the "Elmina castle", I went to visit the town and fish market just next to it. Above the fish market is another castle overlooking the town.

This one is a Dutch castle.

Elmina Castle

Elmina Castle is a half-hour taxi ride from Cape Coast Castle. There are many shared taxis and they cost practically nothing.

Elimina Castle was also much bigger than I thought. But the castles from Cape Coast and this one are quite different, also because they belonged to different nationalities. Portuguese, English, Dutch and French were down here in Ghana and each brought their own furnishing styles and applied them to the castles.

Compared to the Elmina Castle, the Cape Coast Castle was much bigger, but the Elmina Castle is more pleasant to walk through and also has a better view of the beach.

Also here the passage through the dungeons is quite frightening. The large dungeons and bars are all still there, including the floor hatch to feed the hundreds of slaves.

Only a few meters into the dungeon and already it was pitch dark, whereby this was only the beginning and the further it led down the cave, the stranger it became down here.

What misery down there. Also, there is some stuff still sticking to the walls and other walls.

I also wondered for how long probably illnesses and epidemics at these walls still survived, and/or whether there are still sticking at the walls e.g. if there are niches in the wall with cholera.

Similar to in the Cape Coast Castle, there was a door at the darkest end of the dungeon which was opened on day X to lock the slaves onto the ships for distributing them around the planet.

The owner's and masters' living- and bedrooms in this castle were separated from the dungeons by several floors, but as there were no soundproof rooms, doors and windows and all the yowling of the slaves had to be heard day and night.

But even without hearing screams, noise and misery one wonders how the masters could fall asleep and drink their coffee the next morning with a clear conscience.

Around the castle, there is room for the boat builders.

They still build their quite big fishing boats like hundreds of years ago, out of pure wood and normal nails, with a hammer and saw. Pretty interesting to watch them building the boats.

Day 4 - Back to Accra. Nigeria I'm coming.

This afternoon was my flight to Nigeria. Same as on the way down here, I drove back to Accra with the comfortable Ford minibus. Again it took a while until the 9 places in the minibus were filled with passengers.

Two hours later I had lunch in Accra and then went with the cheap Ghana Uber to the airport. The Uber taxi driver asked me where it was flying to. On my answer "Lagos" and that I do "Holiday" there, he just meant:

 

You going to holi-what??? Holiday??!!!! Hahaha... who the hell is going to Lagos for Holiday?

From then I knew that even down here in Africa, Lagos doesn't seem to have a reputation for being a holiday destination and even Africans try to avoid going to Nigeria.