-Henry Miller-
Today we head out of Accra for the last time, with new
people and new destinations to see for the next 4 weeks. There was a PDM (pre-departure meeting) held
yesterday morning, but as most of the stuff I already know, Sam gave me a leave
pass on the meeting, but I did show my face and introduce myself and then we
got to eat dinner together last night and my first vibe is that we are going to
get along dandy. I was a little
concerned that I was going to feel like the odd man out as there are 2 couples,
one from the UK and the other couple are Kiwi’s living in Australia, but so far
so good (touchwood) and the good thing of being the only single is the single
room of course and on an overlanding trip, there isn’t a lot of personal time
where you leave the group and meet back later, you are pretty much in each
other’s pockets the whole time and you do learn quickly on who you click with
and who you think is a little ‘strange’.
So at 9.30am, there were final goodbyes with Eve, Patrick
and Bean promises to keep in touch, the truck packed and the 5 of us loaded in,
we were back on the road again for the 2nd section of my 3 part
trip. I can’t believe that I have been
nearly gone for 4 weeks already!!! The
days are just flying by and I guess that is a great sign of a good trip. I think a little bit of that is to do with I
usually have a countdown to the amount of days I had before I saw a boyfriend,
or was back in Oz, or back in Ethiopia and this time I don’t have any of those
constraints (I know I am back in Oz in 8 weeks) but I am enjoying the ‘now’
without counting/wishing my time away and I have to say it makes a BIG
difference to the way I feel on the trip, like less stressful that I am not
waiting for messages from certain people and there are no expectations
there. It may sound weird, but I saw a
quote on the truck the other day that said travelling tends to magnify all
human emotions and I definitely agree with that. Totally.
I haven’t really had a good look yet at this part of the
itinerary. All I do know is that we do
the Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Guinea Bissau on this section. Today I knew we were heading to Kakum
National Park, but how long it was going to take and what we were doing once we
got there I had no idea. As there are only
5 of us in the truck now, there are empty seats and you can move from side to
side and not interrupt anyone. I am
liking the seat rotation thing now as I need to swap sides each day so that I
keep my truckers tan even, otherwise after 10 weeks of sitting on the same side
I would look like a goose I am sure with one arm brown as a berry and the other
white as a ghost! Sam came back and
spoke to us about Madge, some I knew and some things I didn’t know. Madge is actually the oldest truck in the
Dragoman fleet and started in service in 1994 and is currently the only truck
that has 4WD. He introduced the truck to
the ‘newbies’, showing them where everything was and how the systems worked and
it will be nice to have more people in the know for the last leg when we have a
nearly full truck.
It was pretty much plain sailing on the roads today; it
was a Sunday after all. There were
pockets of traffic, and heading out of Accra the roads were in amazing
condition and it also looked less populated by the roadside. We hardly saw many small villages, but there
were a few more truck stops that were a hive of activity, even for a
Sunday. I struggled to keep my eyes open
and fell asleep for nearly 2 hours and woke up just as we were coming into Cape
Coast. Sam came back and said that they
had been trying to look for a spot to stop for lunch and not being able to find
one, seeing that we were making excellent time today, they decided for us to
stop at Cape Coast for a local lunch, check out the castle and then head into
Kakum National Park in late afternoon.
We all thought that the unscheduled plan was a marvelous idea and we
found a groovy little café right next to the castle itself to have lunch. The meal was amazing and after using their
equally amazing bathroom we walked across to the castle entrance, where Sam had
organized to have a tour guide handy to take us around.
Cape Coast Castle is one of a number of "slave
castles", fortifications in Ghana built by Swedish traders,
originally for trade in timber and gold, later used in the
trans-Atlantic slave trade. They were used to hold slaves before they were loaded
onto ships and
traded in the Americas and the Caribbean.
This “gate of no return” was the last stop before crossing the great Atlantic Ocean. The large quantity of gold dust found
in Ghana was
what primarily attracted Europe, and many natives of Cape Coast used this to their
advantage. In exchange for gold, mahogany, their own people and other local items, the natives
received clothing, blankets, spices, sugar, silk and many other
items. The castle at Cape Coast was a market where these transactions took
place.
At the time slaves were
a valuable commodity in the Caribbean and
the Americas,
and slaves became the principal item traded in Cape Coast.
Due to this, many changes were made to Cape Coast Castle. One of the
alterations was the addition of large underground dungeons that
could hold as many as a thousand slaves awaiting export. Many
European nations flocked to Cape Coast in order to get a foothold in the slave trade.
Business was very competitive and this led to conflict. This is the reason why
the castle at Cape Coast changed hands many times during the course of
its commercial history.
The first lodge established on the present site of Cape
Coast Castle was built by Hendrik
Caerloff for the Swedish Africa Company. Caerloff was a
former employee of the Dutch West India Company who had
risen to the rank of fiscal before employing himself with the latter company
established by Louis de Geer. As a former high-ranking
officer of the Dutch, Caerloff had the friendly relations with the local chiefs
necessary to establish a trading post. In 1650, Caerloff succeeded in getting
the permission of the King of Fetu to establish a fort at Cabo Corso
(meaning short cape in Portuguese, later corrupted to
English Cape Coast). The first
timber lodge was erected at the site in 1653 and
named Carolusborg after King Charles X of Sweden.
Caerloff had left Samuel Smit, a former employee of the
Dutch West India Company, in charge of Carolusborg. The Dutch were able to convince Smit in 1659
of the rumor that Denmark had been conquered by Sweden, upon which Smit
rejoined the Dutch West India Company, handing over all Danish possessions to
the Dutch. The King of Fetu was displeased with this, however, and prevented
the Dutch from taking possession of the fort. A year later, the King decided to
sell it to the Swedes. After the King died in 1663, the Dutch were finally able
to occupy the fort. The Danes had in the
meantime established another fort, Fort Frederiksborg (1661), just a few
hundred yards east from Carolusborg. Although situated perfectly to launch an
attack on Carolusborg, the British capture of Carolusborg (1664) during the
prelude to the Second Anglo-Dutch War, prevented the
Danes from challenging them; the British had reinforced the fort, which they
named Cape Coast Castle, to such an extent that even Dutch Admiral Michiel de
Ruyter deemed it impossible to conquer. As the Dutch had captured the former British
headquarters at Kormantin and had rebuilt it as Fort Amsterdam, Cape Coast became the new
capital of the British possessions on the Gold Coast. In 1757, during the Seven Years'
War, a French naval squadron badly damaged and nearly captured Cape
Coast Castle. This event was likely one
of the most important reasons to entirely reconstruct the Castle, which was
quite notorious for its collapsing walls and leaking roofs. The tower, which now had no military use, was
extended in 1790s with two stories now becoming the governors' apartments. The
space below Grossle's Bastions was used as the new slave dungeons.
The castle itself was massive, and the biggest we had
seen all trip. The main history is
centered around the slave industry and the guide we had, Izak, was a very knowledgeable
guide and the second he started talking I knew we were going to have an
interesting hour or so. We were given a
brief outline of the turbulent history of the castle and then shown to one of
the first dungeons that still had the original 200 year door attached. This dungeon was called the ‘condemned cell’
and was used for slaves that had tried to escape and was a small room maybe 5mx
10m and we were told that it would hold up to 50 men at a time. IT was NOT ventilated, so there was no air,
no light (of any kind) and most times no food.
If you ended up in the condemned cell, there were slim chances that you
would come out alive. There were still
chain marks on the floor where the slaves had laid, and I just try and think
what they would have been thinking back then, what a terrible condition to be
living in firstly and to know that you were more likely to die is just un-comprehensible
to me. Just to give us an idea on just
how dark it was, Izak closed the door and turned off the light for 10 seconds
and it was pitch black and the humidity was tenfold, just in that small space
of time. The prisoners, if they lasted,
could be in this small room for up to 3 months before they died. Imagine.
Our next visit was the Male Dungeon. This is quite ironic that above the dungeon
was the castle’s church, so the slaves could look up at ‘heaven’ before they
entered ‘hell’. We descended the slopey
stairs find a carnivorous ‘cave like’ dungeon that was split up into 5
chambers. We were shown one of the
chambers that could hold up to 250 men at any one time and Izak showed us a
mark on the wall that was around a 1m high, and he said that mark on the wall
was where the feces and vomit of the men came to and they all had to lie in
their own excrement, no toilet breaks for these gents. They were branded like animals, letting the
‘owners’ know which slaves were theirs and it was disgusting to think that
actual human beings were being treated like this, in any century. They were also kept in these conditions for 3
months before getting shipped out to an unknown world and exiting through the
door of no return. And to think that
their ordeal wasn’t over once they left the dungeon, they then had to survive
an ocean crossing, which again could take 3 months, to then be a slave to
someone for the remainder of their life.
Shocking really.
We walked through the other 4 chambers before heading
back up to the sun and as most forts/castles/slave camps are located, we had a
beautiful day and a magnificent view of the Atlantic Ocean. The locals were out in force, swimming and
playing on the beach and it really was a glorious day. The original cannons of the castle are still
in place and the original pavers that we were walking on were the same ones
that the slaves walked on over 200 years ago.
Now isn’t that a little poignant.
We were shown the tunnel where the slaves, when they left the male
dungeon, walked, which was a 70m tunnel than ran under the cannon section of
the castle, where they exited through the door of no return to a brilliant
white beach to waiting boats for their deportation. We were shown the women’s condemned cell and
they were thrown into this small dungeon if they refused the officers and soldier’s
advances for sex. That cell was followed
by the Women’s Dungeon that was broken up into 2 sections and each one held 150
ladies each. The week women were raped
by the soldiers, which in itself are shocking, but if they fell pregnant, they
were allowed to go to the village to have their babies and if the soldiers wanted
to acknowledge the mother and the child then they were permitted to stay in the
village and no longer be a slave. If the
soldier did not want to acknowledge both the mother and the child then the
mother would return to the dungeon, straight away after giving birth, and the
child would be reared and raised by a wet nurse in the village. If the women were unlucky enough to be
pregnant on the ship voyage, they were simply just thrown overboard.
Izak showed us the door of no return, which was a massive
double door, and in 1998, the other side of the door was plagued as the door of
return, for the ancestors of the slaves returned back to their motherland,
whether to stay or to just visit and see where their brutal heritage came
from. In the end approximately 9 million
slaves passed through the door of no return.
NINE MILLION. And To think that
was just the slaves that survived their heinous 3 months in the dungeons
without dying of hunger, a disease or suicide.
The total amount of people that were sold as slaves from all the forts
and castles totaled 35 MILLION and that is just the living slaves. There was no record of the slaves that
perished in incarceration or on the ships, so I think it would be safe to bet
that you could easily double that number for the shocking truth on the total
numbers. What stumped a lot of us, is
why weren’t the slaves treated better, they were a commodity after all. If more survived then more money could have
been made. It just didn’t make sense at
all to treat their ‘goods’ the way that they did, I mean it shouldn’t have
happened at all-but thank goodness history has not repeated this unfortunate
period of time.
Heading upstairs, passing through an artists gallery
(there is always a shop-no matter what country you are in) we were shown the
last part of the castle which was the Governor’s rooms. These rooms were located on the top of the
castle and were added in 1790. They were
massive rooms and they had a brilliant view of the coast in all 3
directions. If this was a hotel, this
would be the suite and most certainly the room with the best view. It is again quite ironic that 4 stories
below, in the same amount of space there would have been 400-600 men below him,
all hungry and sitting in their own excrement and here he was a single man in a
room living the life. I wonder if they
ever had any doubts themselves about what they were doing/overseeing or that it
was all highly acceptable of the time and just a job as such. In saying all that, the rooms were beautiful
with the original flooring and beams, it is just a shame and you feel bad
liking the view and the rooms for what they had seen and held all those hundreds
of years ago.
The tour then came to an end and Izak had one last thing
to show us and it was a plaque that was set in the wall right next door to the
male dungeon. It read:
In everlasting memory
Of the anguish of our ancestors
May those who return find their roots?
May humanity never again perpetuate such injustices
against humanity?
We, the living, vow to uphold this.
Pretty moving stuff huh.
After saying our thanks, we left Cape Coast at 3.50pm to
head for Kakum National Park. The
streets we had to maneuver through were a little tight, and a few times I think
we may have interrupted a Sunday Service to which we didn’t get many smiles and
I didn’t even try and wave to these people who must have thought we were very
rude indeed, even though it was the only road we could have used. Cape Coast was also quite touristy. At the castle and now driving out was the
most I had seen of foreign people in my total 3 weeks of the trip so far all in
one afternoon and it was a little strange to see other ‘white’ faces looking
back at me. Our drive to Kakum National Park
took us an hour and 20 minutes and after arriving at the front gate, we were
signed in and a guide was allocated to us that would come over later to meet us
all. We were camping tonight, and even
if there was an offer of upgrades (which there wasn’t) but if there was, then I
would not be taking it. As a single, I
have lost my upgrading buddy and the cost to me would be double, and depending
on how cheap they are, if it is a tent night, then I will be in a tent, which I
do have to take the bad with the good and the good being when we are not in tents
I have a room to myself. So we parked
the truck near the restaurant and gift shop, which had closed for the day as
the park closes at 5pm and we arrived just after that. I decided to keep the tent that Duckie and I
had, which was Senegal and as Sam showed the ‘newbies’ on how to set up the
tents, I proceeded to put mine up on my own, which is a plus for the A frame
tents as I think it would be near impossible if it was a dome tent to erect on
my own. I would have hated the fact that
I would have to ask people for help, as there isn’t anything worse when you are
trying to get your own things done. So
after watching Patrick erect his tent a few weeks ago in Togo, I was confident
I could do it myself today and I reckon I did a pretty good job. I seem to have an issue getting the fly
looking straight and taut like Sam’s, and after getting him to inspect my work,
I was using the wrong hole for the peg and it now looked safe to sleep in. So I am glad I can do the tent in my own and
after mine was up I helped Elle and Rich with theirs, got my ‘camping’ bag with
my sleeping bag, pillow and ground mat and then it was time to set up camp.
I was trying to not be a know it all with the new group
as I know how annoying that can be, but I was trying to answer questions where
I could and it will only take a day or two for the ‘newbies’ to find their
feet. I think it was good to have the
very first night on tour in tents because then they learn where things are
right off the cuff and it seems we have a hands on team, all 5 of us which is
awesome! So once we were all set up,
people were arranging bags, having a coffee with the kettle that was put on the
stove and Sam ran through the programme while in the park. Tonight after dinner there was going to be a
night walk trying to spot bugs and insects and maybe some bush rats and then in
the morning there was an early morning bush walk that was to finish with a
canopy walk. Still fresh from Mt Klouto
experience of an ‘easy’ walk and my fall and with bush walking not really my
forte, I decided to give the night walk a miss and then I would do the morning
bush walk purely so that I could do the canopy walk and I also didn’t want to
look like the precious one to the newbies, you know a stick in the mud or a
princess, because I really wouldn’t have done either except for those
reasons.
Sam cooked a marvelous chicken curry. It was the first time that we have had another
type of meat on a camp night than tinned meat or mince as the fridge that was
fixed yesterday in Accra was still working, which is awesome news and hence we
were able to have chicken for dinner.
The walk was set for 8pm and I was all set in the truck to write my blog
while they were gone. The second that
they all set off there was a really loud animal noise coming from the bush, and
it kept getting louder and longer and I had no idea what the hell it was. I got up and shut the truck door and in
hindsight I am not really sure why as I kept the truck windows open and if
there was something ‘out there’ then it still could have got me anyway. I had all these images of the Blair Witch
Project in my head and it was a little creepy having the whole camp site to
myself. I had my IPod on and for the
next 1.5 hours I just typed and sung my way through a blog until I started to
get a little sleepy now with it coming onto 10.30pm. The guys weren’t back yet, but I shut down
the computer and had just got off the truck when they gang arrived back scaring
the crap out of me while I was washing the cups and then in a whirlwind of good
nights we were all knackered and in bed 10 minutes later after all the camp had
been packed away. Poor Elle was feeling
ill after our lunch today and Rich a little dicey, so we thing it may have been
the fish that they ate, which is super unlucky and I hope that they both feel
better in the morning.
Let the next section begin.
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