Elmina Bay Resort

... other. We had an amazing tour guide who took us through the castle and shared some very emotional stories. After seeing the fort at Keta, I thought I had an idea of the size of slave trade, but seeing the castle made me realise how huge an effect it had. This castle was built to hold a minimum of 1000 slaves at a time (Cape Coast Castle, of similar size, is located within eyesight of Elmina). For hundreds of years, these machines held slaves for the two months before they ...

... to walk the suspended walkway above the rain forest canopy. 45 minutes to cover 350 meters of walkways, mainly due to the terrifying fear that one person had on the walk. The quirky campsite nearby included a bar which is raised above a lake filled with crocodile. One of the intoxicated members of the group ended up sleeping at the bar from midnight until 5.30am, she was not attacked by any crocs!!! Very lucky!!<br><br>Now off to the Capital of Ghana, Accra.......

... banned among European powers, the Ashanti's slaves first needed to be freed. The Dutch gave them some payment upfront, with which they bought their freedom, and then loaded them onto ships bound for Java. On board, they learned to be soldiers, and on the ground, they performed remarkably well (well enough that the Dutch put up with their unruliness and lack of discipline, though they complained about it bitterly). At the end of a 15-year tour, they Ghanaian ...

... from the continent each year. In our tour of the fort, we were shown the dungeons where male and female slaves were kept, the room where slave auctions were held, and the Door of No Return, from where they were taken in pirogues out to waiting ships. Particularly harrowing for me was the condemned cell, a hot, muggy room into which up to 60 people were packed and shut in with three layers of doors, without food, new air, or water until they all died. Truly brutal.

... kvall och hon verkade ganska nojd och trygg for forsta gangen pa lange. Mr DD och hans Monica kommer att ta hand om henne, det vet jag. Har forsokt ringa henne for att hora hur hon mar nu men inte fatt tag i henne. Avskedet fr familjen blev inte specielt stort eller jobbigt, jag ar en konstig varelse i deras varld. 2 barns mor som lamnat sina barn hemma och som ar skild.Dom hade latit sy upp en traditionell top och kjol till mig som jag fick. Den kunde ha varit lite fin om ...

... sister. It was the most horrific experience of my life thus far. The spirits of my ancestors rose from the brick walls that surrounded that small room. I have some pictures but if you ever get a chance, please visit the Elmina Castle. It is our birth right to see where we came from. What we overcame. And why we now have what we have. OUR ANCESTORS FOUGHT FOR US, we owe them AT LEAST a return visit home.

... canopy walk. In all there were 7 hanging walkways through a stretch of about 800m I'd say. It was a wonderful experience, and I think the pictures will tell a better story then words . We took about 2 hours in he park and then headed back towards the coast and west to the Elmina fort/ castle. Elmina is a town that was first settled by the Portugese in the 14 hundreds I believe. They had built the castle to have a place to store spices ...

... as a birthday present to myself because we were going to head to the Elmina castle, the largest and oldest slave castle in the world. It was founded in 1482 by the Portugese. Also, to add to the sentimental aspect, cowry shells were used as currency back in the days of slave trading. After getting to the slave castle, we paid 4 cedi (equivalent to .97 US dollars) plus .50 pesues so I would be able to take photos inside. We were given an awesome tour by a ...

... Brenu was our last camping meal before Accra where we'd lose some passengers and pick up a few others, so Dave asked me to make a farewell dinner. Meanwhile, my cook group partners Richard and Wesley had gone ahead to Accra to get extra pages in their passports at the Australian Embassy, leaving me all alone to shop for (at a market in Kumasi) and prepare two camp meals. Our only organized option at the beach camp was to ...

... and omlette sandwiches...) Sitting in a bus waiting for it to depart you have a plethora of goods paraded in front of your eyes at window height (supported by the women beneath them), all for sale at v**y mod**ate prices! Bliss! To the more naturally occuring beauties though: We've seen and floated about a bit on the largest manmade lake in the world (we can confirm it was big);  We've walked up the highest mountain in Ghana (Mount Afadjato - knack**ing);  And up the ...