Road trip from hell

We had some serious adventure today, including a fire and mass panic. But I will get to that. Katherine and I woke up quite early. We had already packed our bags the night before so I took my time, adjusting to Ghanaian pace. I eventually meandered to the restaurant but the breakfast menu wasn't even up yet. I really need to learn to "sleep in" until at least 6:30, but it is difficult when it is so hot in my hut. I did eventually get breakfast and sooner or later all the girls were ready to head out. Agnus and I walked into the village and asked the tro-tro to save 2 seats for the girls at the lodge. On our walk up the beach we discovered a newly washed up turtle overturned on its shell. Sad.

Tro tros in Agona Station

While the two of us were waiting on the tro-tro for the seats to fill up, I heard this horrible screaming approaching us. It sounded like a small child was in severe pain, but was actually a young goat bound at the hooves, hanging upside down on a string, crying out in fear. The man carrying the goat unceremoniously shoved him under the back row of seats of our tro and the goat went quiet but my heart still ached for the poor little creature.

Cape Coast Castle

We noticed a taxi next to the tro with only one passenger, so we thought we should see the price since we would be far more comfortable in the taxi. The original tro tro driver saw us talking to the taxi driver and came over to tell us that if we took the taxi we would have trouble, like the car would break down on us or something. The taxi driver wanted too much so we went back to the tro tro anyway, but it is funny this happened considering what happened next.

But first I should explain to my dedicated readers the Ghanaian tro tro. Very similar to a minivan, with four rows of three seats each, meant to hold 11 passengers and the driver. There are no seat belts though and they do resemble death traps more than anything. There were already 13 passengers in our tro when we left the village and then Katherine and Annette squeezed in to make a total of 16 people in the little van.

Castle courtyard

Back to our story ... About 15 minutes after we had picked up the girls at the lodge, we noticed thick black smoke coming up from the front of the tro tro - possibly the transmission but I was too far back and there were too many people to say for sure. The driver and the three passengers in the front row all jumped out of the vehicle in an instant. The guy in the first row of passengers by the door sat there - blocking everyone behind him - in shock as the other passengers in his row leaped over him out the door to safety. Meanwhile, myself and the remaining 12 or so people were all shouting "Go! MOVE!" in various languages. Since I was in the seat behind him I felt the full weight of all those people pushing me. He eventually sprung into action just as flames started shooting up from the source of the smoke. Once I was a safe distance from the flaming vehicle, I noticed I was covered in dirt and grease and a few scrapes too. Better than still being in the tro though! In the end the tro did not blow up but we didn't want to get back on it. Instead we stopped the next taxi passing by and convinced the two people in it to add four more. They weren't happy but they humoured us. The man with the goat tried to put his goat in the trunk even though he wasn't coming in the taxi. Agnus got very upset as she was riding in the trunk (it was a hatchback). Eventually the goat was removed and we were on our way.

Me on the castle

Two more tro tros and one more taxi later, we were at our beautiful hotel in Cape Coast. German Katherine was waiting for us in our large room for four (she wasn't staying with us overnight). Oasis has a really nice location. If we walk out the front door of our hut we get a great view of the castle here, sitting at the end of a long stretch of beach. The hotel also has really great food so we had a nice meal. German Katherine and Agnus know everyone here! It is so cool sitting there and having people constantly come and sit with us for a chat and then leave again, quickly replaced by another person.

Once we relaxed a bit and ate, we went to check out the castle. It was really cool to see but the tour is also quite sad as they go into detail on the slave trade that happened at Cape Coast and the conditions that the slaves lived in while imprisoned there and on the ships to America.

More castle

Cape Coast has quite a good night life so we took advantage of it. After dinner we danced at the hotel bar. I was wearing my newly purchased fertility beads and I think they were working a little too well. At the hotel club I had a few partners before one came along that I couldn't get rid of. We eventually left him behind though and moved on to a spot (a very small drinking establishment) where I tried the apatache. This is an incredibly strong alcohol popular in Ghana which tastes remarkably like absinthe. From there we went to another night club. My persistent dance partner from the hotel found me there but by that time I had a new dance partner that wasn't going to give me up. I told him I had a boyfriend but that didn't bother him in the least. He said we could just be friends and I could just spend a night with him because it would be fun. He wasn't sleazy about it though, he was actually a very nice guy just trying way too hard. I don't think it was his fault though; it's hard to resist the magic of the fertility beads.

Castle defense

Gate of no return

Cape Coast

View of the castle from our hut

Oasis beach bungalows