Kumasi, Kakum, and Cape Coast

Early Saturday morning, Amanda and I set out for Kumasi. We left the house sometime between 5 and 5:30, waking Douglas only with the intent of making sure he had the keys after we walked out, but he insisted on accompanying us to the tro tro station. We had planned to take a tro tro into Accra and catch a larger bus there for the longer journey to Kumasi, but when we got to the station there was a tro tro heading straight for Kumasi, so we boarded that instead, but I wish we hadn’t. It was very cramped, so that by the time we arrived, I was hurting everywhere, and the driver was more than a little reckless – I thought we were going to die more times than I can count on both hands. But we arrived in one piece and made our way to the hotel we had picked out.

After dropping some of our things in our room, we headed out to explore Kumasi. We had three planned destinations – the cultural center, the Asantehene’s palace, and the Ghanaian version of the sword in the stone – legend has it that if it is ever removed, the state will fall apart. We made our way through the cultural center – highlights below – and then found a place for lunch. We were headed to the Asantehene’s palace but had to pass through the infamous (and very hectic) market, and Amanda got fed up, so we got in a taxi and went back to the hotel. I spent some time reading by the pool, got a plate of spaghetti from the hotel restaurant, and was asleep by 9pm!

The drums were amazing!

Drum making in progress

Some cool masks and other wood carvings...

Because I fell asleep so early I woke up astonishingly early, too, at 4:30am, before my alarm. We left the hotel around 6 and caught a tro tro to Cape Coast, and were directed by the driver to a taxi who would take us to Kakum. We agreed on 70 cedi for the trip, but didn’t quite have enough, so we went to the bank to get more money, and as we were pulling away from the bank, the driver hit another taxi! He hit an open door, then yelled at the person who had the door open (even though it was his fault), damaging the driver side door in the process to the point that it wouldn’t close. He knew he had lost us for himself, but he called a man he described as his senior brother, who then served as our personal driver for the rest of the afternoon, to Kakum, Hans Cottage, Cape Coast Castle, and back to the station.

On the road to Kakum

At Kakum National Park we did the canopy walk. After a steep hike up to the platform we stepped onto the walkways constructed from cables, ropes, wood planks, and a few bolts to hold it all together. One of the women in our group, a Ghanaian, was petrified of heights and took a few tentative steps onto the walkway and came back. She managed to cross the first bridge (there were 7 total) but couldn’t handle more and started crying, too scared to go on or go back. We passed her and made our way around the semicircle, and by the time we got back, she had disappeared.

Amanda on the canopy walk. Let's go!

Fearless Amanda!

Beautiful view of the rainforest, out over the canopy

No pictures of me on the walkway (yet) but I survived it!

After Kakum we stopped briefly at Hans Cottage Botel, a hotel that has a restaurant and a lake with over 50 crocodiles! We took a few pictures, watched some of them getting fed (from a safe distance!) and moved on to our next destination, the castle.

Oh, hello, Mr. Crocodile... please stay on that side of the barrier!

Glad I'm not in the water...

We joined a tour that had just started and saw the men’s and women’s dungeons, what’s left of the tunnel they went through to the ships, the hall where auctions were held, the officers’ quarters, and the door of no return. After the chilling reminder of some of the worst years of human history, we returned to the station and boarded a bus back to Kasoa.

Entering the dungeon

View from the top

Ahh, home, sweet, home. It’s good to be back.