Kakum National Park & the Cape Coast Castle

Today, the team took a well-deserved vacation day west of Accra to visit Kakum National Park and the town of Cape Coast, both approximately three and a half hours tro-tro ride from Accra. It was nice to get out of the big city and see another part of the country, although I have to admit that few national parks will ever impress me now that I have been to Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater...

Kakum National Park is known for its Canopy Walkway, a series of bridges hovering over the trees that gives a great view of... trees. We didn't get to see any animals at Kakum National Park, as most of the animals live in the more remote regions away from tourists. We thought the walkway would have been amazing if it enabled us to see elephants from above, but like I said, we pretty much just saw trees. And for 15 Cedi, we would have liked to see more than just trees!

However, for 5 Cedi, we gained entrance to the Cape Coast Castle in the town of Cape Coast. It is more of a fort than a castle, having been erected and occupied by the gamut of European explorers and merchants back when the fort served as the final African stop in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. For that reason, it was kind of hard to be excited about touring the fort. The architecture is impressive (for Ghana) and the location on the sea is beautiful; however knowing how many people were split up from their families and sent to a far away land as a slave is incredibly depressing.

What is inspiring, though, is seeing how Ghana has transformed since these times. Today, the IMF has flagged Ghana as the world's fastest growing economy, growing at a rate of 20% per year. Good things are yet to happen in Ghana, that is for sure!

2011-07-16 - Kakum NP & Cape Coast