travelling to el mina and cape coast

we left kumasi on monday morning for the central region's coast line cities of el mina and cape coast. it was about a four and a half hour bus ride and we stopped on the way. we stopped at a village famous for the areas role in the slave trade. most slaves taken from the ghana area were brought from the north to the coast where they could be loaded onto ships and sent to the new world and england. the slaves captured in the north were forced to walk for three weeks on average to the coast line. the river that runs through the village we stopped at was a place were the slave groups stopped to drink, wash and get ready for being sold. it is now known as slave river. a park has been created around the river, complete with a cemetary and museum. you enter the park and have to walk a quarter mile through the woods to get to the river. it was a very sobering experience to reach the river, touch the water, and try to imagine what it would have been like to drink or wash from those waters with shakles around my neck and feet. slave river was a good introduction for the castles we would visit when we reached the coast.

when we arrived at our hotel in el mina, i was blown away. it was a beach front resort complete with cabanas on the sand and palm trees. the resort had an 18 hole golf course, even though we didn't have time to play. dad, maybe your next golfing trip could be to the courses of ghana. the strangest thing about this beautiful resort was the animals. one morning i got up to go to breakfast and there was a giant horse grazing outside our room. the hotel keeps a number of dogs that the guests can walk and play with and that roam around the hotel. there was a crocodile pond too, but suspiciously no crocodiles to be seen. it was amazing to have been so close to the ocean for those few days we stayed there.