Takoradi Ghana 6/5/24

Takoradi, Ghana 

Morning as we sailed into our dock and getting ready for our tour today, which will take us to some of the local communities and villages.  We then head to Cape Coast Castle, a UNESCO world heritage site.  

Driving along the coast to our first stop, a local village of Duakor.  This is a very poor country, as you can see in the pictures.

It was a bit of a drive to our first stop, and we got a break by stopping at this hotel.  The wood carvings on the staircase were pretty cool.

Duakor, a local fishing village in Ghana to see how they live. Our tour guide told us the protocol for visiting any of the traditional villages. First, you cannot speak directly to the Chief but rather to the interpreters, who will provide the Chief's answers also. For permission to enter the village, you must get the approval of the Chief and elders. To obtain this permission, a gift to the Chief and a request to him is needed. The gift is a bottle of Gin! Four members of our group joined our guide in petitioning the Chief. The village elders and the Chief were sitting facing our group. Our guide told us to remove our hats and to be sure and not cross our legs while sitting, as both were signs of respect. Our representatives stood before the elders and the Chief while our guide explained that we were there to request permission to enter their village. Our fellow passenger representatives told the interpreters that we were world travelers who came from all over the world to seek his permission to visit his village, then presented him with two bottles of gin. The Chief accepted our gifts and gave permission. After that, one of the elders performed a ceremony that involved water, alcohol and prayers for our safe travels and overall health and safety.

We were able to enter the village and met some of the locals who were demonstrating how they prepared their food. The village was very rustic with homes built from whatever materials they could get their hands on, including walls made from woven palm tree fronds. The first place we visited in the village, was a hut where three women were working on processing a local root vegetable that they peel, wash, grate and then cook into a crispy grain, which is used as cereal or couscous. The work was done in a hut with very little ventilation and only a tin roof and woven palm leaf walls, so the heat from the fire used to cook the grated root vegetable made the hut very hot. But as hot as that hut was, the next stop was much hotter and a lot smokier, it was the hut where they smoked their fish, mainly herring. The hut was once again a simple tin roof and woven palm leaf walls, but this hut was equipped with an indoor oven where wire grates filled with herring were placed on top of the smoke that was coming from the stove top. There were two women working on cleaning, prepping and smoking the herring. Again, the work was physically taxing because of the conditions that they had to work in and the physical challenges. Since this was a fishing village, they are dependent on these women’s work not only for their food, but also for their income. They export their smoked herring to other countries as well as local venues. In the pictures, you will see the wooden pallets that they use to ship their smoked herring.

Mama bringing her little one to work with her.

Final stop on the village visit was the school. It was definitely the highlight of the day! The kids were so excited to see us, and they made us smile with their curiosity and enthusiasm. One little girl came up to me and held my hand and showed me around her school. The school had a wonderful program for us, which featured students dancing, playing musical instruments and singing. But it wasn’t just a show, it was an interactive experience because the kids came to invite us to dance with them and it was so much fun for us too! A family of four who have been on the cruise, brought Royal Caribbean medals to share with the children, and they were so excited to get them! What a wonderful experience we were treated to on the first part of the excursion, the opportunity to observe and participate in what a fishing village lifestyle is like. My favorite part of the day!

Look at the little guy photo bombing us!  and sticking his tongue out!

On to visit the Cape Coast Castle, a UNESCO world heritage site. This castle was originally built as a trading post but over the years and through regime changes, it grew into a larger, more powerful castle used as a fort as it became stocked with cannons. But by the time the British came into possession of Cape Coast, the slave trade had become Cape Coasts most lucrative commerce and dungeons had been added under the fortified castle. In the 18th century, Cape Coast was one of the principal shipping points for slaves across the Atlantic, with up to 1,500 Africans being held in the castle dungeons while waiting for the next slaving ship. The conditions in the dungeons contrasted sharply with the housing and offices above that were enjoyed by the British within the castle walls. Though the British abolished the slave trading in 1807, it did not come to an end in Ghana until about 1870. In the 1920s the castle was restored by the British. Ghana became independent in 1957 and opened Cape Coast Castle as a museum in 1974.

We went through the tunnels to the Men’s Dungeon first. The tunnels were dark and seemed to be an omen of what lay ahead. The Men’s Dungeon was appx. 20 x 40 ft with a “trench” dug out in the dirt floor that was supposed to carry the urine, feces and vomit to the ocean. But with over 200 men crammed into the room, the trenches were soon overwhelmed, and the floor quickly became covered with human waste. The men were forced to sit, lie and sleep in their waste and in conditions that were aggravated by heat and humidity. There was only one window to the outside and this was used to lower food and water. There was another interior window that was close to the ceiling and was used by their captors to pour water to “cool off” prisoners when the heat became too intolerable. There was a separate Women’s Dungeon that was set up in the same way. Those that survived these horrid conditions were rewarded with even worse conditions in the ships going to the country that they had been purchased from, at least a third of them would die on the trip.

Our guide also showed us the solitary confinement closet for women who refused sex, or were otherwise resistant, were thrown into for three days without food or anywhere to relieve themselves. The men were treated even worse. If the men fought back or tried to escape, they were put into a room with no windows, no air, and given no food or water until they died. Their captors would check on them and keep them in the room until all of the men were dead, then they would place them in the courtyard for the other prisoners to see what happens to those that fight imprisonment.

We then headed to the coast and drove along the main fishing port of Takoradi, which also hosts a huge market area.

We ended our day at a lovely resort on the beach.  This was a stark difference for how we saw the locals live as you can see in some of the pictures.  Very poor conditions and makes us thankful for what we have.

Two days at sea, and the on to Dakar, Senegal, our last port in Africa.