Wli Waterfalls, Ghana

Wli Waterfalls is the highest waterfall in Ghana and one of the highest in West Africa. 

Du Bois Memorial Centre

A perfect example of how traveling broadens your horizons and educates you.  I've heard of W.E.B. Du Bois. His name frequently arises in African-American history, but I really didn't know a lot about him. 

Well today, I learned a lot more about him.  He was a communist/socialist and spent his last few years of his life in Ghana after being invited here by his friend, Kwame Nkrume, the President of Ghana and also a communist/socialist.  W.E.B. Du Bois eventually died in Ghana. The house where he lived is memorial center for Pan-African Culture. 

W.E.B. Du Bois' biggest claim to fame is that he was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. degree from Harvard.  He later spend most of his life at Atlanta University as a Professor of Economics and Civil Rights Activist. 

Note to self: A few years ago, a friend asked me "why travel; because one can learn about places through reading.  There's really no need to travel". I've pondered this question frequently.  

Yes, I agree with my friend to a limited extent.  Yes, you can learn a lot from reading.  But what you learning from reading is a person(s)'s opinion or a description of a country by someone who did visit it.  Visiting a country in person provides a personal multi-dimentional experience of that country, not a flat single-dimensional view from a book.  After visiting a country, you may even disagree with what you read.  

Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Memorial

Kwame Nkrumah was a Ghanian politician and revolutionary. He was the first prime minister and president of Ghana, having led it to independence from Britain in 1957. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism, Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and friends with W.E.B. DuBois. 

Ghana Street food costs about $1 on the street.  If ordered at a restaurant catering to tourist the same east meal would cost $6. 

Big Milly's Backyard Campground

We arrived in Kokrobite, about 40k west of Accra, at Big Milly's Backyard Campgrounds today.... 

The food was similar to other "West African" restaurants that caters to tourist... very spicy chicken, chips and chopped cabbage.  I like it enough to order it again the next day! 

Where I should have slept: in a tent w/ no A/C, communal toilets and bucket showers.

Where I slept instead: in  a cute bungalow with A/C, power outlets and a private bath. 

Coconut Grove Beach Resort

Taking a break from the "overland" truck life (e.i. sleeping in a tent w/ no A/C, minimum air circulation, and cooking on campfires).  My friend Chad always chides me for traveling in such a manner, but I do enjoy it.  I like not living out of hotels and flying between airports. I like visiting the rural villages ad interacting with the locals. I like being frugal and living primitively. But there are days when I need a break from it all, including the group members. Africa has really nice hotels and resorts.

Sunrise over the pool and ocean behind. 

A small room, but it had A/C and a private bath! 

Cute Villas

Palms tree and pool! <3 p="">

Fried fish and jollof rice. Albeit, it looks better than it tasted. The rice was really dry. 

Cape Coast, Ghana

Visiting the slave "deportation" forts on the West Coast of Africa have been on my bucket list for a number of years. After this visits, however, I'm speculating that my desire to visit them might have brought on by the African-American tourist agencies in the U.S.  I observed the Cape Coast Fort is clearly a return to Africa pilgrimage for wealthy African-Americans. 

Quotes for the museum:

"Over the course of four centuries, millions of Africans were forced into slavery." "Within scholarly circles, the estimates range from a total of 12 million to a total of 25 million. 

"Brazil received fully one-third of all Africans; the Caribbean islands together received he second third; and the final one-third was spread throughout the rest of the Americas.  Scholars agree that the smallest number of African came to what is now the U.S.A. and Canada.  Estimates range from 1.5 to 2 million arrived there between 1620 and 1860."

The quotes from the museum's exhibit above makes the point that out of the total number of slaves "exported" from West Africa a very small portion of them landed in the U.S.A and Canada. Nevertheless, the entire last third of the museum's exhibition is dedicated to the African-American and American's Black Civil rights struggle.  Hence, focusing on the African-American tourist, and ignoring the Brazilian or Caribbean tourist of African decent. 

Hence, wealthy African-Americans returning.... :-) 

Inscribed on the inside of the door were slave were sold and deported: "The Door of No Return".  The slaves left and never returned.  Inscribed on the outside of the same door albeit more recently was (as pictured above) the "Door of Return".   A few years ago the sign was place there during a African-American pilgrimage ceremony, where African-Americans returned through the door was there ancestors exited as a right of passage and return to Africa.   

Depicted above is the trade triangle.  How it works:  Europeans sail to West Africa to trade guns, firepower and other goods to West African tribal chiefs in exchange for slaves (mostly prisoners from rival tribes). The same ships then sailed to South and North America (including the Caribbean) with the slaves on road and traded them for sugar, cotton, etc.  The sugar, cotton, etc. was transported back to Europe and sold.

Elmina City Tour

City tours are always a great way to view and learn about a new city. I'm definitely a fan of them.  I learned about this tour through rave reviews on Trip Advisor and it was also highlighted in Lonely Plant. The tour was interesting and adequate, but a bit rushed. 

Elmina Fort

Elmina Inlet the center of the fishing industry in Elmina. 

The city tour with Felix the tour guide. 

City tour included a number of the building with starkly different architectural design.  The building where built by the Portuguese, Dutch and British.  All of whom colonized Elmina at one point in the city's history. 

Extremely active boating inlet. 

Street food for lunch - kenkey, fish, spring roll, and omotuo with the excellent Ghanian "Club" beer to wash it down! 

More street food! 

Stumble Inn, Elmina, Ghana

West Africa's coast is amazingly beautiful with breaking waves and lined with coconut trees, however the ocean's undertow is fierce. Nobody swims in it, not even the locals. 

Kakum National Park - Canopy Walk and Rainforest

West Africa tourist attractions are lacking.  This rainforest with canopy walk is supposed to be one of the highlights, but it wasn't all that.  I've been to much better rainforests in Central America and Australia. 

The "walking" tree"

This is a treehouse that the national forest promotes for guest to sleep overnight. There's nothing inside except a linoleum floor.  I would be very disappointed if I booked this place to spend the night. 

Locally brewed palm wine! It wasn't bad. It would have preferred it cold though.