Ghana

BeckyAfrica

Our first visit to Ghana was 13 years ago, so naturally we were excited for a repeat visit. After crossing the border from Côte d’Ivoire, we drove straight to the coastal town of Axim where the lovely Axim Beach Resort was our home for a couple of nights. Ghana has more historic forts and castles than any other country in Africa (an unfortunate legacy from its involvement in the Atlantic slave trade), and we were keen to check out Fort Saint Anthony. This fort is sub-Saharan Africa’s second oldest fort and it offers a commanding view of the wooden fishing vessels and harbor below. After leaving Axim, we went directly to another of Ghana’s slave forts, the infamous Cape Coast Castle. This is one of Ghana’s must-see tourist attractions, a haunting place that leaves visitors teary-eyed. Our guide did a phenomenal job of explaining the sordid history of this fort, which served as one of the principal shipping points for slaves across the Atlantic. Up to 1500 slaves at a time were housed in the castle dungeons awaiting the harrowing journey aboard the next available slaving ship. It is estimated that Cape Coast Castle processed over 4 million slaves over a 300 year period! From here, we drove to Kakum National Park for a canopy walk above the tree line. No wildlife was spotted during our early morning walk across the seven hanging bridges but we did enjoy the panoramic views. From Kakum National Park, our next destination was to Big Milly’s Backyard which is an overlanders’ institution. There had been vast improvements since our first visit and we were thrilled to discover we weren’t camping here but had been upgraded to bungalows. With breakfast included, a swimming pool and a fully stocked bar – we were loving it! Our full day exploring the capital city was interesting as we started out in Jamestown, one of the oldest (and today the poorest) parts of Accra. From there we walked over to the Arts and Crafts market, had a local lunch of chicken kokonte, got lost exploring Makola Market (Accra’s largest street market), and visited the Independence Monument. It was a very busy day of sightseeing but had to be done so we could feel less guilty about spending the next two days lounging by the pool at Big Milly’s! After leaving Accra, we visited the textile village of Tafi Abuife where we learned all about weaving the kente cloth (hand woven strips of silk and cotton that was historically worn by royalty in a toga-like fashion). Afterwards, we squeezed in more mona monkey time at the Tafi Atome Wildlife Monkey Sanctuary before making our way to our last stop in Ghana, the fantastic Wli Falls. This is the tallest waterfall in Africa and we enjoyed the short hike and our swim there. Our West Africa adventure is rapidly drawing to a close and we only have one more country left with the truck before we continue our journey on our own!

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