Tuesday February 8th 2011

The next day we woke up not so early and went to the Slave Castles in Cape Coast Ghana.  We paid a taxi and went on our own, arriving at the exact same time as the Semester at Sea tour.  We jumped in and got the same experience for about $80 less.  Very interesting to learn how terrible the conditions were for African Americans here and on their journey through the Mid-Atlantic slave trade.  I got a bunch of great pictures of these dark disgusting dungeons.  They used to hold about 160 people in a 34’by 16’ room with no showers, bathrooms, or fresh water.  The best part of the Slave Dungeons was the “Door of No Return.”  It was a door on the water side of the castle that opened up to the beach.  Back in the days when slaves were traded, it was said that once you go through that door, you are getting on a ship and on your way to South or North America.  I walked out to take some pictures of their cool ass fishing boats and the door was shut behind me so I was still standing outside.  I opened it back up and returned through the door alone right as the guide was explaining how once slaves were through they would never come back….I guess I am immune or something.
After this we had a 3 hour taxi ride to our Axim Beach Bungalows which I had reserved for the next 2 nights.  We drove through the coolest little towns on the way and with the help of a few beers and some good music on my portable stereo; it was a very enjoyable ride.  Our taxi driver was not sure of the whole background story of it, but on the way pointed out a bus of people.  He told us that they were people fleeing from Ivory Coast because of the economic situation there.  Apparently a past leader of the country did not want to give up power and was splitting up the country.  Very interesting and it makes me want to read up on exactly what is going on there. Here is a fast fact for my dedicated followers….

Total Nautical Miles Sailed: 7575
Current Sea Depth: 4576 meters
4576 meters…that is kind of insane…Think about how deep Lake Erie is…something around 50-60 meters?  You don’t really think about how deep the ocean is but that is just crazy deep.  Like almost 3 miles.  So I also ate some street meat on the way to Axim Beach…. That’s a big no no but I just could not help myself especially after being to Pinones in P.R. so many times.  And I had a few “Stars” which is their local beer so it tasted even better.  I had a “beef” sausage and it was delicious.  Hopefully none of that there bushmeat. Charlie refused to take a bite and ended up being sick all of yesterday.  I thought it was funny…should have had some BM Charlie.   But that basically brings me to the end of the car ride to Axim where I will stop this post because it is 230 in the morning and I have 5 pages left to write for an essay… Probly an all nighter but that’s what I get for doing absolutely no work so far.  I will finish this tomorrow.