Cape Coast

On the 1st of March we headed to the ocean to a place called Cape Coast. Since both of us don’t drive here we had to take a bus. There is a service here in Ghana called Intercity STC (bus company). We drove to the bus terminal with a taxi. After we bought our tickets (which were about 8 Sfr for a 4 hour drive!) we got on to a nice airconditioned bus. We drove for about 4 hours until we reached Cape Cost bus terminal. From the bus terminal we took a taxi to the hotel.
The hotel was located in Elmina which is a small fishing village by the sea. Only 25,000 people live in Elmina, but it is the oldest settlement (a village) in Ghana. Also, Elmina was first area of Ghana which was colonized by the Europeans in the year 1421. It was the center for the trade of gold, ivory and later slaves during that time. Under Portuguese rule in 1482 it became the center for slave trade in Ghana. Elmina Castle was where the slave trade took place. It was also a important supply point for explorations. Bartholomeus Diaz and Christopher Columbus both used the castle to stay at on their journeys and for getting new supplies. You can still see and visit the castle’s museum.
But now Elmina is a fishing village. You can buy everything from fish to lobster to squids on the market. This market was extremely busy! The market was packed with people selling, trading and buying fish (also there was A LOT of fish at the market! It smelt great…). The harbor in the lagoon was full of boats going in and out all day and night.
Elmina is also really close to a rain forest national park called Kankum National Park. We did not go there on our trip to Cape Coast, but we heard it is really nice! There you can see elephants, buffalos, wild pigs, antelopes and other African animals if you’re lucky. This park also has a Canopy Walk which is a bridge that is in the tree tops! So you are walking up in the tree tops looking down through the rainforest! Cool! After staying 3 days in Elmina we travelled back to Kumasi. We took the bus (which was an hour late!) back to Kumasi. We got back to our place exhausted after that very busy and long day!