Cape Coast

Water update: We have not had water for almost four days now. I cannot do laundry and we cannot wash dishes. People have been buying bags of water that are meant for drinking (like choco b'sakit) and using them to bathe. Bottom line, we need water need water.

Anyways, last weekend we went to Cape Coast, which is about 4 hours away. Rivky, Zahava, and I were taken a day early and we got a private tour. We took a van that seats twelve people and schlepped our food for three days.

One of the most popular tourist sites is there- Elmina Castle, which we visited. This is one of the main forts that the Europeans used to keep the Africans in, before they boarded the ships to the New World. Generally, the slaves would stay in the "castle" for about a month in dire conditions before they were transported. The castle was fairly small and not much remains there. Our director was with us and asked how it compares to concentration camps in Europe. (Many people draw comparisons between visiting the camps and the castle because many African Americans are descendants of people who once inhabited the castle). The two experiences are completely different. Not much is known in terms of numbers regarding the castle and it's very small, as compared to the camps, which are massive. The camps are have extensive collection of artifacts, whereas the castles were basically empty rooms. However, many of the same emotions are felt at both types of cites and the focus on how humanity could have watched idly.

Afterward, we returned to the hotel and ate shabbos dinner, which could have been better, and just relaxed on Saturday.

On Sunday, we went to Kakum National Park, which has a canopy walk. It's basically a series of bridges that are high above most the trees. The bridges connect from tree to tree and are basically made from ropes with narrow wooden slates to walk across, so it feels very unstable. But, since the canopy walk was build in '95, no one has fallen off. Supposedly there are animals there. We saw ants. I really enjoyed the walk, though if you have a fear of heights, you may have a heart attack. My director says it's therapy for those who fear heights--so Mom, I think this is your excuse to come to Ghana.