Today we hired a company to take us to Cape Coast for the National Park where we could go on the canopy walk in the tops of the trees and have a tour of the Portugese/English Castle where they traded merchandise and slaves from 1400 – 1833 until the English government abolished slavery (actually they abolished it about 25 years earlier, but it kept going on until 1833).
We were told it would take about 2 hours to get there but we left at 7am and didn’t arrive at the National Park until after 10am. It was fascinating to drive out of the city and see all the living conditions, the thousands of people, the wares being sold and the people with the baskets on their heads. Want a new couch? Just drive to a little shack on a busy road and you have your choice of four sitting in the dirt. Window, or doors, or my favorite, coffins - all in small structures along the highway. Most were four open walls with a tin roof. Mark said as we drove, “What happens when it rains?” I’m guessing the couch just get a little wet and then dries out again. In that instance, it might be better to be in the window business here.
One of the funniest sites we saw, however is the car wash in the dirt. And when I say dirt, imagine Lake Powell red sand, or Georgia red clay dusty and blowing and covering everything in sight. Even the large palm tree leaves were caked with red dirt. Now put a car wash in the middle of this, with no cement or asphalt…what’s the point? And yes, we actually saw a few cars being washed as we passed. At least the car wash would never run out of customers with dirty cars.
As we drove along the bumpy road to the National Park, the pot holes were everywhere. So to avoid them, our driver weaved around them. It didn’t seem to matter to him what side of the road he was one, whether or not he was two inches from the next car or the person walking along the side of the road, because at least he went around the pot hole. At times Patti and I just held our breath as we were inches from what seemed like a collision of car or person. The road was very old asphalt and covered by so many holes and dirt that it seemed as if we were four wheeling in southern Utah. It almost looked like someone had poured the asphalt from above like hot lava and it dried quickly so all the edges were very uneven like a long strip like jagged pool (full of holes and such). I was never sure if we were on dirt or asphalt the last several miles or so. At one point someone said, “I think we are on the wrong side of the road, “ and Hanna replied, “I don’t think they have a side of the road.” That about sums it up..jpg)
The National Park Canopy Walk was amazing! You walk along these bridges (one 12” plank wide) held by ropes with nets on each side among the tree tops. They definitely bounce and sway because of the others on the bridge at the same time but you are above most of the trees of the jungle with a few overhead. It was so cool! We took lots of pictures. At one point I turned to look back at Amanda (we were going in single file) and her face was as white as a ghost and it looked like panic was setting in. Kim and Marci were doing OK just because our guide was right in front of them talking and telling them to not look down. All I could think of was how much Danika would LOVE this experience!
After the hike and canopy adventure we headed over to the Coast for lunch and the castle tour which is fascinating to see but more like visiting a holocaust museum. Seeing the living conditions of the slaves was appalling. I’ve never understood why people don’t see all people as the same. What is wrong with us? We are all Children of God and have basic human rights and should never be sold or imprisoned or abused in a manner like this. I am grateful that I know that God is not a respecter of persons and we should treat everyone in a kind and Christ-like manner. The coast was pretty, but I preferred the jungle.
Driving back Camron wanted to video the "Leap Frog and Chicken" game we played driving down (or rather our driver played forcing us to join in). Since the roads are very crowded and a single lane, every vehicle wants to pass the other, and it does not seem to matter if a car is coming toward you or not, they still pass. He got some great footage. J So image going 100 – 140 km/h, weaving in and out of cars with the cars, buses, vans coming straight at you head on within very tight spaces and even around curves. For most it would have been better to keep your eyes closed as we would just slip back into our lane as the other car coming straight at us a moment before whizzed by. Strangely I was not worried but completely calm. I kept praying for safety as the driving situation was not in our control. As we got closer to Accra coming back the traffic looked worse than LA in rush hour and soon our driver and several others were using the shoulder of the road as another lane, not worrying about the people walking up and down and in between the cars. Driving has never been so exciting! At least the three hour return was adventurous!
Alicyn
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