And on to Ghana! At this point in the trip, I’d been traveling for 16 days and this was the 8th new country I entered. It was a punishing schedule. We often had full driving days and repacking almost every night. We skipped a lot of lunches and had protein bars, and the vegetarian options were “meh” at best at most of our stops. Most of the people I was traveling with got colds around this time, because we were all running on limited sleep. Still, Ghana marked the end of one tour and the beginning of another, and there’s something invigorating about meeting new travelers.
Of all the places we visited, Ghana probably had the most robust tourist infrastructure, with Senegal coming in a close second. We had nicer hotels and more dinner options across the board, which was a nice change of pace. After a short flight from Abidjan and a night out in Accra, we headed to Cape Coast.
Like Senegal, Ghana has a significant amount of historical sites related to the slave trade. We visited the Cape Coast Castle first and went through the details of what happened there. Each of these that we went to has its own version of the Door of No Return, where those who were enslaved last set foot on the African continent. It’s definitely a sobering piece of history.
From there, we headed to Elmina. We started with a walk through the town, including a visit to the harbor, which was very cool, and then headed to the Elmina Castle. It’s hard to do those visits back to back. They’re emotionally difficult places to visit, not unlike a concentration camp or a memorial to genocide. By the time we went for dinner, it was nice to get a chance to think about Ghana’s present and not its past.
Like many places I visited in West Africa, this one had a magnificent beach, and I enjoyed watching the sun set over the water.
The next morning, we headed to Kakum National Park! It reminded me a lot of the hanging bridges in Costa Rica, except it looked far more rickety. I would not recommend this to anyone with a fear of heights. It was gorgeous, but there was a part of me that wondered if the bridges would hold, especially when they creaked as we stepped onto them and rocked back and forth if more than one person dared cross at the same time.
After the national park, we headed back to Accra! We started with the thing I was most excited to see in Ghana: coffin shopping.
Yes, that’s an absolutely wild sentence, isn’t it? Let me clarify. Ghana has a cultural practice that is completely unique across the world, where they build what are called “fantasy coffins” or “figurative coffins.” They build on themes that are important to the individuals in life. It can be related to that person’s job or calling, or it can be something that they loved, but it should represent them in some way to facilitate their journey into the afterlife.
I had read about the practice before but it was SO cool to get to see it in person. They showed us what they were working on, and then they had stacks of photos to show us all the amazing and intricate work they had done in the past. I’ve always wanted to be cremated, but if this was my option for burial I’d strongly consider it.
Once we were done coffin shopping, we headed to the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, which was an interesting look at Ghana’s history and the way that they present their country’s founding.
We ended the day at Black Star Square, which celebrates Ghana’s independence. I’m glad to have seen the main sites in Accra, but I do think I got a better sense of the city going out to the bars on our first night in Ghana!
The next day, it was another drive across Ghana so we could cross into Togo. After the trouble I’d had getting my Togo visa, I was just excited that I had all my paperwork in order! I would definitely consider revisiting Ghana and spending more time there, though – it was a nice visit, and I think the country has a lot to offer. Ghana and Senegal are often spoken about as the gateways to West Africa for travelers who are looking to explore the region for the first time, and I can see why on both counts.