Honey bunnies,I spent 4 days in Ghana with friends during the long WE as monday was a bank holiday (Whit Monday, l'Ascension).
Sat 26: We left Abidjan around 11.30 am took the road to Assinie (beach area). We stoped in a field where they were making wine out of palm trees. It was very interesting. Then we arrived at the Ghanean boarder around 4 pm. We reached Axim around 7.30 pm. If you look at the map and follow the Atlantic coast from Abidjan to Cape Coast you can see our voyage. We slept in the Axim Beach Hotel, beautiful hotel where the rooms are little bungalows on a cliff above the sea, FANSTATIC view. We slept quite early as we were all dead from the travel.
Sun 27: Woke up around 9 am and went to visit the Axim fort where the Portuguese and Dutch were doing slave trades in the 15th Century (I dont really remember when did it start and when did it finish). It was very interesting and a bit disturbing at the same time to see how slaves were treated and under which conditions they were living, A SHAME! The Fort was next to the Ocean in order to bring slaves on a little island through a hidden underground tunnel before being sent to the USA. The slaves had to pass through the gate of NO RETURN! You can imagine what it meant. Our guide explained us very well the whole story around slave trade in Axim. We continued our journey to Cape Coast. We have been driving almost the whole day passing trough Sekondi-Takoradi and finally arrived in Cape Coast around 9pm. We stayed in the Hans Cottage Botel, a hotel where some parts are build on stilts (pilotis) above a lake full of crocodiles! Really amazing.
Mon 28: Woke up around 8pm, fed the crocodiles with chicken skin and legs after having called them with a specific whistling. I will do it next time I will meet you! We then left to the jungle. We visited the Kakum national park where we crossed the forest on suspended rope bridges called the Canopy Walkway. The Kakum Canopy Walkway, Africa's first and only rainforest walkway, is composed of 350 meters of suspended bridges and six tree platforms that reach the height of 30 meters above the forest floor. "From the treetops, visitors experience a unique and spectacular view of the rainforest ecosystem and have the opportunity to see flora and fauna, which could never be viewed from the ground. Hundreds of species of butterflies and birds can be viewed from the Walkway early in the morning and if visitors are lucky, they may catch a glimpse of the Spot-nose, Campbell's and Columbus monkeys." I was a bit scared as the bridges were swinging a lot. We then went to visit another Fort in Cape Coast, much bigger than the one in Axim. It was the same principle slaves stayed around 3 months in the fort before being sent by boat to the USA to work in cotton, coffee and sugar cane plantations. We drove back to Elmina and stayed at the Coconut Grove Bridge House next to the harbour. Very nice fishy smell to make you happy in the morning lol!
Tues 29: Departure time at 8 am to be sure to pass the Abidjan corridor before its closing. Some roads to enter Abidjan are closed at a certain time of the night (some time after 10pm) because of the recent war/political crisis. We reached Abdijan around 7 pm, thanks God!
It was very refreshing to be out of Abidjan I had a great fun. Road trips are always nice as you can better appreciate the landscape, talk to the population ect. Everything went very well except that we killed a vulture by accident (vautour) on the road! Shame on us! ;(
Special thanks to Mr. l'ambassadeur de la Pic alias Excellence de la Pic! la petit (e) Kya qui a bien tenu le choc malgré tout, c'etait chaud! Mr.Dramane qui a payé agouti ainsi que chaussures pour son femme et son filles à Ghana! Merci aussi au "petit soeur de F..., il est journaliste, aux Rastas brothers of N..., Erico, Allo c'est G-Marco...."ca nous aura bien fait rien. A votre avis voiture c'est fille ou garçon????!!!!!!!
fatouxxx
Ps: Soon the pict will follow.
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