Road Trip - Second Stop - Slave Castle

 We followed Brent Belnap's SUV car/truck for hours and I got to see life along the coast in Ghana moving towards Cape Three Points, the southernmost tip.

Roadside stands sold almost everything you could imagine. Often the people in one village would all sell the same thing.

Red and orange hills and some yellow dominate almost every area we traveled along the coast.

Lush trees and foliage interspersed with towns and villages. In the larger villages or towns the hawking and selling were aggressive and very assertive.

After going to Baptism Beach [goat slaughter house today] we went a few more miles to a 'Castle'.

We arrived at Cape Coast Castle in the heat of the day. Originally a fort of wood was made for the purpose of trade in mahogany and gold. Ghana was originally call the Gold Coast. the fort was eventually rebuilt/strengthened with nearly impenetrable rock walls and termed a "castle." It changed hands multiple times - Swedes, Danes, Dutch, British - and became one of many "castles" on the coast - all supporting the transatlantic slave trade.

The view from the castle is lovely, the castle looks nice, the old contents were grim.

The white walls are impressive and the courtyard and second floor look very useful, purposeful, and efficient.

The canons and cannonballs are all lined up. The bricks and paving stones are still seen today.

The only light in this chamber which we traveled down a ramp to get to is from the tiny windows and provide the only ventilation. My camera filled in the light so we could get a glimpse of the walls. The slaves lived in darkness. They fit approximately 1000 men for three months at a time until the next ship arrive to take them away from Africa forever. Unless they died of the conditions, in which their bodieds were dumped into the ocean. If they died in route to the Caribbean, South America or wherever, they were dumped overboard like refuse.

The guide showed the packed, hardened accumulation of human excrement, vomit, grime, dirt, tears and who know what else that built up over hundreds of years resulting in sloping and uneven floors with the corners [where inadequate buckets were left] were noticeably higher than the middle of the rooms. Compare to courtyard without build up. Examination of build up has given some sad evidences.

Courtyard pavement

The betrayals began with the fighting between tribes where the prisoners were sold to the slavers holding the forts. Only occasionally did the Europeans track and capture slaves. The Africans themselves sold 90% of the slaves bartered and shipped away never to return. Most died before they ever reached their destinations. Their bodies were thrown overboard. So too were the women who were found to be pregnant.

Bystander Apathy [The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is a social psychological theory that states that individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when there are other people present. Wikipedia]

Churches were built on top of the dungeons. Sometimes the dungeons were visited by those who attended the churches. The practice of regarding these people as less than their horses is almost indescribable. 

Cape Coast 'Castle'

Spacious rooms the governor lived in

View from the ramp the prisoners took as they were loaded onto boats taking them to the ships where they never returned.

Very sobering day. Next we went to a beautiful hotel, had dinner and went to sleep early.