Fish, Slaves, and Fire

Monday, March 3  Fish, Slaves, and Fire

 A remarkable and full day.  We left Kumasi and drove towards the coast and the city of Elmina.  On the way we passed this palm oil factory:

The seeds were fed into a hopper and crushed, releasing the oil:

It was an OSHA nightmare:

Further on down the road we passed a cocoa plantation and stopped to take a look:

The seeds are the source of the cocoa:

We reached the coast and drove west, reaching the entrance to the harbor.  Most of the fishing boats had already returned for the day, this one was entering the harbor:

We drove over a bridge with a great view of the entire fishing village:

There were flags from multiple nations!  Here’s an Israeli flag next to a Saudi one:

We were told they are used to help locate one boat or another and that they have no connection to the countries the flags represent!  The boats require a lot of manpower:

The primary reason for our visit here is Elmina Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site:

Built by the Portuguese in 1482, it was the first European structure in sub-Saharan Africa, and had multiple uses.  It was a residence for the Europeans, a church, and, most horribly, a waypoint to warehouse captured slaves on their way to the New World, prior to their being boarded as cargo on ships.  We learned details of the slave trade which are simply mind-boggling in the extent of the cruelty.  Just one statistic: only one third of all the people captured in Africa to be slaves survived to be worked as slaves in the Western Hemisphere.  Here’s the courtyard of the castle:

The entrance to one of the dungeons (The Door of No Return):

And one of the dungeons:

At any time, there were 1000 men, and 400 women held here.  The castle was occupied by Portuguese, then Dutch and ultimately by the British through the late 15^th and 16^th centuries.  It was a sobering visit.

We then walked through Elmina’s old town, passing a number of posubans.  From Perplexity, “These shrines were historically built by the Akan tribe, particularly the Fante people along the southern coast of Ghana…  They served multiple purposes: military posts, religious centers, cultural hubs and storage facilities…  They often featured elaborate decorations, sculptures, and murals depicting historical events, legendary figures, and scenes from everyday life.” 

This one had statues of a white Adam and Eve:

As sunset approached, we traveled to visit a village where there are professional drummers/performers who put on a show for us.  They were amazing!  Some of the performances told stories—here’s one about an abduction:

Some were pure dance (Posted on Youtube--too big for Blogger):

And the last act, as it got dark, was a man who used fire in incredible ways:

As part of our visit, we were put in a circle and, one by one, we were asked to dance across the space.  These videos will not be posted.

Tomorrow we go to a national park for a canopy walk!  More then.