Kakum National Park and Cape Coast Castle in Ghana: A Personal Essay
The canopy walkways of Kakum National Park
By Guest Contributor Eccentric Yoruba, cross-posted from Beyond Victoriana
Our next guided tour was to the Kakum National Park and Cape Coast, which is home to several colonial castles. Once more we woke up really early in the morning and got into a bus with other Nigerians and off we went on our two hour journey to Kakum. The national park is famous for its canopy walk, which has several hanging walkways above a thick forest. Apparently, some people find the canopy walk challenging and cannot go through it, that is totally understandable. It took a while walking through the forest until we reached the walkways. One by one, we were guided to them, but not before we were warned not to swing the walkways and to refrain from such behaviour.
There are seven canopies in total. I took the shortcut, which means I walked through only three. “Are you scared?” one of the men– presumably a safety guide–asked me when I turned left for the shortcut.
“Yes, I am absolutely frightened,” I replied even though I had a huge grin plastered on my face and had paused to take a picture a few moments ago. As I walked hastily through the shortcut, I heard the man say behind me, “You’re lying.” In front of me a little girl was crying while her mother told her not to be scared: “We’ll soon reach the end.” I felt sorry for her.
Part of the reason I had chosen the shortcut was because I wanted to see Cape Coast. To be honest, I was dreading it at the same time because I’d heard stories; of the slave dungeons and the Door of No Return, of people breaking into tears while there, and I wasn’t ready to be caught unawares by several strong emotions and end up crying in public.
All I wished for was that my camera wouldn't fall tumbling down
In the end, of our Nigerian tour group it was only my mum and I that took the shortcut so we had to wait and wait for the others. The journey to Cape Coast wasn’t too long and I knew we had reached our destination when I was pointed to a castle that stood atop a hill. That castle was Elmina Castle, but we were going to Cape Coast Castle.
We had a brief tour of the museum within the building first. The museum was dedicated to the Cape Coast Castle: how it was built, what materials were originally used to build it and the ones used to renovate it, etc. Next was the tour and by the point I was already getting impatient; I wanted to leave. I guess one might say that I found it a bit uncomfortable, the way tourists were about taking pictures of everything in the castle. I personally did not take any pictures of the Cape Coast Castle. I found its view of the ocean breathtaking, though, so I did take pictures of the ocean and the beach. In those pictures, the cannons still ended up making an appearance.
The tour began with our tour guide talking about how African chiefs sold people to the Europeans as slaves. He described how the slaves were washed and oiled so as to appear healthier and attractive. The guide then talked about how the most rebellious male slaves were punished by being locked in a room with no light or windows, after which he told every single tourist to enter into the room. I entered and came out almost immediately because of the impatience I referenced above.
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