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Ghana

We arrived this morning November 26, 2022 from Gambia to Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana. It is a city comprising twin cities. It is the regions largest city and an industrial and commercial center, with a population of 445,205 people..

Traveling around the world it is always a welcome to see the Rotary emblem by its citizens. I have been a member of Rotary for many years. The chief industries in Sekondi-Takoradi are timber, cocoa processing, plywood, shipbuilding, its harbor and railway repair, and recently, sweet crude oil and crude oil.

The city's location on the coast makes it an essential hub for fishing and trading activities. The Sekondi Fishing Harbor is the largest fishing port in Ghana and provides employment to thousands of people in the region.

The city is currently named, although not officially, as the Oil City of Ghana due to the massive discovery of oil in the Western region and has attracted massive migration from people all around the world

Most Ghanaian's are Christians, 71.3%; almost a fifth are Muslims; a tenth practice traditional African faiths or report no religion.

As you can see we have been traveling outside the main city to several important locations in Ghana which will visit during the visit today.

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Togo in the east. our next stop.

Here we see a funeral celebration today as we drive down the highway.

We see more of the funeral celebration.

As you can see there are many small pop up stalls along the road selling everything imaginable.

Here we see another Funereal. Today is Saturday and the reason for the majority of funerals each week taking place.

Life is not easy in West Africa in all these countries. There is no welfare. You have to earn money or you do not eat.

Here is the local clothing store and villate market. Many are resale items too.

Ladies gathering to find out the latest happening in their villages I am sure.

More of the local market and every day life as you see it in Ghana. Because it is Saturday you are seeing more local markets too.

I am going to let a number of photos show the daily life in Western Africa. Survival is the name of the game I believe. You have to work to have anything at all.

In the local markets you will see mostly the women working. The men are working in other trades too.

The amazing part is most all the food items are sold out by afternoon. You are seeing it around 10 a.m. in the morning.

How the women manage to carry so much on their heads is amazing.

I have to say the side streets are clean of debris and cared for. People do take pride in their villages.

Now that is a fish. So many incomes for the men come from fishing. We are passing through a small fishing village.

Try balancing all those bottled drinks and walking in flip flops over uneven roads.

Little bit of everything for sale.

Building codes? What building codes?

Modern apartments sitting in the middle of who knows what?

3 wheel truck... Ghana style.

I cannot imagine what it must be like when it rains hard for days in this country.

Window frames for sale. I guess the glass comes from someone else.

Yes, we had a motorcycle Police escort this entire time driving from the city and return.

In need of a toilet. Plumbing repair.

Their specialty is shoes... new and previously worn..

First 3 story building of any kind I have seen this morning outside the city.

Notice the street or highway was built higher than the buildings there. Interesting when it rains.

Another case where the road was built much lower than the building already there. Quite a step down.

Business is good here for a Saturday morning.

Business is good here for a Saturday morning.

Need a shovel. Their specialize in Shovels.

Potential customers are not hungry or thirsty yet.

A new building is rising from the ground up. Those steel poles don't look that substantial.

Our local mechanic hard at work. Those building codes...what codes don't look strong at all.

Maybe the new models are out. Not quite sure what is happening here.

The head balancing act. Amazing.

Oranges for sale. Just picked.

Oranges and pineapples. Now the whole family is helping to sell the crops.

Now we have added melons to the mix to sell.

The presentation is excellent.

I think this must be a bus stop too.

We have a little of everything here.

That cut water melon looks darn good to me. Samples maybe? Great salesmanship.

The photos says it all. Makes you appreciate what you have.

Interesting sign over the entrance.

I think this building is leaning a little.

That is a good sign. Makes you hungry.

The Slave Trade was huge in this area. Cape Coast is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa ,now Ghana, by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese trading post, established in 1555, which they named Cabo Corso.

The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, Many were brought here.

The vast majority of those who were transported in the transatlantic slave trade were people from Central and West Africa who had been sold by West African slave traders to mainly Portuguese, British, and French slave traders. while others had been captured directly by the slave traders in coastal raids.

We walked in and through holding rooms to the door of "No Return". Many died in confinement. These rooms were filled to capacity with men in them. There were separate holding areas for women.

In the tiled outside area in the far distance is an Arch. This leads to a photo, 2 photos after this one to the "Door of no return". They were loaded on boats and never to return to the Continent of Africa.

Portuguese and British gathered and imprisoned the enslaved at forts on the African coast and then brought them to the Americas, mainly in the Caribbean. This is the large outdoor area looking back at the Cape Coast Castle and its many rooms.

A number of the slave brokers in Africa were of African decent. They were the Africans selling their own people for money. This is the Door of No Return I mentioned earlier. You see is half opened. When they went through that door they would never return to the world then knew in Africa.

Today the beach area is for families and locals. It was not there in the days of the slave trade.

Today is Saturday and a warm day to come down to the beach. This is the area you are seeing in the photo.

Area built up around the Castle.

Today there is a beach and area for small boats. Locals leave from here to go out and fish for the day bringing fish to sell at local markets.

Our group entering into the entrance door of the holding rooms. Dark with no ventilation and of course no bathrooms as we know them today.

The major Atlantic slave trading nations, in order of trade volume, were Portugal, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, the United States, and Denmark. I learned from lecturers, at 4 differnet slave locations , all saying the same information, that the US received only 4% of the total numbers of Slaves sent by ships from Africa. What you see today is what the area looked like in the days when they boarded the ships never to return to Africa.

The colonial South Atlantic and Caribbean economies were particularly dependent on labor for the production of sugarcane and other commodities. Another view of the courtyard and the building.

Next to our bus we found a lady selling snacks, all on her head balanced.

Across the street from the Castle is a church. There was a group ladies and children all dressed up for a wedding ceremony. They looked beautiful. Lots happening on a Saturday.

Exterior of the Cape Coat Castle.

Driving along the coastal area beaches

Driving into a new area

Our Police officer escort

Elmina Caastel or St. George Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482. It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, and the oldest European building in existence south of the Sahara. By the seventeenth century, most trade in West Africa concentrated on the sale of slaves. São Jorge da Mina played a significant part in the West African slave trade. The castle acted as a depot where enslaved Africans were brought in from different Kingdoms in West Africa. The Africans, often captured in the African interior by the slave-catchers of coastal peoples, were sold to Portuguese, and later to Dutch traders in exchange for goods such as textiles and horses.

On the seaboard side of the castle was the Door of No Return, the infamous portal through which slaves boarded the ships that would take them on the treacherous journey across the Atlantic ocean known as the Middle Passage. At Elmina, the door of no return was a child-size window that slaves squeezed through to board the ship.

Elmina Castle Slave Holding Cell. Elmina, like other West African slave fortresses, housed luxury suites for the Europeans in the upper levels. The slaves were kept in cramped and filthy cells below, each cell often housing as many as 200-600 people at a time, without enough space to even lie down

Elmina Castle Interior. Women were separated to one direction and men in another direction. The area, "The coast" was also called "the White man's grave" because of the mass amount of death from illnesses such as yellow fever, malaria, heat exhaustion, and many gastro-entero sicknesses.

We drew lots of curiosity with t number of the youth from Elmina, the town where the castle is also located.

The following photos are are located in Elmina the town in this area and on our way to the retaurant on the beach to have lunch.

Wood used in drying fish and in construction of the small boats used for fishing.

In spite of the humbleness of this area it is remarkably clean. You do not see trash thrown around like you do on other African countries. There is a pride here.

Notice the board to get in and out of this small business. I have a feeling they need it in the wet season of the year.

Young boy working and carrying food balanced on his head.

The lady is carrying a square box on her head. How do they do it?

Again notice the cleanliness of the streets are areas.

Resort where we enjoyed a lunch on the beach Coconut Grove Beach Resort. The food was very good and plentiful.

Beautiful sandy beaches in front of the restaurant we had lunch.

Trinkets for sale just in front of where we are eating.

Young children playing in the kids pool. I have an idea that none of the kids in this pool knew how to swim. thus they were in the smaller pool in the foreground.

Name of the hotel where we had lunch on the beach Coconut Grove Beach Resort

Notice the amount of fish drying on the ground in the photo. Fishing is the main industry in this part of Ghana. You will see numerous locations of fish set out to dry in the sun.

Leaving back through Elmina through the fishing village.

This is the harbor side of Elmina. We had been driving along the harbor area only blocked by the businesses.

This is not the same photo. Each shot is a different part of the small harbor and hundreds of ships all jammed together.

More

I honestly do not know how they find each boat.

And More and more.

In the foreground is an American Flag.

A huge ship in the harbor

More fishing boats out in the main harbor.

Just whenyou think you have seen everything here is another. A person carrying three items on his head.

Now this is a fish!

Photo of our Police Escort and myself. He did an awesome job escorting us and directing traffic for our buses.

A VIP head of tourism showed up at the ship as we were about to depart. I believe we were the first commercial passenger ship to come to port in a long time due to the Covid problems in the world.

We are departing a great day in Sekondi-Takoradi, Elmina, and other locations in Ghana. A very interesting day. We are fortunate to have met many friendly people during our stay. On to Lome, Togo our next stop on our voyage from Lisbon, Portugal to Cape town, South Africa.

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