Travel Bug: Cape 3 Points& Elmina

Bed view

Reading view

Sorry to brag but I had an absolutely amazing weekend on the southernmost part of Ghana…..on the beach! A few of the local expats and I skipped work on Friday and headed out to Escape 3 Points Eco-Lodge. To get there we had to take a Tro-tro which is like a glorified church bus. At one point there were 22 adult passengers and 1 sleeping baby. The ride was a lot more comfortable than I expected, and I enjoyed watching the passing villages. After two tro rides we (7 of us) got into a taxi and headed for the beach. Turns out our driver extremely ripped us of for our ride, but he was an interesting guy non-the less. I fell in love with the place right when we arrived. Everything on the property is made out of its surroundings. So a lot of bamboo, palm, raffia structures held together with nylon string!!! I

Beach

My lovely hut

decided to splurged on a personal hut which was super cute and cozy, with a great view of the ocean. The weekend itself was spent hanging out on the beach, having some drinks, and reading. I am currently reading Life of Pi, which was really fun to read while looking out onto the ocean. Our first day there we were the only guest so we had the entire beach and resort to ourselves! So cool!!!!! Before we headed out on Sunday my friend Nick and I decided to walk along the beach and find a path to the seemingly nearby lighthouse. Turns out the path was flooded but it was a lot of fun exploring the woods. We were able to walk to this cove that looked out onto the lighthouse, which was a lot farther than expected. It was such a neat feeling being on the very end of Ghana!

Today Justine and I headed to the Elmina Castel after work. What an interesting place! The castle is the oldest slave trading structure that still stands in the world, built 1479(I think)! The building has only be renovated to maintain safety which also made the visit extra special. Walking through the same halls as the Africans that were taken from their daily lives was very eerily. The rooms had a smell to them, which told that many people had lived there before. After exploring the dungeons and seeing the door of no return we were taken to the upper level of the castle which were used to house the officers and generals. Another point that must be made about this place is that it was originally built as trading space for food goods and wares, it wasn't till 100 or so years later it was used for the trade of people. Lastly the British occupied this building until 1957 when Ghana gained its independence. Such a worth while visit to a place with so much history! Before we entered the building we were hassled by some men trying to get our names for souvenirs. I forgot not to be nice and friendly and gave my name to a man. I now own a conch shell that says; To my American friend Ms.Lily Have a nice trip to Elimina Castle on October 20, 2014. From your friend Richman with his email inside. He said any donation would do and the money would go to his football team, so I dashed him some of my change. I still don’t know where my money really went!We then took a short walk up a hill to catch a great view of the city below.