Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 024-4973353;
www.globalmamas.org
; Market St)
This fantastic outfit organises cooking courses
(C34), batik courses (C48) and drumming and dancing courses (C22, minimum two
people). All courses last three hours and can be organised at short notice (the day before);
drumming courses cannot be held on Wednesday for taboo reasons.
GHANA'S COASTAL FORTS
The chain of forts and castles (the terms are used interchangeably) along Ghana's coast is an extraordinary histor-
ical monument, unique in West Africa. Most of the forts were built during the 17th century by various European
powers, including the British, Danes, Dutch, French, Germans, Portuguese and Swedes, who were vying for com-
mercial dominance of the Gold Coast and the Gulf of Guinea. Competition was fierce and the forts changed
hands like a game of musical chairs. By the end of the 18th century, there were 37 along the coastline.
The forts were concentrated along this reasonably short (around 500km) stretch of coast because access to the
interior was relatively easy compared with the more swampy coastlines elsewhere along the West African coast,
and because the rocky shore provided building materials. They were fortified not against the locals, with whom
they traded equitably, but against attack from other European traders.
The forts were originally established as trading posts to store goods brought to the coast, such as gold, ivory
and spices. Later, as the slave trade took over, they were expanded into prisons for storing slaves ready for ship-
ping. Slaves were packed into dark, overcrowded and unsanitary dungeons for weeks or months at a time. Thou-
sands died during their sequestration. If you tour any of the forts, you'll leave with a deep impression of just how
brutally the captives were treated. When a ship arrived, they were shackled and led out of the forts to waiting
boats through the Door of No Return.
Cape Coast Castle and St George's Castle at Elmina are both Unesco World Heritage Sites and must-sees.
There are many smaller forts along the coast too, some of them not as well preserved, others not open to the pub-
lic, but they all tell the same poignant story.
Sleeping
Baobab
GUESTHOUSE
$
( 054-0436130;
www.baobab-children-foundation.de
; Commercial St; s/d/tr/q without bathroom C18/25/35/40;
)
A lovely guesthouse with simple but well-kept rooms a stone's throw from Cape Coast
Castle. All profits from the guesthouse go to the Baobab Children Foundation, which runs
a school for disadvantaged children.
Oasis Guest House
HOSTEL
$
( 024-3022594, 024-4089535;
www.oasisbeach.net
; seafront, Victoria Park; hut without/with bathroom C40/60, dm
C12)
Like a hip party spot, a night at Oasis is loud, hot and sweaty. Backpackers, volun-
