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Geoblog.pl    PawelK    Podróże    Across Africa by all means. Mainly cycling....    "Gate Of No Return"
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2011
13
sie

"Gate Of No Return"

 
Ghana
Ghana, Cape Coast
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Przejechano 13363 km
 
THE SPONSOR OF MY BICYCLE SPARE PARTS IS COMPANY PRODUCING FINE BICYCLE SADDLES www.abi.com.pl

I got to the Cape Cost fairly quickly without too many problems. Not the least being two flat tyres! On my way I passed a few well preserved forts and castles built by Europeans to enable trade with the locals in colonial times and I must say that they are impressive. The most spectacular are Cape Cost and Elmina and where I was planning to spend more time.
In Cape Cost I was lucky to be hosted through Couch Surfing which generally made my stay much easier! Mary showed me local places to hang out and told me a bit about the Ghanian local life.
The next day after my arrival in the region I went to the Castle which is situated on the low lying rocks right next to the sea.
It is a very impressive building with a lot of related history. African history, which you can see, thanks to the Europeans who built that structure!
It was good to see all this things but I felt uncomfortable with the way the history was portrayed.
I agree that Europeans came to trade and this included the slave trade. But in my opinion, they didn't force black people to catch other black people and enslave them! Every guide in this area and every historical media seems to tell the story of how white man was bad and the black man suffered after their colonisation.
My perception from reading more widely is that there was already a class system withih the black community and the blacks had been enslaving themselves long before and long after the White man came to the region!!!! Further, to their credit, white people played a big part in ended it, not black men!!

It also appears that the Ashanti weren't originally a peace loving nation. They have a long history of attacking their neighbours and selling them to whites for slavery.

I would say that we need to be mindful that history in this region is not as it is represented in local popular media and that it is portrayed in a light that places guilt on the white settlers for all their wrongdoing. Perhaps there is some hypocrisy in this, but it does feel like the Europeans are carrying the biggest burden of shame and guilt over the past which might equally be shared in some instances.

Moving on...I also went to see Elmina Castle which was even more impressive because it hasn't been changed much at all through the times!!!

So, after my sightseeing in both of these lovely places, I bid farewell to the sea with it's rich history and beauty and went off with the wind on my back to the north. Passing Kakum National Park with it's rainforest and plenty of cocoa and palm oil plantations accompanying me up to the Lake Bosmtwe and Kumasi town. The epicentre of the Ashanti empire.
 
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