Day 124: Sekondi (Takoradi) Ghana

Oof! Today was an educational, challenging, tiring, and ultimately almost depressing day as we toured several of the European colonial forts, which ultimately became transitional slave camps. As harrowing as the National Slave Museum was in Angola, today really brought home the brutality and inhumanity of the Atlantic Slave Trade.

 

The inspirational theme of the day was provided by both of our specialist guides/historians at the sites. To paraphrase their closing message. "This happened. This happened to my people. You can see the history all around us. But that's in the past. What's important now is that we all commit to never letting it happen again and to stopping slavery and human trafficking around the world. It doesn't matter what your religion and skin colour. Surely, we can all agree it's a bad thing, and it should stop. Let's commit to that."

Ghana, unlike its neighbours, is blessed with abundant natural resources - particularly gold. In large quantities. Back in the 14th and 15th centuries, the Kingdom actively participated in the Trans-Saharan Trade Route with countries in Northern Africa, exporting gold, natural oils (like palm), salt, and dried fish.

The Portuguese arrived in 1477 and immediately set up trading lodges dealing in gold. In 1481, they commenced construction on Elmina Castle (which we visited today) as a center of operations and gradually expanded their influence in the area. The gold trade proved lucrative for the Portuguese, and they seemed quite happy the way things were for decades, occasionally dabbling in the slave trade. 

The Dutch arrived in 1598, attracted by the gold trade, and started fighting the Portuguese, gaining control by 1642. That turned into a free-for-all, and soon the Swedes (go figure), the Danes, and the Germans arrived, all wanting a piece of the golden pot. At this point, the country was named the Gold Coast. Then, in 1874, Queen Victoria sent British troops to sort things out, and most of Ghana became part of the British Empire. 

In 1957, Ghana was the first African state to gain independence from a colonial power. That’s when it became “Ghana”. It’s survived multiple forms of government since then and the occasional military coup but never suffered the civil wars that devastated other countries. It’s a resource-rich country with huge amounts of gold, bauxite, and oil. Somehow, those riches haven’t made it into the pocket of the average citizen, as you’ll see from the pictures.

Our first stop was the Cape Coast Castle. This was one of over 50 fortifications that the European Colonial powers erected on the coastline stretching from what is now Angola to the Ivory Coast. It was initially built in 1653 as a timber fort by the Swedish Africa Trading Company (new to me). Twenty years later, it passed over to the Danes and then to the Portuguese. It then became one of the centers for the Slave Trade. 

Slaves (either supplied by local tribes or captured by Europeans) were brought
here as their final stop before being placed on ships carrying them to the Americas (which included Brazil - a hotbed of slavery for the Portuguese). We toured through the dungeons and the small cells where 150-200 prisoners at a time were kept, barely fed for weeks, and then forced to walk through the door of no return before reaching the beach and the trader ships, carrying them away from their homeland never to return.

We then moved about 30 minutes down the coast to the larger and older Elmina Castle. Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (St. George of the Mine Castle) and received its shortened name as the locals couldn't pronounce Portuguese. First established as a trade settlement, the castle later became one of the most important stops on the route of the Atlantic slave trade. The Dutch seized the fort from the Portuguese in 1637, after an unsuccessful attempt in 1596, and took over all of the Portuguese Gold Coast in 1642. The slave trade continued under the Dutch until 1814. In 1872, the Dutch Gold Coast, including the fort, became a possession of the United Kingdom, which used it as an administrative center.

Elmina was more impressive (if that's the right adjective) than Cape Coast - it is larger, more imposing, and the dungeons even more horrific. They kept both male and female slaves here (women were 30% of the slave trade from the area). Again, we toured the dungeons, and even after ten minutes, we were ready to leave. Instead, we followed the full route and ended at their "door of no return." You can see from the photo that its a tiny opening in the stone wall that drops down onto the beach. Before the harbor was built, the sea reached the castle, and small ferry boats carried the captives out to the larger slaver vessels. 

This is our final encounter with the hard areas of slavery, so hopefully, the blog will take a brighter turn starting in Senegal.