Ghana Vakay

I was just in Ghana for ten days with a few other volunteers. It was a wonderful and refreshing trip... the fresh air of the forests and then the salty ocean breezes of the surf drenched white sand coast! Here's a pictorial recap:

Ghana (formerly called Gold Coast by the colonialists) has a coastline covered with fortresses and castle once used to defend against outside attacks of other colonial navies and to store gold and then later, and more infamously, slaves before shipping them off to the americas. Many of these date to the 15th century making them the oldest European structures outside of Europe. Many are UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Here is a guide next to a cannon atop one castle in Dixcove, Ghana:

The oustide walls of the same castle:


We spent our last couple of nights at this little resort spot and here was the view from my eight dollar bungalow room. Not bad...

Below is the flag of Ghana planted in the beach at Busua. This place was way too much fun, and we literally had the entire beach to ourselves, save for a few local fishermen and surfers! :


A fisherman mending nets in Cape Coast (one of the two towns President Obama will visit during his visit in July) :

Inside the largest of Ghana's castles in Cape Caost. The round doorway at the end of the alley there leads to the Door of No Return, where so many slaves left to never return after spending three months here in dungeons.


This is Kakum National Park, and this is a 'canopy walk' that links eight huge trees and sways as you walk over it. It is nearly 10 stories high at some points and we spotted some monkeys swinging in the trees below: