Today was our sixth day in Ghana. We traveled to the central region today which is about a 2 hour trip. I slept most of the way but enjoyed the scenery when I was awake. Our first stop was lunch in Cape Coast and then we traveled to Elmina. Elmina is a small town in which the first European castle ever built in Africa was constructed. It was also used as a trading post where gold, spices, and slaves were exchanged. Going into the castle I noticed the sharp contrast between the beautiful coastline and this grim bulky place where human lives were sacrificed for wealth. The castle and stories were very intimidating. As we continued the tour all I could think of was the humiliation and pain these group of people endure. It also stroke me to be very conniving of the Portuguese to use this as location holding Africans when they were granted the opportunity of a local chief to build the trading post. In its entirety the castle was overwhelming and a physical manifestation of everything I had learned in school. The hotel was a peaceful in contrast to the castle.
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