TRAVEL BLOG THURSDAY – CAPE COAST || Part 2
WHERE I FOUND PEACE || CAPE COAST || GHANA || JULY 2018 || Part 2
Evening of Day 5 – Tuesday, July 24th, 2018
Cape Coast after the castle was probably one of my favorite stops on our trip. After lunch, we headed to One Africa Health Resort and were greeted by Mama IMAKÜS Okofu and her staff with a drum and dance performance. The resort is in Iture, Elmina in the Central Region of Ghana.
It was drizzling a little bit, like a Seattle drizzle, but it was refreshing; Sort of like a cleansing from our experience earlier in the day. I found that to be a re-occurrence throughout my trip… the physical rain came right when it was emotionally needed. There was also a distinct cooing sound coming from some species of bird that I’m unaware of. It sounded kind of like a mourning dove and I heard it all throughout the trip. The sound reminded me of early childhood. I wish I could figure out what bird it was. If anybody know please DM me!!
We dropped our bags off in our cute round bungalows with thatch roofs, modeling traditional African architecture. I got to stay in a yellow one which made my entire day! The resort promotes health through wholesome natural homecooked food, no Wi-Fi, cold water showers, and no air conditioning; just fresh air. For people used to such conveniences, it was refreshing to be disconnected for a while and live kinda among the elements. The property was right on the beach front so we got to hear the waves crashing all day and night; the sounds lulled me to sleep in no time. The resort was filled with tall coconut trees, full of coconuts for us to eat.
Before dinner, the drum and dance performance continued.
We even got to participate in some of the dances, had a soul train line (because of course, “black folk”! …I love it!!), and got to try some of the fire tricks the dancers were doing.
I had to pick up a fabric ball that was on fire and toss it into the dancer’s mouth. The first try I was scared to burn myself so I threw it nowhere near his mouth. By the second try I was more confident and could at least throw it in the vicinity of his mouth. He caught it.
One Africa Resort prepared a glorious buffet of West African, Soul Food, and vegetarian dishes accompanied with what I like to call “Black Family Reunion Music” … Oldies, R&B, the O’Jays, Erykah Badu, Solange, vibes like that, etc…
My belly and ears were satisfied and happy after we finished with the day. Our bungalows included a stone shower, shuttered windows, and mosquito nets for our beds.
We sprayed our beds DOWN with bug spray before bed but Mama IMAKÜS was selling this Citronella Honey Black Soap that worked wonders against the mosquitos. I showered with that for the remainder of the trip and didn’t get nary a mosquito bite after that. I had to buy two more jars to bring home. That stuff works wonders for the skin and it smells amazing!
Day 6 – Wednesday, July 25th, 2018
In the morning we had a breakfast of sugarloaf pineapple (a small, sweet pineapple with a white inside), mango, and toast. We were adamite about getting fresh fruit as much as possible on the trip because it was so unbelievably sweet and flavorful. While breakfast was being prepared we took the opportunity for beach selfies and pictures because #Millennials.
Our first excursion for the day was a trip to Kakum National Park to go through the canopy rope course. We hiked up a bit of elevation before reaching the first rope bridge but not before taking another picture! On our walk we ran into a line of very busy ants, kind of like this Lion King scene…
There were 7 bridges to go across and we had to space ourselves out while going across so we didn’t knock anyone in front or behind off balance. It was a bit nerve wracking because I have a thing with heights. I mean, I have no problem jumping from a perfectly good airplane but walking across bridges 130 feet above the ground gives me pause. The view was amazing when I wasn’t silently freaking out and got the chance to look down.
Once we came back down to earth, we headed to Hans Cottage Botel Restaurant for lunch and to visit the crocodile lagoon. There was a crocodile you could pet while you were waiting for your food and the lagoon was full of weaver birds spinning their nests. It basically looked like this scene in the Lion King…
We had a system of writing our food orders on carbon paper and giving them to the waiters so there was no confusion in ordering. This made things a little better but it still took forever to get food anywhere so we had plenty of time for crocodile pets.
Fun facts about Crocodiles vs Alligators: Crocodiles have skinnier V shaped snouts while alligators have U shaped snouts. Alligators are only found in the US and China while crocodiles live in tons of tropical climates on different continents. The only place where both crocodiles and alligators live is Florida.
I ordered goat stew and jollof rice for lunch. At this point, my pastry chef friend and I had a running joke about all the different shapes the rice dishes were molded into throughout our trip. This was by far the most unique. It looked like they used a gravy boat to mold the rice. Up until now we’d been getting only bowl and ramekin shapes. The goat stew was delicious with just the right amount of pepper flavor and spice, not too tomato-y, it was meaty, and the goat was seasoned well!
After our pets and food, we headed to University of Cape Coast for a lecture, by Dr. Kojo Okyere, of the Department of Religion and Human Values, on African Proverbs and Ghanaian Proverbs specifically. This was one of the most interesting lectures I’ve been to in a while. I even stayed awake the whole time! We got to learn about different Ghanaian ethnic group dynamics and how the proverbs play in everyday life and in culture. Every culture has their set of proverbs…
Pictured are notes of some the proverbs we discussed during the lecture. I had to modify one of the ones about gender roles in the notes slightly… It originally said, “Women are the flower in the garden; husband is the fence” My modification: “I’m the fence! #Feminism” Haha! I was sort of just kidding and sorta dead serious!
Proverbs were and are traditionally used in all families by elders and as a part of kings’ courts. They were used to help decide and deliver judgment on cases. They were also used, at least in my family, as guidance and as advice for children and younger family members… if they could understand what they meant.
One my Granddad from South Carolina used to always say: “I can see farther through the rock than you can pick”, which basically meant that he had more experience and wisdom than we would ever be able to go through so we should heed his advice if we were smart. Basically, along the lines of “don’t even try it!”
One of my favorite Yoruba proverbs: The man that eats no pepper is weak, pepper is the staff of life. I believe its translated to “ọkunrin ti ko jẹ ata ni ọpá igbesi aye, ata ni ọpá igbesi aye” in Yoruba. I don’t know why but I take this one literally. If I must make my food less spicy for you, there is a serious side eye before modifications are made… “no judgment, but judgment” *Issa Voice*.
When the lecture was complete, we headed back to One Africa Resort for dinner. I had Kelewele (fried plantains) again and fresh coconut from one of the trees. We spent time with Mama IMAKÜS learning from her and her experiences. She taught us an “adult meditation” technique that was hilarious and effective. I won’t share the specifics because I’m not sure who all reads this but just know that sh*t works! * laughing emoji*
Morning of Day 7 – Thursday, July 26th, 2018
The next morning, we devoured more sugarloaf pineapple and had a mini dance party with the old heads before heading to our next stop.
This was the blackest experience of the whole trip. It really felt like being at a family reunion for a few days. The feeling was beautiful… celebrating our blackness in Africa. That was the first time my duality could exist simultaneously in one space and both pieces of me felt like they belonged. It was home; like being at my parents’ house back in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States and being in Illorin, Kwara State, Nigeria at the same exact time. We said goodbye to the beautiful beach and the beautiful people and made our way to the next stop.
We were heading out of the Central Region and to the mountains of Ghana but on the way, we stopped in Swedru for a bathroom break and for meat pies.
Side Note: When traveling abroad, always bring tissue paper and/or wet wipes, and hand sanitizer with you because all bathrooms don’t have those things. Most places I’ve traveled to outside of North America required you to provide your own supplies like that. Thank me later!
We had to pass through Accra again to get to Koforidua so we stopped at the Accra Mall for lunch. YAKWTFGA! We got jollof rice from ShopRite, AGAIN!!
Next time on Travel Blog Thursday, I’ll tell y’all the story of my time in Koforidua, the story of my body rejecting Ghana jollof, Ghanaian night life, and exploring the mountains of Ghana.
Thanks for reading all these words!
Love ya!
Taste Tutor