Round the world in 7 months

Travel time: November 2004 - June 2005  |  by Volker (Heusche) Pakulat

Ghana,a totally different world: Cape Coast

The ride from Winneba to Cape Coast by bus takes about 2 hours and it's the same procedure like it was to Winneba. The taxi driver takes you to the bus station which again is in the middle of a market, thousands of people are there, you give somebody money for the ticket (The bag is free this time), you jump into an old bus and as soon as the bus is overcrowded it starts. After about an hour we reached a bigger town and stopped at a station. The driver shouted something and everybody got out of the bus without a word of complain. I asked him if he's not going to Cape Coast and he said no, he doesn't feel like driving anymore and that the ride stops here. I told him that I paid for Cape Coast and that I want to go there. He gave a part of my already paid fare to a woman and spoke with her for a few seconds. She looked at me and said: " let's go !" With a strange feeling I followed her and a little boy, who insisted to carry my bag. We walked through the whole market, passed fresh fish, pork legs, fruit and any kind of food you can imagine. I asked her where we are going but she just smiled. I asked myself what is going on here? Are we going to her place and ..., are we going to his place because he wants to show me where he lives, or are they going to rob me ...? But then I saw another bus, she told me to get in and because there were already some passengers there I felt safe again. The woman disappeared with a smile and after a while the bus started. We reached Cape Coast an hour later. I didn't have to pay anything else, the woman had done that already and she had also paid the little boy. It would have been easy for her to run away with the money but no, she just wanted to help. So... blame me for my thoughts.

Cape Coast is a pretty big town which is very famous for its slave castles. It was one of the cities with the biggest slave markets. Even if you are not interested in history it's worth to visit a castle to get an idea of the conditions the black slaves had to endure until they were sold ... that's if they survived the torture, many didn't.

There is one lively pub called "Blue Cheese"! No idea why they call it Blue Cheese! It's hard to get cheese in Ghana and I never saw a blue one. But anyway, they play loud music there, people eat, drink and talk and if they feel like it they just stand up and dance around the tables. There is a big market where you can get everything from food to clothes and tooth brushes. I think there are about 50 churches with 50 different religions. The Ghanians are very religious people (most are Christians) but they are no fanatics. I never heard about a fight because of religion.

There is one night club, which opens only on weekends, and people go there to dance the night away. They really have music in their blood. As soon as they enter they head straight for the dance floor, dance for about 5 hours and leave. They hardly take a break. Don't ever think about starting a dancing contest with them, you will loose, most definietely!!! I'm sure they have at least one more joint at every leg and arm. It doesn't matter if they are little, tall, slim or big ... they just can move!!!

So at 5 in the morning you go to sleep, that's if the bloody bleating goats let you get some sleep; they are everywhere!

You are here : Overview Africa Ghana Cape Coast
The trip
 
Description:
Ghana, Rio, Caribbean, USA, New Zealand, South Sea, Philipines, Thailand and more. Will try to write my experineces and make you jealous. So check this out once in a while! ;-) There is a guest book too, tell me what\'s going on over there and how envious you are! ;-) Take care
Details:
Start of journey: Nov 13, 2004
Duration: 7 months
End of journey: Jun 20, 2005
Travelled countries: Ghana
Brazil
Jamaica
Trinidad and Tobago
United States
New Zealand
Philippines
Thailand
Germany
The Author
 
Volker (Heusche) Pakulat is an active author on break-fresh-ground. since 19 years.
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