Well it's our last day in Ghana.
Having packed and had breakfast Puios and Stephen picked us up and we head West, along the coast, to Saltpond. We'd read of a Bizarre Posuban there and wanted to have a look. We pulled into Saltpond in front of No1 Company Posuban but it didn't look that bizarre to us. Stephen took us the Palace but the Chief wasn't at home. Once of his household explained that he was away on official duty but that one of the elders of the community would be able to take us to the big Posuban in Lower Saltpond. While we were waiting (not entirely sure what for) we were given permission to take photo's of the posuban in Upper Saltpond and we were also shown a palm tree that had been planted by Ghana's first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
We eventually got back in the car and headed to Lower Saltpond which had an amazing view of the Ocean. It's named Saltpond because of the salt pond that is left behind when the tide goes out. The community is able to fish in the pond as well as in the Ocean.
We were lead to the Palace to pay our respects and to be welcomed by the Chief and the elders of the community. The Chief himself, showed us to the Posuban and explained it's meanings. I think the Posuban was a bit bizarre - one of the sections was a decapitated head in a basket (with red paint liberally splashed round for effect). The main story was that because a previous Chief had been kidnapped and decapitated (hence the model head in the middle of the Posuban) there were now three Chiefs of Saltpond (I guess in case it happened again!)
Once we had been shown the Posuban and given it's explaination we were permitted to take photo's and we were then taken down the beach to see the whole community fishing. The boats were out on the ocean while men were on the beach gradually pulling the nets in (in a kind of tug of war with the see). Joining in with the fishing created great amusement amongst the men. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stay to see the fish landed.
With time marching on we headed back to our car and made our way to Cape Coast Castle. I think this was the first time we really appreciated what it was like to be in Ghana in July. Up until now we'd been in and out of buildings and cars (air-conditioned of course) and not really been exposed to the heat of the day for long periods. Of course this was also the one day that we all only had one bottle of water rather than two so by the end of the tour of the Castle we were gasping.
Cape Coast Castle is very similar in history to Elmina (and all the other castles that were European built and occupied. The one difference which Cape Castle is the plaque above the 'Door of no return' on the outside, which says 'Door of Return'. This is because a few years ago a symbolic invitation was issued to two descendants of Slaves which saw them return through the door, effectively breaking the chain.
After seeing and hearing some of the horrors that took place in the Castle (when they excavated the dungeons they discovered the the floor was actually 1 foot lower than they thought due to the build up of excrement!) we left the castle in search of some liquid.
After a rather strange lunch (an hour for food to come and then only Puios and Stephen's appeared. By the time the rest arrived they had finished eating!) we had time to go back to the castle and make a few last minute purchases before heading back to Mankessim and saying goodbye to Puios and other members of Plan Ghana's staff. We took a couple of Plan staff members back to Accra with us (bit of a squash as we had all our bags with us)
Once back in Accra (and having dropped the others off) we then made our mad dash to find Ghanaian chocolate to bring back. The second attempt was successful (although it nearly wasn't as the staff, having first said they could take dollars, then decided they couldn't. As we were explaining we didn't have enough Cedi and walking away they suddenly decided they could take dollars!!)
And so on to the airport and a very quick goodbye to Stephen. Having checked in we took the opportunity of cleaning up a bit (after the heat and dust we were looking - and probably smelling - not our best!) we had a fabulous meal of a doughnut and a drink (we know how to live it up) and before we knew it we were being rounded up to board our plane. Before long we were landing in Heathrow and making an respective ways home.
It was an incredible trip with lots of amazing memories which I'm hoping we've been able to share with you through this blog.
Only a few of the photo's have been picked to add to this journal so if there is anyone out there who is interested in seeing the other five thousand or so, please let me know.
Goodbye
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