Leah Chapin

The Cape Coast

July 22, 2007

Elmina is a beatiful, bustling fishing town.  It also smells a lot like fish, but in a way that you can easily learn to love (some of you will understand my appropriate mention of Mr. Snow here).

Our first morning there, we chartered a driver to take us to a more remote village called Nzulezo.  You could think of it as the African version of Venice.  A lean African man, poled our way down a man-made canal, through a jungle of water-loving rafia trees (the trunks are covered with rafia!  you know…the kind you use to make home-made stuff look real nice?) to this village that is built on stilts in a lake.

When we docked in the village, my attention was easily dominated by the two small monkeys tied up to a bench.  On of them was scared of me, but the other one got closer and closer, until it was just climbing all over me, playing with my bracelet and my hair.  I want a monkey like that!  It’s little hands were so cute.  Maybe if I never have children…hmmmm.

The village itself was a little sad.  We came to understand that the village is supported mainly off of the money collected from tourism.  Almost all of the adults we saw were lying around sleeping.  Perhaps it was just a siesta equivalent for them, but it seemed depressing at the time.  The children seemed very used to seing brunis (as white people are called on the coast of Ghana), and I was recruited at one point to help with homework in their floating school house.  It was a good photo opportunity, but I’m not sure I will have much feeling behind the results.

The canal ride was worth it, though.  It really was an unusual experience.  And when we got back to the coast, we waded in the ocean for a bit, which was really nice.

The next day we had time to walk around Elmina for a while.  There is a castle there and a fort.  I don’t think I have down which is which, but one is Portugese, and one is Dutch.  We went inside the fort, but the castle tour price was a bit steep, so we just walked around it and had lunch in it’s restaurant.  We also took a walk through the less touristy parts of town, just to mingle with the people.  One of my favorite places we went to in Elmina was the beach.  There were some fishermen hanging out there, and the boys talked with them while I played with the children.  All of the kids were excited to sit down and touch the bruni bisia (white woman), except one small child that was being carried by an older kid.  It was one of those children that fussed and turned away if I got too close.  I think once that kid had seen me interact with the others for a while, he changed his mind, and he was vying for my attention like the rest.  The kids were all showing me their muscles (oh, man, thas was hilarious, I wish I had it on video), and these small children’s biceps put me to shame!  They are buff!  So, I was shocked when I felt a sharp pain in my right wrist, and I looked over and that little kid who was scared of me at first was biting me!  He let go and grinned at me, so awnry.  I think he was just trying to get my attention, but I had to keep the other kids from beating him!  It did leave some teeth marks, but it didn’t break the skin or anything, so it was just a funny story, instead of a beginning of some horrible infection.

That evening we caught another one of those lovely public transport buses to Accra.  This one was a little roomier, in fact, where I was sitting, my knees weren’t even touching the seat in front of me!

We were really excited to be at the guest house, in a stable place, but it wasn’t going to be as easy as we thought.  We caught a taxi from the bus station who claimed to know where the Baptist Guest House was.

He did not know where the Baptist Guest House was.

An hour and a half later, and after multiple stops to ask for directions, we arrived at the Guest House.  We gave him his initially requested price for the fare, and only one dollar more when he complained that it was not enough.  It seemed a little hard, but he did lie and tell us he knew the place.  And we even had a map of how to get there, and somehow, he wasn’t able to follow it.  Anyways…

Elmina was a beautiful place; I wish I could have been there a while longer to do a more complete photography set.  It made me almost glad that my digital camera is broken, just because it was so appropriate for B&W film.

We all went to the African Art Market the next day, and spent all of our money.  We ate dinner at a place called Frankie’s, and I had…get this…a cheeseburger and a banana split!  It felt very strange to be sitting in an air-conditioned restaurant, eating such extravagant food.  I saw some pretty chunk Ghanain kids that night, and for some reason, it made me feel a little sick.  I guess I just couldn’t get the picture of all those malnourished kids in the nutrition center.  Most of the people that live in the Accra region or fairly wealthy and educated, and it is pretty rare that they are even aware of a place called Nalerigu where kids are dying of malaria and malnutrition.

Anyways, I don’t mean to end on a bitter note, it was just a hard adjustment to make.  I will update you on how my trip to Manna Mission Hospital took place, and the changes I have experienced last week.