This morning was a rough morning for me. I called my parents early in
the morning because I was just not feeling well at all--so naturally I
was extremely self-centered and called my parents when it was like 3 am
their time, luckily they love me. The plan was for me not to go touring
with everyone but to stay back and get better because I was a
wreck...buuuuuuuut that didn't happen. I went with everyone and sucked
it up, and I am so glad that I did. I wasn't feeling well all day, but
it was still an incredible day.
So i need to start with the day before. We stopped by a slave market on our way to Cape Coast. It was a place where slaves were taken for their "last bath." They would clean themselves and then pal oil would be rubbed on their bodies to make them appealing.
Then we went to the actual slave castles. This was an emotional, eye-opening trip.  |
| This is Elmina Slave Castle |
The slave castle was so big and had an intricate design for "productivity." It was extremely inhumane and heart breaking to think about. I could literally close my eyes and see people crammed in the dungeons crying, screaming, coughing, ect, with heavy chains attached to them and no hope in their eyes. 
The dungeons were dark and hot and just terrible. The picture of the inside of the dungeon, on the right hand side, their is a little "gutter" system going through the entire thing. This was the plumbing system. Our tour guide said that their was such a back-up of feces and urine in the 1980s that when architects came to fix up the castles and look for insight into history, the feces were over a foot off the ground. I don't know if I explained that right, but the jist is that their was a foot of feces and disease on the floor of this dungeon. Also, they crammed 1000 people into the bottom of this dungeon. 
Sometimes, the women would be shoved into this courtyard area (show in the bottom left picture) aand where I was standing (where the picture is taken from) is where the governor would stand and he would pick our a woman to rape. They would walk down this hallway to his corridors (which is the yellow room). If the woman refused via fighting and screaming, ect, then her head would be slammed against this cannonball that was embedded into the grown in front of everyone. This would scare off others from resisting, which "teaching her a lesson." Their were so many terrible things that went on in these castles that just broke my heart. I just can't wrap my head around how people thought that this was okay to do to another human being.
The door of no return was also terrible. This was the room where the people knew that their was no hope. This was the final room until they went onto the boats that could take them anywhere--Portugal, Europe, North America, ect. You can see that the door is extremely small to fit through, that is because by this time the people were small due to malnutrition and the terrible treatment they received. The ocean also used to go all the way up to the door, so they would load into the boat right from the door. Now, the ocean has receded quite a bit, so you don't see the full effect, but you can get the idea. 
It is incredible that such an ugly, terrible place is surrounded by the beautiful ocean and this beautiful town now. It is incredible to see what Ghanaian have done to such an ugly part of history. Keeping it as a reminder to everyone of what they went through.
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| This serves as a reminder to everyone who comes that this history should never be repeated. |
