Long Weekend continued..

Friday continued...

The Portuguese are not alone in their terrible actions that occurred at Elmina Slave Castle. The Dutch governed the castle for over a 100 years. Being Dutch Reformed they tore down the steeple of the Portuguese church and converted it into a room where they bought slaves from local slave traders, and eventually a classroom I think. The Dutch built their church directly above the female prison. We also visited the governors quarters. His living quarters were just for him (and those he invited to join him) and were larger than the prisons that 150 slaves were forced into.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant that was built above a crocodile lagoon. The food was good but the atmosphere was incredible. There were trees full of vibrant yellow birds, and we could see some crocodiles swimming around the water beneath us. After lunch one of the staff lured a crocodile out of the lagoon and onto the ground where we could touch its tail! I have pictures of me touching it on my phone...urg...I will post them tomorrow!

Then we continued on to the National Park. We went on a hike through the semi deciduous rain forest (that leopards live in) and a botanist pointed out various trees and plants and told us their unique qualities including medicinal value. The trees in general seem so much larger here, but the trees in that forest were some of the largest I have ever seen. There was one HUGE tree whose buttress you can pound with your fist and it echoes for miles and miles. Apparently the natives used to use it as a method of communication between far away villages like natural morse code. At the end of the hike we got to go on a canopy walk (AMAZING PICTURES WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW). The canopy hike consisted of 7 suspension bridges (very Indiana Jones style minus them falling apart). Though I am not scarred of heights and felt very secure I still got a huge adrenaline rush since the bridge swings back and forth. It was so much fun.

We spent the night in a hotel in Cape Coast (another costal town that neighbors Elmina) which had air conditioning!!

Saturday:
Oops we're on our way to lunch. I'll try to post even more later today