This New Year’s we started out by venturing outside of Accra and getting settled back into our normal routine after a long holiday break.
Elmina
This month, since Varun had to travel very early on, we were invited by friends to stay at their house in Elmina. They are a couple of South Africans that we really enjoy spending time with and they have two young daughters, who the girls absolutely love! He is working directly on building a new port in the city, and it is located about an hour away from where Varun was going to be for work. So, she and I, decided to bring our kids out during the week, and then Varun would join us at their house when he was done with work on Friday evening. I’m always happy to have the opportunity to get out of Accra and explore someplace new. And I’m sure the girls were excited about it too, because they had been spending several weeks at home and were starting to get bored and a little stir-crazy. So, we packed up the cars and headed out. The drive was actually the same route we had taken when we went to the beach last year with Saraswathi, but I still enjoyed getting pictures of the drive.
After just over two hours, we finally made it to the coast, which is lined with beautiful palm trees!
And, after a short, beautiful, drive down the coast, we arrived in the town of Elmina. Even though it is a smaller place than Accra, it is a bustling city with people everywhere! It is a port city, so fishing is a major enterprise, and the local fishing boats were there in the dozens!
The road leading up to the house, and a hotel just up the road from their place, like many roads here in Ghana, was a dirt road. It also ended up being very steep because the house is set on a hillside. I was certainly glad to have a driver getting our car up the hill!
After we had unpacked the cars and got settled in, we took the girls up the road to the hotel for a quick swim. It had a beautiful view of the ocean, and it was a nice activity to do on a hot day, especially after sitting in the car for a few hours.
The little ponds you can see in the pictures are salt ponds, where they process and collect salt. Although, from what our friends had to tell us, it doesn’t sound like they are maintained well, nor are they very tidy.
The next day, my friend and I left our girls with the nanny and took an opportunity to visit a historic site in the city. On the way, I got to see more of the little town, and the main marketplace.
The rest of the morning we spent touring Elmina Castle, which is one of the oldest slave castles in Western Africa. The first people to arrive and try to colonize the area were the Portuguese, who landed in Elmina in 1471. They were coming in their search for gold and traded in tobacco with the local kings and chieftains. The castle itself was completed in 1482 and was named after the local gold mine.
Now, I didn’t take as many detailed notes during this tour as I had for the walking tour of Jamestown, mostly because I just wanted to enjoy the tour in the moment. But I will do my best to give descriptions of the sites depicted in the photos. When we first arrived in the main courtyard to the castle, we could see the barracks of the former tenants of the castle. As I mentioned earlier, the castle was built and founded by the Portuguese, but it changed hands a few times over the course of its history, between the British and the Dutch. Also in the courtyard is the former church, which was originally Roman Catholic but then changed to Protestant. This church housed a small museum dedicated to the castle and the surrounding area and its history.
Our tour guide for the day was very informed and did a very good job presenting the information, but he also didn’t like to get into the very heavy details about the site’s dark past. He did explain the different sources of slaves who were brought to this castle, mainly: slaves captured and brought here by the white colonists, slaves belonging to the local kings and chiefs who were traded to the colonists in exchange for goods, or slaves that had been hunted down and captured by the local tribesmen – actually the colonists would train the tribesmen in how best to capture slaves, so the colonists would pay them to obtain more slaves and bring them to the castle to be sold and sent off to the other colonies.
There are several plaques visible in the courtyard. The first is to label the final resting place of the castle’s last manager, a Dutch Naval Officer. The second plaque is dedicated to all the lives lost here, and all the poor souls who resided here while the castle was in operation.
The last thing the tour guide showed us in the courtyard were two dungeons. The first dungeon had a steel grated door and led to a small, but ventilated room with a window out to a corridor. This is the door on the right in the picture – it was used to house soldiers who had been insubordinate and broke one rule or another. They were kept in this room for a number of hours. The door on the left, with the skull and crossbones over it, was meant for slaves who had been unruly. It was literally a room where they were left to die. There was no window in this room; no means of ventilation or light. It was dark, dank, and dreary and slaves sent into this room died in this room. During the tour he led us into each and closed the door for a few minutes so that we could get a full effect of what it was like to be forced to stay in each room. The door on the left did offer a much more terrifying and realistic view into the tormented lives of the people forced to stay within those four walls.
Next, we were taken to see the quarters where the slaves were kept during their time in the castle, first the male quarters. It was a large enough space, but not when you think about how many men were kept here at a time. There was also a section for branding each slave, for identification purposes.
From here, we were led to the “Door of No Return”, which was where each slave had to leave the castle to board a ship to their next destination. Now, there is a more famous location, not far from this castle, which is visited by many people, in Cape Coast castle, a matter of miles from this location. In 2019, which Ghana termed “The Year of Return,” many of the celebrities who visited Ghana made a point of visiting the Cape Coast castle and its “Door of No Return.” I’ve heard it’s a very poignant experience, especially for descendants of the slaves originally exiting through that door, and they also make a point of walking back through the door, to symbolically end the journey of the family finally returning home. I do plan to visit Cape Coast castle at some point during our stay here in Ghana, and I did my best to pay my respects to the poor souls who had to pass through this door all those centuries ago.
After seeing the men’s quarters, the tour guide led us on to the women’s quarters in the castle. He pointed out that at this point of the tour, some people don’t continue forward, because the steps can be quite steep the rest of the way up the castle. It certainly gave me a bit more of a workout that morning.
The women actually had a courtyard off of their quarters where they were allowed to get fresh air, from time to time anyway. And the director’s quarters were able to look right over this particular courtyard. I’m sure I don’t need to go into details about what these poor women were subjected to, and the tour guide was very delicate about this subject as well. Some of the women in the tour were getting upset about how flippantly he seemed to mention the abuse as “little, little.” I’m sure this area is still a sensitive subject over here, but it’s important that we all understand the harsh realities of history, whether we like them or not.
The courtyard housed a well that is still currently in use, but was also a deadly feature of the yard, because if you were to fall in, you were not coming back out. They also had a cannonball in the courtyard, meant as punishment for any lady who stepped out of line. I had to give it a try myself, just to experience it. I was able to lift it, but probably wouldn’t have ever been able to hold it up for any length of time.
Within the women’s quarters was a staircase that led directly up to the director’s room. Sadly, he was able to pick and choose any woman he wanted and have her sent directly up to him via this staircase.
After this, we went up to the director’s quarters and saw more of where the people running the castle stayed and lived while they were occupying it. It was a sobering view, from atop the courtyards.
We also got to see the director’s main chamber, where the staircase from the women’s section led to, which had some beautiful views of the ocean and the local harbor.
Since we hung around in the director’s quarters a little too long, we did end up losing our tour guide, but we still took the chance to explore around the castle a bit more on our own. We even found another protestant church and the remains of an old sundial!
All in all, it was a fun morning getting to sneak a peak into the local history firsthand with a close friend!
After the tour, we took a quick walk over to her husband’s office to see the port that his company is busy building in town. And I got an even closer look at all the local fishing boats in the harbor.
That evening Varun finally arrived, and the girls and I were happy to see him. We spent the rest of the weekend together hanging out in the house and enjoying the views.
The next day we went to a local beach resort where the girls had fun splashing in some waves with us in the ocean, then swimming in the pools at the resort. At lunch time I decided to try another local dish: kenkey. I didn’t have it with the usual fish stew, I chose chicken instead. But it is basically a patty made up of boiled corn and then wrapped in corn husk (the husk is removed before eating it!). It was a little sour and had a fermented flavor to it, but I’d certainly like to try it again, especially with the local fish stew.
The girls also got a treat after lunch because there were some horses available for rides on the beach. They both hopped on together and loved having a little horseback ride along the beach!
The next day we all had to head back to Accra and our normal routine. Varun was kind enough to offer to sit in the back seat between the girls’ car seats, so I took the opportunity in the front to take more pictures of the drive and the Ghanaian countryside.
Overall, we had a really fun trip to Elmina. We had a chance to get to know our friends better, and we got to explore more of this country we now call home.
Anniversaries
January marked our ten-year wedding anniversary! We had already treated ourselves to a celebration at the hotel where we had been married back in the summer, so we didn’t do much to celebrate this month. We did want to go out for dinner, just the two of us, so I found a nearby Mexican restaurant that we had wanted to try. We may have been a little overdressed for the location, but we had a nice time together, enjoying some very good Mexican food and drinks!
And since we did have both an American ceremony and an Indian ceremony when we got married ten years ago, we do, technically, have two anniversaries every year. We decided to spend the second anniversary out with the girls and treated them to lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant. They always really enjoy the food, and it’s nice for Varun and I to get to eat some Indian food that we don’t usually make ourselves at home.
School
After what seemed like an interminably long holiday break, the girls finally went back to school! Every morning that we get out of the house early enough, the girls spend time on the playground having fun before they have to settle down for class.
This month the school decided to tighten it’s COVID protocol slightly, just to be on the safe side, and, probably, also because most of the families were returning from different places all over the world. So, all the children Abigail’s age and above needed to wear their masks all day, both in the classroom and outside. It was only a precautionary measure, and it only lasted for the month of January, but neither of my girls seemed to mind. They were still just as active in all their classes. I love getting to see them explore and learn in the classroom too! I can’t believe that Abigail is already learning how to write, and Sara Gail’s reading skills just keep getting better!
This month the girls were “honored” again as the classes continue to review the continents and the different countries within them. So, they each had a day where they dressed up in their Indian garb and talked about their Daddy’s native country!
And I could not be happier to see the playground starting to fill back up again with both parents and children after school. It is wonderful to see all the kids getting to play with each other, and for the parents to get a chance to mingle and meet new people as well.
Gymnastics
Sara Gail is continuing her more advanced gymnastics class and is truly enjoying it. The coach does like to do lots of pyramids with the girls too. So, I think we may have a gymnast and a cheerleader once we do eventually move back to the States!
Orca
After our Indian anniversary lunch one weekend, we decided to go and explore a store that had been renovated, and all our friends had been raving about! Before the renovation, it was a fairly large furniture store that was also known for carrying toys and odds and ends that would come in handy around the house. Now, this store could compete with the furniture stores back in the US. It is twice as big as it originally had been, and has several sections and floors. They even have a café in the store and little auto-rickshaws to drive you to your car in the parking lot! I like to say it’s a dangerous store to go to because it’s almost impossible to leave without purchasing way more than you had intended to! In fact, Varun has banned me from going without his hawkish, diligent eye keeping my spending in check. It was a fun day out for the girls, and Varun even took some time to look at some toys for himself.
Bats
While I was out and about doing our regular weekly grocery shopping one week this month, I witnessed something that I’ve only seen a couple time since we’ve moved here to Accra, and I just had to document it in the blog! The bats by the military hospital were flying all over the place – what looked like possibly hundreds of bats! And it always strikes me to see them flying that much during the daylight, as I always thought they were more of a nocturnal creature. The story goes that a legendary king was taken to this spot many years ago, and the bats are awaiting his return. I’ve never heard definitively if the bats are waiting to be reunited with him or seeking revenge. But whether the story has credence or not, the bats are there, all day and all night, and I was able to see them in motion once again!
Food
I don't think I have posted pictures about my cooking recently, but I was happy with one particular meal I made this month. This is a red snapper filet made with my mom’s recipe for fried fish, that includes a Ritz cracker crust. I made a rice pilaf and some creamed spinach to go with it. And it just happens to be one of the girls’ favorite dinners!
Hanging Out
As with every month, we have plenty of time just to hang out and play together. This month I took the girls to a play area we haven’t seen in a while. It is on the top floor of one of the grocery stores that I go to, and it had been closed throughout most of the pandemic. They had made some nice improvements to the place and the girls had a lot of fun exploring.
Chinese New Year
This year, our January ended with a literal bang! Our neighbors, who are all working for a Chinese company, celebrated Chinese New Year in style with lots of fireworks, which they set off right from their house. It was quite loud, and bright, so thankfully they set most of them off before the girls’ bedtime. The neighborhood had fun seeing fireworks again and I was glad that the girls got to be exposed to other cultures so close to home.
To end this month’s post, I wanted, as usual, to describe a few scenes of everyday life here in Accra. First, goes back to my tour of Jamestown from November 2021. In that post, I describe how difficult it is to sell family property here in Ghana because everyone in the family, which includes the large extended families here, has to agree to the sale. So, if an unruly relative is trying to sell off or lease some property without the family’s approval, you will usually find this sign painted on the property. You can find this type of thing all over the city. This particular property is a few minutes’ walk from our house.
Finally, this sight always puts a smile on my face. And I will see both men and women carrying these around all over the city: Singer sewing machines. There are a lot of people that are employed in the craft of sewing here, but I’m still not sure why these machines are being carried all around town, and I’ve never considered carrying it on my head myself. But I always love to see that they are the old Singer machines - the same type my grandmother had, and the very machine that I used when I was taught to sew!
Well, this ends another blog post about our family adventures here in Ghana as we begin another year of our stay. We’ve decided to extend our stay for two more years, so I will be continuing to post about our lives here, and how our little girls keep growing up too fast. I hope you come back next month to read about birthdays and more adventures!
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