One Year InCountry R & R

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary by traveling to Cape Coast with Elder Wayne and Sister Kay Baker from Teton, Idaho, serving in the Ghana Accra Mission in the town of Koforidua.  We were delighted that President Judd gave us permission to travel to Cape Coast, although only 3 hours from Accra it is part of the Ghana Cape Coast Mission.  The Bakers left for home on September 19th and wanted to see these additional parts of Ghana before they departed.  We were glad to join them.  We had a wonderful time and there were many amazing things to see.

 

 We drove along the Cape Coast Highway and not too long after our first sighting of ocean we came across this quaint fishing village, Saltpond.  We loved the rustic nature of the boats carved from the Odum trees which are huge and very heavy.

 This is typical Elder Baker, wanting to get the details of what the men are doing.

 Many old slave castles dot the coastline of West Africa and were built between 1383 and 1870.  The Cape Coast Castle is one of the very few that has been well preserved and maintained as a museum and historical site.  After negotiating a much lower "Abruni" price we took a very dramatic, sobering tour of the castle. Side note: All Ghanaian points of interest charge a Ghanaian price (very low) and a Non-Ghanaian price (at least double).  We were able to get the price down by letting them know we were missionaries and had been in Ghana for a year paying taxes on all the items we purchase.

 Elder Lyon going down the long, dark tunnel into the male slave dungeon.

 Sister Lyon taking in the ocean view of the well fortified castle.

 Sister Lyon does not want to go into the female slave dungeon.

 View of the Cape Coast Castle from inside the fort.  This was a very sobering and enlightening tour. A plaque on the wall of the castle stated, "In everlasting memory of the anguish of our ancestors . . . . May humanity never again perpetrate such injustice against humanity . . . We, the living vow to uphold this."

 Sister Baker and Sister Lyon are glad to be safely out of the slave castle and find good accommodations.

 Ghana does have a few beautiful beaches, this beach lover enjoys discovering them.

 This beach lover really enjoys walking in the sand!

 What a beautiful sight to find the next morning as we were taking a stroll on the beach.  Possibly  this guitarist will end up in a painting.

 The small village of Elmina close to the hotel property boasts a very large fleet of fishing boats . . . they stretched as far as our eyes could see.

 About a 45 minute drive from Cape Coast is Kakum National Park which has the famous Canopy Walkway. The canopy walk is 333 meters long and suspends 27 meters above the ground. Trees support the walkway, the ropes are changed every six months, nothing is nailed or bolted to the trees to protect them from damage.  The canopy walk is supported by 300-400 year old trees.  We are walking about 12 stories above this beautiful rain forest.

 We really feel like monkeys in the trees.  We were told there are many wildlife species including elephants, monkeys, bushbuck, and of course birds, but the trees hide them from our view in this thick rain forest.

In the leafy treetops.  What a beautiful world Heavenly Father created for us!  What a treat it was to celebrate our 1 year mark in Ghana this way.