Travellingman reisverhalen - - Ankasa Resource - Elmina
Day 38: 8 maart 2006
Ankasa Resource - Elmina

I woke up at sunrise. I packed my luggage and around 7.15 am I left for a walk. I took the old road to Elubo. This road can't be travelled by car (anymore) because fallen trees are not removed. So more than once I had to climb over the trunks. The road was hilly and due to rain of the last couple of days, the road was also muddy. The road led me pass some nice pools, where I could hear frogs, but I couldn't see them. I was hoping to see some wild animals drinking near the pools, but after waiting for a while, nothing happened. The road obviously once was used for transport for building a power line. For this a strip of about 100 meters wide, the forest was chopped down. I enjoyed the views of the forest. I saw a kingfisher and heard some monkey "running" away through the trees. After a while I sat down on a trunk and enjoyed the relative silence.

I walked the same way back to the camp, where I arrived around 9 am. My t-shirt was already completely wet of all the sweat. I wanted to take a shower, but I noticed the water tank was overflowing. I warned David and he went to the solar panel and disconnected two wires. He explained the solar panel was used to power a pump that got the water from a 20 meter deep well into the tank. I asked him why they didn't use the solar panel for electricity supply. He answered that they were working on it, but didn't have all the supplies to put it all together.

After the shower I put my wet shirts and towels in the sun. I sat down on the veranda and smoked a cigarillo. While I was sitting there 2 half wild animals entered the camp (I forget their name). It occurred they come more often to the camp. I talked to other people at the campsite. Richard, the American, wanted to go to Kumasi and had to wait for his taxi, which he expected at 1 pm. The English/ Canadian couple offered him a ride to Elubo, from where he could take the bus. So they left. A group of wildlife rangers, completely with riffles, came to the camp. Their leader told me that they were hunting for poachers. This time the poachers were not only interested in animals, but mainly hunted for Rotan. This plant is used to make furniture, houses etcetera and the quality of the Rotan here seemed to be of good. At the black market people seem to pay a lot of money for it, because Rotan is a scarce material. Chopping the Rotan from the forest is not good for the stability. Also Rotan is used for medicines.

After the wildlife rangers left, Emmanuel arrived to pick me up. At the entrance of the park I paid 102.000 cedis for the nights at cabin and the use of the kitchen and guide. We drove to Axim and visited the oldest fort of Ghana. It was built in 1515 by the Portuguese. They stayed for 120 years. The fort was conquered by the Dutch, who stayed here for 230 years. They sold the fort to the British. The fort is now reconstructed into a guesthouse. The keeper of the fort hoped it could be opened by the end of 2006. The fort was mainly used for the slave trading.

After this visit we drove on to Elmina. When we arrived at the Castle we were surrounded by local boys and men who tried to sell all kind of products. They were all shouting and I had not even opened the door of the car. So I got out at the car and told the boys and men it was not very nice to be surrounded like this. I told them that they showed no respect for me (it was obviously they were only interested in my money). After my speech they were quiet and some of them apologized for their behaviour. They just left hopefully realizing this is not the way to earn money. It was actually the first time salesmen were so pushing.

We went to the oldest castle of Ghana, called St. George. It was built in 1482, also by the Portuguese. In those days the surrounding was all forest. To protect the castle, the Portuguese built in 1665 a fort on a hill, called St. Jago (or Santiago). It did not help them much, because the Dutch conquered the fort and in that way also the Castle. Also the castle was used for slave trade. The slaves were kept in dungeons for sometimes 6 month. This depended on the availability of the ships.

Inside the castle there is also the oldest catholic church of Ghana. When the Dutch conquered the castle, the church was partly taken down and turned into a reformed church. Nowadays it's a museum, very worth seeing if you’re interested in the culture of some tribes and the history of the region. After the visit we went to a guesthouse, where I had shower and talked with Emmanuel. He dropped me off at the castle, where I went to the restaurant. The power just went down, so they lightened the restaurant with candles. After a while the power came back. I ordered a plate of spaghetti with shrimps. This was an outstanding meal and one of the better ones I had in Ghana. After an hour Emmanuel came to pick me up. He does not fancy the restaurant food and always tries to eat the local food (which I do not fancy). Back at the guesthouse, I talked to owner about all kind of stuff. Around 10.30 pm I went to sleep.

Initial publication: 14 augustus 2008
Last update: 19 april 2010
© A. Heeroma

  • Travel route

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Mail - Ghana 2006 tour
ğDay 17 Bamako - Accra
ğDay 18 Accra
ğDay 19 Accra
ğDay 20 Accra - Ho
ğDay 21 Ho (Tafi Atome - Wli fall)
ğDay 22 Ho - Koforidua
ğDay 23 Koforidua - Bonfobiri
ğDay 24 Bonfobiri - Kumasi
ğDay 25 Kumasi
ğDay 26 Kumasi - Kintampo
ğDay 27 Kintampo - Bui National Park
ğDay 28 Bui National Park
ğDay 29 Bui National Park - Mole
ğDay 30 Mole
ğDay 31 Mole
ğDay 32 Mole - Tamale
ğDay 33 Tamale - Sunyani
ğDay 34 Sunyani
ğDay 35 Sunyani
ğDay 36 Sunyani - Ankasa Resource
ğDay 37 Ankasa Resource
ğDay 38 Ankasa Resource - Elmina
ğDay 39 Elmina - Gold Coast
ğDay 40 Cape Coast - Accra
ğDay 41 Accra
ğDay 42 Accra - Shai Resource Reserve
ğDay 43 Shai Resource Reserve - Aburi
ğDay 44 Aburi
ğDay 45 Aburi
ğDay 46 Aburi
ğDay 47 Aburi - Accra
ğDay 48 Accra
ğDay 49 Accra - home!

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