We started the day off by traveling twenty miles north of Cape Coast to Kakum National Park, a rainforest that spans 145 square miles and is home to various wildlife. To most people, having the opportunity to walk through a rainforest and explore its natural habitat is a coveted bucket list item. Thus, one would expect me to be elated that I’m in Ghana and have this incredible excursion before me. Well, about that. I didn’t really “walk” through the rainforest per se. I unequivocally frightened and with bated breath, took hundreds of baby steps along a 1,150 ft canopy walk that included seven bridges suspended among the majestic trees. These bridges connected seven treetops which I took the liberty to use as seven posts to gather my nerves more than I did to look out into the rainforest.

The initial ascent into the park was as expected. It turned into a mini, scenic cardio workout. Who needs a StairMaster when you can climb rocks and the earthen ground. Within minutes we reached the first post. That’s when I began having reservations about walking across these bridges with my classmates. Let me backtrack. I ALREADY had reservations about those darn bridges from the moment it was revealed to us that crossing them was a major part of the experience. Let’s make no mistake about it. I’m deathly afraid of heights. Any height that is higher than I can dunk a basketball is too high in my opinion. So, needless to say, every step I took required sheer determination because my nerves were a wreck. This was definitely not my bucket list item, and somehow I found myself doing it anyway. First and foremost, God was the primary reason I was able to do it. There was constant prayer on my behalf to him across each bridge. But most of the strength came from my classmates. I could hear them encouraging me as they crossed bridges ahead of me. That type of selflessness didn’t go unnoticed. They may not realize it, but in a moment when I am definitely way out of my comfort zone, they helped make the trek a little less unnerving.

After that expedition, we toured a second castle that was also a site of the slave trade called the Cape Coast Castle. The tour added an additional layer to what was experienced just the day before. I was a little more sensitive during this tour than the first along with several classmates who were visibly distraught. It will never make sense to me how people can look at other human beings and treat them as if they are soulless objects, tools for trade or self-gratification.

We all left thereafter to have lunch at a nonprofit vocational school called the Baobab School for Trades and Traditional Arts. We were served a terrific vegan meal at the Moringa Restaurant which is located at the school. I’ll never be able to drink Minute Maid pineapple juice after the glass of fresh pineapple juice I had with my meal. A majority of us, after finishing lunch, attended the Bakatue Festival that was going on for about an hour. The festival celebrated the town’s birthday. It was fun watching the parade where youth and adults alike dressed in native Kente clothing and masks, although the masks were a little freaky in my opinion. Cool, but freaky nonetheless. There was a brass band of about ten individuals most of who played the trombone. But the coming attraction of the festival was the Durbar of Chiefs. Everyone awaited the entrance of Paramount Chief of Edina Traditional Area, Nana Kwadwo Konduah VI,
as he was being given a tour of Elmina Castle. It was surreal to watch everyone stop what they were doing to get a glimpse of him as he exited the castle. He then joined the rest of the chiefs who had already convened underneath a canopy. It’s definitely a moment in that town’s history many will always remember. And to think, I was able to share that moment with the many onlookers.

That pretty much was the capstone of an emotional and eventful weekend, one I’ll forever be grateful for having the opportunity to experience.