What a long, long day. :) I am slightly relieved it's over, but also sad because we had such wonderful and unbelievable experiences! We woke up slightly earlier then usual this morning to meet a van that would drive us and four other people. It was very hot in the van and most of our ride was full of bumps and queasiness. For two and a half hours we sat in that van taking pictures of different settings. One minute we would be out on a dusty road looking at green vegetation, the next we would be dodging people in a crowded town. Overall, it was very fascinating to see all the different homes. When we finally arrived at the park, we found out that it would be thirty Cidis each for adults! My parents made the decision it would be best if just my sister and I went, we were only fifteen Cidis each. So we began to hike up the trail with the others. It was a fairly short trail and every so often we stopped to take pictures, and then we came to the swing bridges.We had a fantastic time walking accross the loosely swinging bridges. Taking videos, and pictures we were quite terrified that our cameras were going to fall down into the rain forest below. The bridges were soaring up above the treetops between many gigantic trunks. A few times we felt like we were going to fall, even though we were assured before we got on that it could hold two African elephants. By the time we went on the last bridge, I finally began to trust it. After our adventures at the rain forest, we got back in the car and drove to the castle. On the way we went through the busiest town, I have know idea how anyone drives through. It was one of the most beautiful sights. All of the colorful food, and dresses, and babies strapped to their mothers backs. Of course we wanted to walk around, but we got a little "chicken" after people swarmed around us at the castle wanting us to purchase items. The castle was a place where slaves were held until they were shipped across the ocean. The whole tour was very sad and depressing, all of these years after the fact and everyone still feels great sorrow as they walk through the castle. We walked through the female slaves cell, where we saw they had barely any room to breathe! up to four hundred women were crammed into a tiny space at once and up to six hundred men! It was heartbreaking that anyone could do such a thing to these innocent people. We saw the governors rooms, and walked around the top where we saw an amazing view of the ocean. There were colorful fishing boats that were along the shore and in the water. Finally, we ended the tour and I'll never forget what the tour guide said (not exact words) "This castle is not so that we can remember and feel bad about what happened, but it's for us to learn from it and understand it so it will never happen again." The castle was and experience I will always remember. As we began to drive back to the hotel I was asked the question, after seeing Ghana how does this make you feel. It makes me feel fortunate, and thankful for the life that I have. Compared to the people here living in little shacks with trash covering the roads, I have a life that should never be taken for granted.
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