Dixcove and Butre
Trip Start
Unknown
1
8
9
Trip End
Ongoing
Dixcove, Ghana
Saturday, November 19, 2011
He spent a few days first up in the north at Mole National Park. Whilst he enjoyed the "cheapest safari in the world" he was in need of some relaxation after 5 hour delayed bus journies, a 24 hour flight delay and a hotel that sounded like the one in Fawlty Towers, but a whole less efficient. So, we decided to spend a week on a road trip down the coast.
It was a fun week, albeit the main memories will be police road blocks, hitting pot holes at speed and antibiotics (for once not for me!). The police blocks are great fun. Expats in a car = potential for getting money. We were stopped a few times and asked to provide driving licences, where we going, what were doing in Ghana. As recommended we gave photo copies of licences, to avoid the real licence being stolen. Usually this was okay, although one particularly nice police man got angry and demanded I bring my original to his office and stomped off. I then had to find the original and go to the office. He clearly expected to demand some money. Luckily I had the power of the UN behind me and showed him my UN badge, which seemed to confuse him and little and he said I could go, although he kept the photocopied driving licence, putting it under a lace table cloth for safe keeping. Another policeman asked "what have you brought for us". I said myself - I am a volunteer. He then stared at me for 30 seconds, before I asked if could go now. All great fun - not the most relaxing of driving experiences.
Anyway, for me the highlight of the trip was a day spent in Dixcove and then Butre. Both places are the home of two of the slave forts, for which Ghana is notoriously famous. We had a guided tour of the fort at Dixcove, called Fort Metal Cross. This was a strange place, and an old British fort. It was quite chilling seeing where the slaves were kept, but oddly was run as a guesthouse by a British guy until a few years ago and so in places is more like a field studies centre. He is now building a big guesthouse next to it, which I cannot imagine anyone ever staying at.
We then spent an age driving down a very bumpy dirt track to Butre, where there is an old Portugese fort (I think). This was more like a medieval castle, surrounded by a very poor small town. Luckily an American volunteer set up a community tourist scheme a few years ago, so at least the few dollars we had to pay to wonder around the castle and town go to the community. The views from the castle were stunning and the beach next the town is also amazing. If this place was in Asia it would be a massive tourist destination and the town would be far more wealthy. On this day, however, we were the only visitors and I can't see the town developing anytime soon.
More photos from other destinations to follow soon.
