Ghana has a lot to offer in terms of tourism and travel. Beaches and good weather. The largest waterfalls in West Africa. Monkeys and baboons that casually stare at you as you drive by. Great music, local art, and national clothes for those inclined towards shopping and the artistic side.

But there is a somber side as well, coming from a turbulent past that is still remembered by the structures and history left behind: the old Dutch, Portuguese and British slave forts and castles. Elmina Castle and Cape Coast Castle are the best known; others are scattered along the coastline.

Like the castles of before the revolution in France, the ruins left behind from centuries of clan warfare and invasions in Scotland, the trenches and beach in Normandy and Dieppe, the holocaust museums in Poland, etc, the Elmina Fort and Cape Coast Castle stand as reminders of a dark past.

Like these other reminders of difficult times, there is a strange and delicate juxtaposition to be reached; between knowing your past and moving beyond it, letting it shape you while letting your path be shaped by[...]

[Published in AidBlogs - Read the original article]