The hook
Whitewashed forts on a palm-fringed shore whose beauty masks a terrible history: these were holding prisons of the transatlantic slave trade, where captured Africans were chained in dungeons before passing through the "door of no return."
01Why it's worth it
Ghana's coast is studded with old European forts and castles, and the two greatest, Cape Coast and nearby Elmina (one of the oldest European buildings in sub-Saharan Africa, begun by the Portuguese in 1482), are among the most important and harrowing historical sites on the continent. For centuries they were central to the transatlantic slave trade: hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans were held in their dark, airless dungeons in appalling conditions before being marched through a final gateway to the sea, the "door of no return," and onto ships bound for the Americas. Touring them, standing in the dungeons, seeing the governor's airy quarters and the church built directly above the cells, hearing the guides tell the story, is a profound and deeply moving experience, and a place of pilgrimage for the African diaspora returning to trace their roots. It is essential rather than pleasant, a confrontation with one of history's greatest crimes, set against the ongoing life of the fishing towns around it.
02How to experience it
Take the guided tour of Cape Coast and/or Elmina castle with the seriousness it demands, allowing time and emotional space, especially at the dungeons and the door of no return. Learn the history rather than rushing. The living fishing harbours and the rainforest of Kakum nearby round out a visit to the region.