One of the most moving places we visited while in Ghana two years ago was Elmina Castle. Elmina and Cape Coast Castles were fortifications built by European powers originally for trading of goods and later used human shipping ports during the trans - Atlantic slave trade. The experience of being there isn't something you can capture in a picture or in words. It is a feeling that is somewhat indescribable. You can almost feel the suffering when you are walking through what is now a primarily empty castle. The smell is quite unique, and overall it may be one of the inherently saddest places I have ever been. Oddly enough, some of the visitors were smiling for pictures and seemed unfazed. I wasn't sure if that was because they came from a different part of the world that had a less direct historical relationship with slavery or if maybe I just was more sensitive than the average person. Either way, contemplative, sad, and invigorated to create change in our world, my experience there was moving, but I don't remember smiling much. Either way the castles are a MUST in your travels to Ghana. In case you are worried - in my experience no one will judge you for being an American with a national history of slavery. In fact, most of the conversations that I had with Ghanaians in the castle were about how to ensure that modern day slavery could be addressed. The castle was a setting where it became safe to talk about modern day slavery and request from each other that we work towards solutions in honor of and restoring justice in light what we should have learned from history.
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