May 1 to May15

We went to Dodowa to attend church in this newly constructed chapel surrounded by some nice palm trees.  Halfway through the meeting it started to downpour and the power went out.  Even so, it was not hot because the rain cooled things off.

  

We went with the office couple on a three day trip to Cape Coast.  The first day we visited the Cape Coast Slave Castle - one of a number of slave processing facilities along the Ghanaian coastline.

Morgan was our guide.

 People were captured from nearby countries such as Nigeria and brought to the slave castles to be held until ships came to take them away to the countries that bought them.

  The males and females were separated and held in large stone rooms with little ventilation and no bathroom facilities.  A very sad visit.

President Barack Obama visited this castle during his first presidential term and this plaque describes his visit.

One of the holding rooms contained this shrine which the slaves used to pray to their Gods.

The upper rooms were used to house the guards and other administration staff.

This entrance way led to the no return cell where troublesome slaves were placed until they died of dehydration.

An active fishing industry is being carried out just outside the castle walls.

 We travelled further up the coast to a luxurious resort called the Lou Moon.  Each couple had their own bungalow with private pool for the whopping cost of $816/night.  I should mention that dinner and breakfast was included - TV was not

The bungalows were located on a little piece of land jutting into the ocean.

We stayed in one that had a rectangular pool.  The Paces stayed in a bungalow that had a semi circular pool

Rugged ocean views surrounded the rooms.

The next day we met Ato who was one of the first Ghanaians to join the church.  He showed us where the members first met in this rented building.

We then went to one of the present chapels where some missionaries were teaching an investigator.

The interesting thing about this location is that for some reason the spire could not be placed on the roof of the building.  Instead it was placed on the ground.

Ato took us to the place where the first members were baptized in the ocean.

The next night was spent at the Rainforest Hotel which was much less expensive at $105/night.  The bed was real hard so it was not a very comfortable night.

Early the next morning we went to the Kakum National Park to go on a jungle canopy walk.  The walk consisted of seven narrow suspension bridges arranged in a circular route between a number of very large trees.   

After the canopy walk we went on a guided nature walk through the thick forest.  We saw the tallest tree in Ghana which is estimated to be 500 years old.

 

  The guide informed us that there was also some leopards, yellow and green mumba snakes as well as vipers and spitting cobras in the forest.  We just wanted to get through the hike and back to safety.

We also saw a column of Driver Ants marching by the thousands,

,

a pepper bush

 and a big millipede.

  

The day after arriving back in Accra we were back on the road and went 90 min north to Koforidua to a District Conference.  

The church was packed and we sat outside under a canopy.  It was so hot that once again I cooled myself down by pouring water down my shirt collar. 

The Mission President was the last speaker and he announced that approval had been received to make the Koforidua district into the Koforidua Stake at a conference that will be held June 25.  This region was only 3 branches three years ago and has now grown to 11 branches.  The  missionaries have been very busy.  To accommodate the growing membership, one of the chapels is being expanded.