Our final stop on our Lagos to Ghana road trip was Cape Coast, Ghana. The first was Grand Popo, where we spent the first two days of the tour and the next was Ghana’s capital city, Accra.
Lagos to Ghana by Road: Getting to Cape Coast
For our journey to Cape Coast, we travelled with STC, one of Ghana’s bus services. The trip, which lasted for about 2.5 hours, was extremely comfortable and pleasant. (Different from our return journey into Nigeria using the ABC bus service. Ghana 1 – Nigeria 0.)
Our departure time was 8:30 am. By 8:34 am, the bus was getting ready to pull out of the park but there were already complaints about the service being late. I thought to myself, this must be nice. In Nigeria, a bus leaving 30 minutes late was considered a punctual bus!
Anyway, we eventually left at 8:37 am and got to Cape Coast at about 11:30 am, just before the rains started.
For most of this trip, we’ve been blessed with sunny weather even though the rainy season has fully kicked off. It rained heavily the night before our trip and during our transit into the Benin Republic and Ghana. The rains somehow managed to stop every time we arrived at our destination and I was hoping for the same luck in Cape Coast.
Upon arrival, we took a taxi to our hotel. After getting checked in, the skies opened up and it began to rain heavily. We decided to take the time to rest and have brunch with the hopes that the rains would stop before it was time to head out. Luckily, by 2 pm, it did and we grabbed a taxi to visit Elmina castle.
Lagos to Ghana Road Trip: Visiting Elmina Castle
We can’t change the past BUT we can learn from it and change the future…
Oh, the history in this place! I’ve followed the slave trade routes in a few African countries (including Nigeria) but there’s just something about the Elmina and Cape Coast castles in Ghana. Our guides didn’t make things any easier for us either as they spared no gruesome details of the inhumane conditions humans were kept and traded.
There were all kinds of emotions during this tour. From sadness to anger and frustration to fear. We felt everything. (I’ll write more about the tour in a separate post)
After our tour, we returned to our hotel and had dinner at a local chop bar. The next day, we set out early to visit Kakum National Park and the Cape Coast castle.
Lagos to Ghana Road Trip: Visiting Kakum National Park
Our first stop was the park – whose main attraction is the canopy walkway. It was some distance away from where we stayed, so we hired a taxi for half the day. He took us to the park and helped us get discounts on the entry fees.
Next, we visited the Cape Coast Castle. This one was much smaller than Elmina but no less incredible. Again, the tour was quite emotional. We were glad we took all our ‘happy’ pictures before it began…
Lagos to Ghana Road Trip: Visiting Cape Coast Castle
Once we were done, Baba, our taxi driver took us to a park close by where we got tickets for a mini bus (not STC) heading to Accra.
With that, our little West African tour came to an end. We returned to Accra and spent the next day with new friends – Meyiwa & Juliana. It was a great ending to our visit as they hosted us in their lovely hotel apartment and even taught me to swim! Hehe…
We loved our time in Grand Popo and Accra, I hope you enjoyed following our journey too 🙂
PS: Here’s a list of all the articles in this series;
Road Tripping from Lagos to Grand Popo
Accra to Cape Coast (The Castles & Kakum National Park)
