Ghana, what can I say about Ghana… so far I’ve seen a lot of the country and will be seeing more. We started in the capital Accra, where I arrived last Friday. Saturday, we explored Jamestown, once the colonial heart of the city.

Monday we headed to the gorgeous coastline of Cape Coast. The coast is haunting, extraordinary beauty paralleled with one of the most awful histories of humankind: the slave trade. Most of the slaves shipped to North America came from West Africa. Thousands passed through these tremendous forts, occupied at various times by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. Their living conditions were appalling, and they were packed by the hundreds into dark, unventilated dungeons in the most terrible heat.

Following that we moved to the seat of the Ashanti region. Kumasi is a major city in the heart of Ghana. The guidebook I glanced at in Heathrow said “If you haven’t seen Kumasi, you haven’t seen Ghana.” There we visited a cultural centre and learned about Ashanti history in a rather fast-paced tour. Any summary I make of that here would be superficial, but they are a powerful tribe, with a rich history. Their kings wore lots of gold jewellery, leading colonisers to believe there was a lot of gold here. They are still a major force today, and there is still an Ashanti king. In Kumasi, we also saw a brass village where they make brass sculptures out of scrap metal.

We are now in Tamale. More on that later.