Ghana: Elmina – Around the Fishing Village
Fishing is the main industry in Elmina (also tourism to the castle) and taking a stroll around town you immediately dive into Africa – loud and hectic trading happening all around you, women in colorful dresses balancing massive weights of goods on their heads (often with tiny babies stowed in a sack on their backs), children running around naked, goats joyfully eating trash in the streets and head-butting each other, “barbering shops” with pictures of clean-cut Ludacris pitching their business (he could be a millionaire from royalties), fishermen repairing their wooden boats and nets, and women cleaning and selling fish at the pier. All this in a +35C heat with over 90% humidity. The sewage and fish guts float along town streets in special ditches and the aroma is quite overpowering. Oh, and everybody is a “would-be tour guide” to show you around Elmina, intensely interesting in shaking your hand and knowing your name.
