Elmina & Bakatue Festival

This week I took 2 days off from work to visit Elmina. Mainly, because of the Bakatue Festival which is organized every year on the first Tuesday of July, but also because I hadn’t had chance to visit Elmina yet, so I wanted to see the town and most importantly, the castle!

I really liked Elmina. It is easy to reach (as easy as Cape Coast, just get off from trotro at Elmina instead of CC). Elmina is only about 15-minute drive away from Cape Coast, so these two can also be easily visited on a same trip.  Such a cute little fishing town, with slight European vibes, due to the portuguese and dutchies who were in Elmina back in the days.

What is Bakatue Festival then? It's a celebration to mark the beginning of the fishing season. Bakatue means "draining of a lagoon" or "opening the lagoon". This festival is always celebrated on a Tuesday since it's the day to honour the sea god. My friend in Elmina also told me, that they believe that if man goes to the sea on Tuesday, he will not return. So, better stay off from the sea!

Bakatue is celebrated by the chiefs and people of Elmina. There's a parade, where the main chief and sub-chiefs of smaller areas close to Elmina are carried to the lagoon. People are either watching the parade or walking as part of the parade, and every chief has "its people" around them while he or she is being carried. 

It was such an interesting experience, and I loved it. People were so excited to see the chiefs, everybody was dressed up, and the whole Elmina had awesome festival feeling. Music, drumming, dancing.. Fun! And at the lagoon, fishermen had canoeing competitions, which was quite exciting and fun to follow. Later in the evening, there's a big party, everybody are on the streets and there are amazing music shows. Great fun, so if you end up being in Ghana in July, check it out!

The another attraction, besides the annual festival, is the Elmina Castle also known as St George Castle. Visiting Elmina castle was interesting experience. Especially since I have now been to Cape Coast Castle, it was interesting to see another castle and compare these two. If you happen to be in Ghana and you are wondering which of these two castles you should visit, I would recommend Elmina Castle. Mainly just because the tour at Elmina Castle was better and more detailed, and the castle is bigger so there’s more to see. But both are worth visiting!

The door of no return - slaves exited the castle and entered the boats to Europe through this door

I didn’t spend the night in Elmina. I booked accommodation from Ampenyi, which is about 15-minute drive from Elmina. I stayed at Ko-Sa beach resort, and I absolutely loved the place. It’s a cute resort in the middle of nowhere, right there at the beach. It’s surrounded by lush garden, and they have beautiful restaurant right next to the beach. Though the food wasn't special, but decent, I have had better red-red than this one. Rooms are bungalow-like, and they are comfy and nice, and super clean. Would love to go there again, but I am running out of time, I really have to start make decisions of what I want to do on my last weekends here!