On The Run

Walking from Jamestown to Osu Castle in Accra

Shathiso @thegaboronerunner.com

On a recent visit to Ghana, I participated in the 10km race of the The Accra Intercity Homowo Marathon. We started in the financial hub of the city, ran past several top-notch hotels, Government departments, hospitals, and banks, before making our way to the oldest district in Accra – Jamestown. Once I was done, I decided to walk back to the city centre which gave me a great opportunity to closely study the buildings and features I had passed during the race.

The race finished at Jamestown Lighthouse, which was originally built at James Fort in 1871, but replaced in the 1930s by this tower, which stands at 28m tall. Starting here, I retraced my steps, passing several old buildings including churches, restaurants, some corrugated iron and wooden shacks, trading stalls and colonial structures such as Ussher Fort. Ussher Fort was built by the Dutch in 1649 and was one of three forts that Europeans built in the region during the 17th century. The fort was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 because of its significance in the history of European colonial trade and exploitation in Africa.

Jamestown was most certainly less affluent than other areas I had explored in the city, but it was vibrant, colourful, interesting and above all, very welcoming.

I continued to walk until I got to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Mausoleum. It being a public holiday there were several people inside, so I chose not to go in on this particular walk but returned the following day with a colleague. The memorial park is dedicated to Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. It is a big park with well-manicured gardens, water fountains, various statues as well as different museum ‘rooms’ which showcase rare artefacts and provide more information on Nkrumah’s life, his fight for Ghana’s liberation from colonial rule as well as his support for sub-Saharan nations with a similar plight, his presidency, subsequent exile and death, through both text and audio. Designed by Don Arthur, the mausoleum is made of Italian marble with a black star at its apex and is the final resting place of Kwame Nkrumah.

From here, I continued to walk until I reached the Black Star Square, also known as Independence Square, which is a public square that often hosts the annual independence celebrations as well as other national events.

At this point, I contemplated finding a taxi to take me back to my hotel, but I decided to continue walking and ended up in the busy and colourful township of Osu.

I then spotted Castle Road and figured this is where I would find the infamous Osu Castle. Indeed, it was. For 50 Cedis, the note which actually depicts the Castle, I secured a guided tour.

Horrified. Angry. Shocked. These are just some of the emotions I felt during and after the tour. The guide was extremely animated, and once we were done, I asked him whether he gets upset each time he gives the tour. He responded with a sombre yes. Osu Castle, once known as Christiansborg Castle after a Danish King, is a 17th-century castle. The Castle has a complex and tragic history, changing hands several times (sometimes back and forth) between Denmark, Portugal, the Akwamu, Great Britain and finally Ghana. From what I understood, the Castle was used for gold and ivory trade, but increasingly dealt with slaves who were kidnapped and held for six months at a time in over-crowded, poorly ventilated, dark dungeons with no access to toilets. Those who survived this heinous captivity were eventually taken through the “passage of no return” and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. The slave trade had ended by the time the British took over and was then used as the Headquarters of the Gold Coast. Post-independence, the Castle was used as the Presidential residence and office for many decades.

The walk from Jamestown to the Castle (including the stroll through Osu) was close to 7km. I was emotionally exhausted after the Castle tour, so I took an Uber back to the hotel. But I was so grateful that on this trip, I had managed to fit in so much more sightseeing than I usually do!

If you’re visiting Accra, here are some links to all my runs and walks in the city. Hopefully, these give you some ideas of what to check out!

Does your town have many murals? Have you visited Accra before? Do you like sightseeing in a new town? Have you visited a slave castle before?

I’m joining Kooky Runner and Zenaida on their link up, Tuesday Topics. Be sure to check out their blogs.

19 thoughts on “Walking from Jamestown to Osu Castle in Accra”

  1. Oh, you were brave going on that tour of the castle. I’m glad it has a good guide and hope European visitors go there, too. Of course it reminds me of Yaa Gyasi’s “Homegoing” although I think that fort was a little further along the coast.

    On a happier note, we have loads of street art in Birmingham, including along the canals and in the Digbeth area, where there’s a tour on an app, and we have a new eating place that’s opened locally and has two big murals inside commissioned from a graffiti artist.

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    1. Yes, the one in Yaa Gyasi’s ‘Homegoing’ was in Cape Coast if I remember correctly. It was awful. He shut the door of one of the dungeons when we were inside, just for a few seconds, and almost immediately, I felt I couldn’t breathe.

      I love street art! We don’t have enough of it in Gaborone so visiting Ghana has been such a treat in that respect. I’m glad you have loads in Birmingham, I’ll have to visit!

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      1. Yes, that’s right. I know we need to bear witness to these places but I’d just find it too hard. Matthew’s been to a concentration camp and I wouldn’t be able to cope with that, either.

        You’re welcome to Birmingham any time of course!! I’ve featured a few pieces in my photos of the day now and then.

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  2. Thanks for showing me a bit of Ghana, a country I must admit I know little about. Osu castle seems to be one of those places that crushes the soul when visiting, but its important to visit it and learn! Ive been to a few such places like that in the world and its always so emotionally draining after!!

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  4. Thanks for sharing your walk, both the beautiful and the ugly parts. I’ve not visited a slave castle, but when we were in Charleston, SC in March we toured a plantation where we went on guided tours of both the mansion and the tiny cabins of the enslaved. It was sobering.

    We don’t have many murals in our town, but there are several dotted across our county.

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  5. Wow, that’s quite a tour! As you know, I’m in awe of all the street art, murals and architecture. The castle sounds horribly heartbreaking, though…I can certainly understand all the emotions that were at play.

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  6. I’m a huge fan of street art, as you know. Chicago has so much and it is truly amazing. You have to come visit sometime.

    On another note, that tour sounds devastating. I just don’t think I’ll ever be able to get my head around slavery and the slave trade. It makes me ill to think of treating another human like that. There are a lot of sites in the US, particularly in the south devoted to memorializing this terrible time in history.

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    1. I would love to visit Chicago one day! It’s one of the cities that I’ve always wanted to visit (I think from my obsession of watching Oprah for years 🤣)

      It was horrible and I think coming from the southern part of Africa, it’s sometimes easy to feel slightly “removed” from the slave trade, but my goodness, this shook me to the core.

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  8. You know I love reading along about everything you do in Africa! I enjoyed reading about your walk, well, until you mentioned the Osu Castle. I would have also been shocked, angry, and horrified.

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