Its chaotic charm is intoxicating

Then we moved on to the lively town of Elmina, where we checked into charming hilltop cabins at Golden Hill Parker Hotel, above Ghana's largest fish market.

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After sunrise, we ventured through its heart. Women balancing bowls of fish on their heads encouraged us to dance with them, smiling ear-to-ear, as traders in every direction shouted prices over crates of squid and the bleeding sharks on the wet concrete.

It was loud, chaotic, intoxicating: Ghana at its most tactile and authentic.

But nothing felt more real than our visit to Cape Coast Castle.

Inside the silent dungeons, history closed in from every side. No light or airflow. Just thick stone walls and the memory of thousands of slaves held captive before being trafficked as human cargo.