Mpoben Port

Photo: Graham Simmons

About thirty minutes by road west of Cape Coast, Elmina is said to have been the first European settlement in West Africa, though (like Cape Coast) it was founded with decidedly ulterior motives, as a centre for the slave trade.

Two World Heritage sites in Elmina are must visits. Fort St Jago, on a hill with spectacular views over the colourful Elmina fishing harbour (Mpoben Port, on Benya Lagoon), is an old Portuguese fort. Inside is a banqueting hall that once functioned as the first church in Africa. 

The other big attraction here is St George’s Castle (Elmina Castle). Built in 1482, also by the Portuguese, the castle is the oldest known European structure in the tropics. The visitor is likely to be both horrified and captivated by the castle's museum, which in a series of paintings and dioramas starkly brings alive the history of the town and the terrors of the slave trade. A visit is like reliving hundreds of turbulent years in just a few hours or days, and it cannot help but make an impact.