Just Shoot Me

Really. Please. Talk about a depressing day. We already knew that 2 of us would be leaving the pack that day. We also knew that we were up for a double whammy of depression with the 2 main entries on our schedule for the day. What we didn't know was all the other junk that would pile up to make this the roughest day (we pray that's the roughest of it) of the trip.
We ate a late breakfast in Accra and departed (late) for Coconut Grove. On the way, we stopped at the Lutheran Church at the Liberian refugee camp where Steve Ben-Naimah pastors. The camp used to house over 70,000 people but now is down to about 10,000 and the U.N. is now moving toward disbanding the camp all together. It was a humbling experience. Words cannot really express the depth to which this impacted us. We'll leave it at that for now.
Next, it was off to Coconut Grove where we hoped to lunch, but given time constraints, we settled for a quick snack before heading off to Elmina Castle--launching point for a high percentage of the slave trade. We walked through the cells slaves were held in. We listened as our guide recounted countless atrocities comitted by humans upon one another--from the rival tribes who brought their enemies to the Western slave traders, to the Westerners themselves. Even over 100 years later the smell of blood still wafted through the salty-sea air.
So then the day was over? Right? Not in the least. After Elmina, we ventured back to Coconut Grove to settle into our hotel rooms and grab a real meal. We walked on the beach and bid our farewells to Curt and Steve but one was not with us. Diane was sick.