It was the centre of the infamous transatlantic slave-trade. The European colonizers called it the Gold Coast because of large findings of gold. Today Ghana is one of the fastest growing economies on the African continent. When I came there I experienced a different Africa from the prejudiced image of a continent of merely poverty and conflict: I saw, in many ways, a happy and modern Africa, with a vibrant beachlife and cool surfers. But the castles of the European slave traders along the coast still remain as a reminder of a gruesome past. And gold can still be found on the beaches.