Last Bath

Located in Assin Manso, Central Region of Ghana, this river—also called “Ndonkor Nsuo” (Slave River)—was a stop along the brutal journey of captured Africans. After being kidnapped from their villages, they were force-marched for miles, shackled and broken, until they reached this river.

At the Slave River, they were bathed for the last time before being sold off at slave markets like Cape Coast and Elmina Castles. Their captors often oiled their bodies to make them look “healthy” for the human auctions. This was not a cleansing of dignity but a washing away of identity—turning free people into commodities.