Hardventure Tourism - Dec 2013

A break to new and exciting adventurous sights in TanzaniaA focus on the least known tourist attractions of TanzaniaIssue No. 6 December 2013

P w a n i | D a r e s S a l a a m | Ta n g a

Tourist Attractions in the

COAST ZONETourist Attractions in the

COAST ZONE

| Least known tourist attractions

Tanzania Tourist Board 2

Focus on Coast Zone

Map of Tanzania



Map

of

the

Coas

t Z

one

ContentsEditorial commentJust go by the fl ow in Mrima Coast

Pwani: Host to early ivory traders

Dar es Salaam: As peaceful as the fabled abode

Tanga: Like the lost and found ‘Atlantis’

Day out and seashells

How caving became my sport

Where ‘today’ doesn’t exist

Out there alone except my Swahili

Sounds and sights

Factual blurb

Sable Antelopes

Writer’s tales

05

Focus on the least known tourist attractions in the Coast Zone

06

22

38

27

33

37

42

48

10

15

16



Note: All Adverts in this edition are reproduced ex gratia



Well, in this 6th edition the HardVenture team has prepared a 2-activity itinerary to suit visitors interested to get an exposure to early civilisation of the nice and friendly Swahili people who lived and roamed in the bushes and beaches of the former Mrima Coast the geographical location of the current day regions of Tanga, Dar es Salaam and Pwani or Coast, when it hosted the early travellers and traders from Europe, the Arabian world and South Asia. Get the feel of the Mrima Coast area residents and their garments fl owering in so many splendid ways, their history, learning, religion, and of course their time tested generosity to early explorers and traders.

Visitors to the Mrima Coast; formerly a coastal strip made up of one of the oldest cities of Tonique, the present day Tanga (also known as the lost and found ‘Atlantis’ of the East African Coast), Pangani; the undisputed Ibiza of the coast where one of the earliest scholar-travellers, Al Masudi, fell in love and settled down to write his celebrated book: Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems of the coast, the city of Raphta which is where the current day Rufi ji stands as well as their youngest port-member, Dar es Salaam, formerly known to early Arab sailors as Peaceful Port or Haven of Peace! According to archeological fi ndings and traditions as well as documented evidence all the early city ports, except Dar es Salaam, were in existence from as early as AD 900 or much earlier.

Written testimony by Al Masudi an early geographer (surveyor) from Cairo, Egypt showed he anchored and stayed in Pangani in AD 917, brushing shoulders with the fi shermen-Panganis while in search of peace and privacy to pen down the Meadows. So, set sail on a dhow, a symbol of the Mrima Coast cultural insights as you chart a course along the blue waters of the Indian Ocean by taking in the earliest fi shing villages, one after another, and the historical sites along the old spice routes on the fringed palm-trees silver sandy beaches.

And it is only at Mrima Coast where an old Spanish saying: ‘un elefante en la playa’ meaning ‘an elephant on the beach,’ can be approved because nowhere in East Africa a magical beach has met the bush. Thanks to the Saadani national park! Otherwise, riding, hiking, driving or just trekking through the narrow streets and alley ways downtown the old cities could be rewarding, exciting activities and an experience of a life time. Yes, we are in the modernisation tip-off but, los viejos (the former old cities) are embellished by fi ne carved coral stone work-houses, mosques, churches, temples and palaces, and as such, the decorations give the old buildings in the entire Mrima Coast; from the villages to towns and cities, unique styles of early architectural designs.

It is true some of the buildings have succumbed to Mother Nature and others might be in mounds of rubble or ruins, but those in existence bear testimony to the ingenuity of early builders and brick layers as they blend well with a mixture of Indo-Arabic-Bavarian designs and Swahili civilization. But any way, what is Mrima Coast? Coined by Omani Arab traders, the Mrima Coast prescribed to the early port cities found outside the coastal waters of the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, Mombasa and Kilwa or the Queen of the South, an early glittering metropolitan trading city which was ravaged by gold, ivory and spice seekers of the late 14th Century and later by human abductors and slave traders.

For over 1000 years down the line modernity has failed to cast away the past but exciting viewpoints of the fl ow-sailing history in the Mrima Coast into oblivion. A visitor to these refurbished ports would catch a glimpse of the old dhow viewpoints and dugout canoes as they come down ashore or move out for fi shing excursion, an economic activity for the area fi shermen since time immemorial. In Dar es Salaam and Tanga ports, viewpoints of rafts fl oating along the shores in the foreground of huge freight-ships and tall cranes, could be excitingly spectacular either.

Don’t forget the lush green natural forests which meet these cities as you move out. They are homes to wildlife and birding too, and the HardVenture will take you there; to the natural habitats of the multi-coloured butterfl ies and small noisy birds which spice up natural life in the suburbs of towns and cities along the Mrima Coast.

So, just get going by the fl ow!

Aloyce K. Nzuki, PhDManaging Director

Main cover photo: A section of the 13th Century Kaole Ruins of the Shirazi traders from the current day Iran (formerly Persia) located about 5 km south

of Bagamoyo. Photo credit/Elisha Mayallah

Just go by the fl ow in Mrima Coast



Focus on Coast Zone

Host to early ivory traders

Geographical LocationPwani Region is one of the 30 administrative regions of

Tanzania. The regional capital is the town of Kibaha. With

a size of 32,407 square kilometres (12,512 square miles),

the region is slightly larger than the state of Maryland

in the United States (32,133 square kilometres

(12,407 square miles).

Border FrontiersPwani shares its northern border with Tanga Region, to

the east with the Dar es Salaam Region and the Indian

Ocean, to the south with the Lindi Region, and to the

west lies Morogoro Region.

DistrictsThe region is administratively divided in six districts

namely: Bagamoyo, Kibaha. Rufi ji, Kisarawe, Mukuranga

and Mafi a Island.

EthnicityPwani region is multi-ethnicity with major groups included

Wakwere, Wazaramo, Warufi ji and Wadengereko as well

as the overlapping Wang’indo, Wasegeju and Wakwafi ,

the sub Maasai people. Its population stands at about

1.7 million people.

EtymologyThe word Pwani literally means ‘coast’ in Kiswahili.

Therefore, the region got its name from its geographical

proximity to the Indian Coast. At one time the region was

known as Mzizima with Dar es Salaam as its regional

capital. Mzizima, to area residents means ‘healthy town.’

ClimateSince the region is close to the Equator and the warm

Indian Ocean, it experiences tropical climatic conditions,

typifi ed by hot and humid weather throughout much of the

Pwani PWANI

Mighty Rufi ji River as it empties its fresh waters through an Indian Ocean estuary about 75 km South of Dar es Salaam



Southern Beach Bagamoyo Mafi a Beach

Freshly caught octopus hangs in the sun before it goes into the cook’s pot. Pwani natives believed its soup posses some ‘stimulants’

Sunset at the Rufi ji River



Focus on Coast Zone

year. It has a tropical wet and dry climate. Annual

rainfall is approximately 1,100 mm (43 in), and in a

normal year there are two rainy seasons: ‘the long

rains’ in March or April running through mid May,

with ‘short rains’ better known as the ‘mango

rains’ experienced in October and November

coinciding with the ripening or harvesting season

of the mango fruits.

AgricultureAgriculture makes the major economic activity in

Pwani where residents engage in farming of staple

crops such as cassava, maize, paddy, sorghum

and millet while cash crops included coconut,

cotton, cashews and copra.

Natural Resources

ForestryTimber normally harvested from indigenous forest

plays important role in the subsistence economy

of the region.

Bee keepingHoney and beeswax gathering through traditional

hives were implemented by a number of villages in

Pwani especially those are located on the fringes

of its natural forests.

TourismTourism activities are highly pontential in Pwani

both in wildlife, historical sites and ruins, particularly

in its coast town of Bagamoyo, Rufi ji and the Mafi a

Island.

Getting thereDue to its proximity with its former capital Dar es

Salaam, Pwani can be reached through the Julius

Nyerere International Airport, the Great North

Road as well as Tanzania Railways which operates

the Central Line from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma

and the Tazara which connects Dar es Salaam to

Zambia.

Visitors also could reachPwani via the KIA and the

newly inaugurated Mbeya International Airport, or

by sea but again through Dar es Salaam port.

AccommodationVisitors to Pwani can easily make bookings in Dar

es Salaam accommodation facilities and yet meet

their commitments in Pwani. Otherwise there are

best hotel facilities in the regional capital Kibaha as

well as the old city of Bagamoyo and on the Mafi a

Island.

Loners of Rufi ji River

Beach Camping

Bee eater of the Rufi ji



Swollen Wami River snakes through the Saadani

Gym in the Saadani Jungle

Join artisan fi shermen for a day Looking North along Mrima Coast

An early morning lone visitor in Saadani



Focus on Coast Zone

“Our guide helped us into a canoe then drifted with the fl ow along the river…”

Sometimes it can be diffi cult in the Saadani in making a choice between waking up early in the morning to catch a glimpse of the technicolour array of seashells and follow elephant’s safaris early the same morning.

Walking to the beach at dawn and watch fi shermen pulling in their catch of the mouthwatering Saadani prawns could be the fi rst choice which included swimming in the clear sea, and relaxing in a hammock, or building the motivation to take a safari could be overwhelming depending on the time limit, second one.

But for sure, nothing could be interesting in the Saadani, like trekking down an elephant’s safari very early in the morning because you won’t miss out at all. An excitement trailing the Africa Jumbo couldn’t go because you missed-out with the sightings of the jumbo, just bear and grin as you will be catching a glimpse of graphic dissection of the elephant’s large balls of dung covering the ground (‘nice and fresh’.)

And the sightings of green turtles coming back to the Saadani in every November for their nesting sites were extremely glorious too.

But anyway, that could be my fi rst option, when my wife and I visit the Saadani, the only Park in East Africa where you can also fi nd the elephant jostling for space in the sandy beach sunbathing. Un elefante en la playa, so goes a Spanish maxim, meaning ‘an elephant on the beach!’

Again it was only in the Saadani where we caught the refl ections of a family of vervet monkeys playing on the silver sea sand as my wife and I laid in a hammock on the ‘foyer’ of our stilted built banda.

This is the Saadani, the East Africa’s only coastal wildlife reserve, offering the chance to see big game and bird life interacting at ‘deserted’ sea beach, but all the options were available, rewardingly and gratifying.

Flying in a very small plane from Dar es Salaam we followed the coast for about half an hour until we began to descend

Technicolour seashell viewing in the

Saadani



towards a small airstrip located deep in the Park. As altitude decreased we began to see the movement of animals below - our fi rst clear indication that this really is where the bush meets the beach. After a short game drive we arrived at our destination, the newly opened A Tent with a View Safari Lodge on the north east boundary of the Park.

Having founded the original basic safari camp in Saadani in 1995, ATWV recently moved location to Mkwaja and upgraded their safari lodge to an exclusive standard. With just eight beachfront tented bandas perched on stilts, each individually styled with a theme relevant to the surroundings, the lodge oozes with the relaxed harmony which makes Saadani so unique. The lodge offers a variety of safaris and

activities including game drives, boat safaris, walking safaris and bird watching by canoe as well as the early morning elephant safari.

However with limited time we managed to pull ourselves away from the hammock and explore the Park. A boat safari on the Wami river is billed as one of the highlights of any visit to Saadani. The lodge operates this as part of a full day game drive graphic dissection of said elephant’s dung combining a variety of driving routes to and from the river which is located at the southern boundary of the Park. Frequently seen game includes healthy populations of giraffe, buffalo, reedbuck, waterbuck, zebra, Liechtenstein’s hartebeest, wildebeest, warthog, baboon and a plethora of bird life.

En route to the river we passed a salt works (sable antelopes love licking natural salts) which also attract a great variety of bird life. A fl ock of fl amingos made a particularly dazzling pink display against the white backdrop of the salt works.

The boat safari itself lived up to its top billing. We started by moving down towards the mouth of the river where a myriad of birds seem to gather like regulars at a saloon bar. Cormorants, egrets, yellow-billed and open-billed storks and grey herons were particularly in evidence. As the boat then turned inland the waders started to give way to different species and several birds of prey including fi sh eagles, yellow-billed kites, palm nut and white-backed vultures immediately caught the eye. A colony of yellow weaver birds had overtaken a tree with their intricate hanging nests and

a fl ash of red signalled carmine bee-eaters in abundance. As we progressed, though our attention was diverted by the pods (schools) of hippo which lay in wait ahead, and we tentatively edged our way through the bobbing obstacle course. On the sand banks pelicans displayed their wings and with a quick fl ash and a splash a crocodile disturbed the peace. In the trees along the riverbank we saw black and white colobus as well as blue monkeys, before we turned round and braved the hippos once more.

Back at the lodge we felt we had deserved our pina colada, and a prawn extravaganza was served up for dinner. We decided against an early ‘elephant safari’ which was departing at 05.30 the following morning and instead decided on a more leisurely start to the day.



Focus on Coast Zone

After breakfast we spent the morning slowly ambling down the beach, occasionally stopping for a swim or to inspect a set of prints on the sand before managing to return to the lodge to eat once more.

Such exertions deserved an afternoon siesta before our afternoon walking safari. From the lodge we headed inland through a coconut grove into more dense bush before emerging at some mangroves where our chariot awaited.

Our guide, Iddi, helped us into the dugout canoe then smoothly paddled us along the Mafue river quietly pointing out the birds which frequent the mangroves and explaining the effects which the mangroves have on the Saadani ecosystem. Just as we were being lulled into a sense of false security Iddi pulled into the riverbank and announced that from now on we were walking and we started to follow an elephant trail through the bush.

For the next hour we gained an exhilarating insight into the fl ora and fauna of this unique environment, a very different and perhaps even more intriguing alternative to the more traditional game drive safari.

The slithering tracks of a python estimated by Iddi to be 12-15 feet long (“a baby!”), the jumbled hoof prints of a group of six waterbuck, the fl attened brush where an elephant had stomped its way through followed by a very graphic dissection of said elephant’s dung, a Bateleur eagle fl ying high in search of food, the tracks of a family of warthog leading to their den (apparently an old aardvark hole), the shrill alarm calls of different birds, the whistle of an acacia thorn, the fl eeting glimpse of the white target of a waterbuck’s backside, weaver bird nests gently blowing in the breeze, an encounter with an elephant shrew (an animal as bizarrely shaped as the name suggests), a fl ock of alarmed guinea fowl desperately fl apping their escape,



a faceoff with baboons, the horned silhouette of a giraffe against the descending sun, more spoor dissections and then the ever increasing roar of the ocean signalled we had nearly come full circle until we emerged back onto the beach.

A walking safari is an exciting experience - as the threat of what might be around you is emphasized by every noise, your senses become attuned to your surroundings and you gain a greater appreciation of the environment. It is also great exercise and it was only when we were back on the safety of our verandah, watching the sky change colour as the sun set and drinking a cold beer, that we could truly be brave about our ‘walk in the park’.

Dinner on our second night was this time a lobster extravaganza and we chatted to the lodge owner David about the future of Saadani. Saadani is one of the few

places in Tanzania where green turtles return to nest every year but this leaves them prey to depravation. A green turtle hatchery is being developed to help conserve this endangered species against the human predators partial to scrambled turtle eggs and it is hoped as the project develops to be able to bring scientifi c researchers to Saadani to help to monitor the populations which return every year to their favoured nesting sites.

Whether it was the intoxication of the Saadani addiction or the bottle of fi ne South African wine we consumed will never be known, but we found ourselves signing up for an early ‘elephant safari’ the next morning.

A 05.30 wake up call, followed by a hasty coffee and then we were bumping our way towards north Mkwaja where elephant had been spotted earlier in the week. We stopped near a dam and from the large balls of dung covering the

Mother to Baby golden ‘tusk –shake’ in the Saadani



Focus on Coast Zone

ground (“nice and fresh”) our hopes gathered that we might spot these extremely shy beasts.

Alas, although we heard much trumpeting and crashing in the undergrowth, we did not actually see any elephants but were content in the knowledge that we had been so near yet so far.

As a bonus though on our way back to the lodge we spotted a lone male lion trying to look inconspicuous and the highlight of our whole trip was when we saw a herd of Roosevelt’s sable antelopes gracefully waltzing along near the road.

It is on record remembered, the sable antelopes are only found in Saadani and Selous in Tanzania so this was an extremely privileged sighting. The rest of the day drifted along and we began to experience the spell that the Swahili coast casts upon its visitors. The soft breeze, the lapping of the sea, monkeys on the beach, traditional fi shing boats

passing by, the occasional thud of a falling coconut, a set of footprints down the beach, more delicious food, crabs scuttling for their holes, waders stalking their dinner, the absolute tranquility - this is the perfect spot to relax.

Saadani is unique and undoubtedly will become yet another major attraction in Tanzania’s outstanding collection of natural wonders.

With better controlled management of resources, improved infrastructure, protection of the wildlife and increased promotion, the future for the Saadani Park is looking positive.

Refl ecting on all of this I can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of wellbeing and a strange affi liation with my natural surroundings - and that can only be good for one’s soul after visiting the magical Saadani.

Text/ Photo Credit:

David Barker, Saadani/ Tanapa

Where the bush meets the beach



Roosevelt’s Sable Antelopes have been named after

explorer and hunter Kermit Roosevelt, son of former 26th

US President Theodore Delano Roosevelt exclusively

found in Tanzania. The mammals are sometimes called

East African sable, which is inappropriate, because the

common sable has no equally extensive distribution in

East Africa.

Those formerly known as Shimba sable, because they

were formerly spotted by hunters in the Shimba Hills in

Kenya, as fi rst described by animal scientist, Edmund

Heller during Roosevelt’s’ 1909-1910 long East African

safari were extinct due to poaching for their trophies and

game meat. The name Shimba Hills Sable has dropped

and renamed Sable Antelopes, sometimes without the

prefi x Roosevelt’s (Sable Antelopes.)

DescriptionSlightly smaller, lighter in colour and with shorter horns than

the common sables. Males vary from seal brown formerly

found in the Shimba Hills to reddish black in the Selous

and Saadani National Park. Females are a bright rufous.

Distribution From the East coastal Tanzania (in the Saadani), to the

Selous in southern Tanzania; in the Kilombero Valley to

the West of the Selous; and South as well as southeast

of the Selous; and South to the Ruvuma River along the

Tanzania - Mozambique border. The Sable specie below

the Ruvuma River has shown evidence of hybridisation

(large in body size.) Sable antelope are highly sought-after

its horns and beautiful skin as trophies as well as for its

mouthwatering game meat.

Facts HabitatThe sable’s preferred habitat combines savanna

woodlands and grasslands during the dry season. Sables

are considered grazers and feed on grasses, herbs, and

foliage. Most sable antelope must drink water every day

or two and also visit salt licks on a regular basis.

Social StructureHerds of females typically have 15 to 25 members and

tend to share the same home range. Female sables are

very aggressive and as a result, there is a female hierarchy

system based on seniority.

Sable antelope are most active during the early morning

and late afternoon. They are not excessively wary, often

running a short distance when startled, then stopping and

looking back.

When closely pursued, they can run as fast for considerable

distances. When wounded or cornered, sable antelope

viciously defend themselves with their sabre-like horns.

The fi ght or fl ight distance for sable antelope seems to

be smaller than for comparable species. Old bulls are

believed to be territorial. When fi ghting, males would drop

to their ‘knees’ and engage opponent in horn wrestling;

fatalities from these combats are rare. Maternal herds are

led by a dominant male.

Gestation After a gestation period of around 9 months, one offspring

is born.

Gender and ColoursThis is the most obvious difference. Females and young

are bright chestnut to dark brown and mature males are

chestnut to jet black.

The semicircular, ridged horns are found in both sexes,

although they are smaller in females.

TrophyHorn length with thick bases will make a good trophy. A

sable’s horn length can only really be judged from side

view of the animal. However, if you look at it from the front

and actually see the horn tips fl aring out, then it should be

a great animal.

Fact box: Sable

Antelopes



Focus on Coast Zone

If you are interested in historical studies fascinating facts and

amusing stories, pick on the Old City of Bagamoyo for much

tales of once a vibrant trading seaport and capital town on the

Coast region.

On a rainy mid-morning day, I was upbeat about the prospects of

spending a two-day safari in Bagamoyo.

Our car rolled in the Old City from the nearby Saadani National

Park via the newly commissioned road, after a new bridge was

slapped over, virtually making our drive shorter by 60 kilometres

away, pleasurable and direct.

Bagamoyo was rather quiet as we arrived; on hand to welcome

us was the district’s Tourism Offi cer, Obed Henry Chaula who

is also the Project Coordinator for the sustainable eco-tourism

implemented in his three villages namely: Kaole, Dunda and

Milingotini.

The project is facilitated and supported by a global environmental

facility (GEF.)

Willy Lyimo an offi cial from TTB in Arusha, the organisers of our

trip to Bagamoyo and other destinations along the Mrima coast.

Mention the name Bagamoyo, and what fi rst comes to mind is the

infamous history of the slave trade in East Africa, its signifi cance

in world history, both as an entry point for Arabs and European

missionaries, early explorers/travellers and traders in East and

Central Africa (from as early as the 8th to the 19th Century.)

One thing remains clear though, that the Arabs or Shirazis were

the traders to settle in Kaole and later Bagamoyo.

Many Arabs and Indian merchants settled in Bagamoyo and

established the old seaport a trading centre on the Africa’s

East Coast. The traders from the Arab world and South India

established huge plantations and the African population provided

labour.

We started off by a visit to the old market, Abdallah Ulimwengu; a

resident of the Old city was the assigned tour guide.

The market was built by the Germans who made Bagamoyo

a commercial centre and administrative capital of the Dutch

colonial administration in Tanganyika, Rwanda and Burundi.

Ulimwengu gave explanations to how the Arabs used the

market as a mini-slave market (then under a tree) linked to an

underground tunnel through which slaves driven blindfolded. It

was later used as a trading centre for ivory, copra, ebony and

other natural resources.

Some of the most ancient buildings form the core of the town’s

history. We walked past a collection ruins owned by former Arab

and Indian traders which depict their last millennial architectural

designs.

Ancient chest doors are still attached to the door frames of the

ancient buildings downtown Bagamoyo, ranging from residential

and commercial houses, churches and mosques. To complement

our feelings, we visited the fi rst multi-racial school, Mwambao

housed in one of the fi rst building structures in Bagamoyo.

The 3-storey building was donated to German colonial offi cials

by an infl uential native trader Sewa Haji who had bought it some

four or so years earlier.

Sewa Haji made the donation in 1896 on condition that the

building should be used as a multi-racial school; a learning

Iconic ivory courier photo at the Caravan Sarai, in current day Bagamoyo



institution that should open its doors to accommodate African,

Indian and German children whose parents worked and lived in

Bagamoyo.

Although, the school was multi-racial but students who were

enrolled used different classrooms according to the colour of

their skin. Apparently, fi shing is the major economic activity for

most local people in Bagamoyo in particular and Pwani region

in general.

In an open fi eld closer to the beachfront stood a fi sh market

frequented by visitors and area residents. Upon our arrival we

found the market busy with hundreds of people swarming it as

others fried fi sh in several chambers of the sprawling market.

while others were busy negating for affordable prices. There

was a group of fi shmongers selling freshly caught fi sh in different

species and sizes.

Our next site was the German’s gallows where natives were

executed, sometimes in masses.

According to Ulimwengu, a building located to the northwest of

the town was the offi cial residence of the ambassadors of the

Sultan of Zanzibar, an offi ce and prison house for Arabs

Inspired by the fi rst-day’s tour, after dinner I retired to my hotel

for the night, and it was a vibrant nightlife too, with several joints,

nightclubs in the town serving great foods.

After breakfast on Day 2, we embarked on a leisurely drive to

the former Shiraz village of Kaole, about 5 kilometres South of

Bagamoyo to catch a glimpse of a collections of ruins, believed

to be the of an oldest mosque in East African region. The ruins

consist of two mosques, and near to the northern mosque were

22 tombs, mainly graves of Persian traders from Shiraz and

Arabs, set among palm trees.

The mosques were built between the 13th and 15th centuries

when Kaole was known as Pumbuji, and it is thought to be one

of the earliest contacts of Islam in Africa.

At the time, the locals (Wakwere) called the faithful to prayers

at the mosques quite unusual and they said in their dialect:

ChiteKalole meaning ‘let’s go and see.’ They later changed the

name from Pumbuji to ‘Kalole’ until early 1970s when it was re-

named Kaole.

Apparently the area residents according to Ulimwengu draw

water from a signle well which was a borehole of the former

mosque and it has been in use ever since in belief the fresh water

was sacred and can heal different ailments.

When we visited the borehole we found a small bucket tied to a

rope that Ulimwengu said was used to draw the water from the

mosque’s shallow well.A collection of Shiraz ruins in the former water-front

Kaole settlement, Bagamoyo.



Focus on Coast Zone

We made wrap up to our visitation at the Caravan Serai, a

courtyard, which has a single building in front of a 2- storey

square main building. The building stood as evidence of foreign

trade interactions in Old Bagamoyo.

Apart from the provision hotel accommodation to travellers

engaged in overseas and interior trading portfolios, there was

incriminating evidence Omani Arab traders used the building as

a collection house for slaves on transit because Bagamoyo had

no designated slave market.

It is from this building that overseas travellers and merchants

either exchanged goods with their counterparts from the interior

or made arrangements for porter and guides to take them to the

interior’s trading centre, such as Tabora, Ujiji, or Kalemii in DR

Congo.

It is believed the slaves might have found the Caravan Serai a

gateway to a point of no return hence the dejection sigh: ‘Here I

Lay Down My Heart! Translated as ‘BwagaMoyo’ in Kiswahili to

be corrupted later to the current day Bagamoyo.

As we drove out to Dar es Salaam, I couldn’t help thinking of the

placid life, social tranquility and its refreshed and relaxed breeze.

How I envy those who live here? I have unfi nished business

in Bagamoyo, and I will defi nitely be returning to ‘lay down my

heart and enjoy its beaches and breeze as I laid in the waterfront

bandas.

Text/Photo Credit:

Elisha Mayalla





Focus on Coast Zone

Mafi a Archipelago

Mafi a Archipelago is 130km from Dar es salaam and can also easily reach from Zanzibar by air. It was

a former slave trade centre. There are historical ruins linked to the days of Arabs and Germany colonial

period. You can also trail to see giant Comoros fruits bats and enjoy superb bird watching.

Mafi a Island marine park has 822sq km of reefs, coast and mangroves which is an important nesting site

for hawksbill and green turtles. Adventure activities includes snorkelling and scuba diving and its virgin

beaches would soon become the undisputed replacement for Zanzibar and Mombasa beach-goers.





Focus on Coast Zone

As peaceful as the fabled abode

Geographical LocationDar es Salaam Region is one of the 30 administrative

regions of Tanzania. The regional capital is the City of

Dar es Salaam. The region is located between Latitudes

6.36 and 7.0 degrees to the South of the Equator and

Longitude 33.3 and 39 degrees to the East of Greenwich.

The region lies along the shore of Indian Ocean in the

East and borders Pwani region in the West, South and

North.

Borders frontiersAs metropolitan region-city carved from Pwani Region,

Dar es Salaam still lives in the ‘womb’ of its parent region

with which shares much of its border frontiers running

down from the South through the West as far as to the

North, while on the East, are the waters and silver sandy

beaches of the Indian Ocean.

Physiographically Dar es Salaam is virtually perched on

a natural harbour on the eastern coast of Africa. As a

natural harbor, it is the hub of a transportation system to

the country as the main railways and several highways

originate in or near the city.

DistrictsDar es Salaam Region is divided into three administrative

districts namely; Ilala, Kinondoni and Temeke. The

municipal administration of the City of Dar es Salaam

is pegged on four municipalities (councils) namely: Ilala,

Temeke, Kinondoni and the Dar es Salaam municipality.

EthnicityLike any metropolitan, Dar es Salaam is multi-ethnicity but

originally the city is the land of the Wazaramo who have

been pushed to its fringes as a result of modernisation.

Mbudya Island off the White Sands Hotel, North of the City

Dar es SalaamD’Salaam



Its population now stands at about 4, 3 million people

and it is one the fast growing cities in Africa in terms of

population and economic growth.

Economic ActivityMajority of the residents of Dar es Salaam are engaged in

petty trading and smallholder farming on the fertile land

in the sprawling suburbs and slums. The middle class

residents are engaged in white colour jobs, but the city

relies of its central business district its major economic

cash-cow. A sizeable number of Dar es Salaam residents

are also engaged both in smallholder fi shing as well as

large scale fi shing.

TransportCommuter buses and recently the metro-train services

form the bulky of the transport system downtown Dar

es Salaam. Of late Motorcycles, tricyles and taxi services

ameliorate traffi c jams by ferrying people to and from

the city centre where much of economic activities are

undertaken.

EtymologyThe word Dar es Salaam literally means ‘the abode of

peace’ in Arabic or Persian but it was formerly known

as Mzizima,to area residents meaning ‘healthy town.’

Formal translations included ‘harbour or haven of peace’

also ‘abode or home of peace.’ In Persian or Arabic the

word bandar means harbor’ while in Arabic the word

dar means ‘house’ and es salaam in Arabic means

‘peace.’

In 1887 the German East Africa Company established an

offi ce in Dar es Salaam and facilitated its growth by

Fishermen’s dugout canoes jostle for anchorage space at the Dar es Salaam City waterfront



Focus on Coast Zone

its role as the administrative and commercial centre of

German East Africa and an industrial expansion resulting

from the construction of the Central Railway Line in the

early 1900s. Since then, Dar es Salaam has been the

locus of the permanent central government bureaucracy,

the capital of the region as well as commercial capital.

German East Africa colonial administration (Dutch

Oustafrika) was captured by the British during World

War I and the territory renamed Tanganyika, with Dar es

Salaam the administrative and commercial centre.

Under British indirect rule, separate races lived separately

for example Europeans were relocated to the sea front

area of Oyster Bay, while Indians mainly from south Asia,

occupied the central business districts and up market

areas such as Upanga and native Africans were relocated

in areas such as Kariakoo, Magomeni and Ilala, which

then were developed at a distance from the city centre.

ClimateBecause it is close to the equator and the warm Indian

Ocean, the city experiences generally tropical climatic

conditions, typifi ed by hot and humid weather throughout

much of the year. It has a tropical wet and dry climate.

Annual rainfall is approximately 1,100 mm (43 in), and in a

normal year there are two rainy seasons: ‘the long rains’

in March and May and ‘the short rains’ better known as

the mango rains’ come in October and November to

coincide with the ripening or harvesting season of the

mangoes.

Getting thereThe Julius Nyerere International Airport is the principal

airport serving the country. Tanzania Railways operates

the Central Line from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma. The

Tazara connects Dar es Salaam to Zambia. Visitors could

reach Dar es Salaam through the KIA and the newly

inaugurated Mbeya International Airport, or by road via



formal entry points or by sea. Safety and security of

visitors and their properties is highly guaranteed in Dar es

Salaam and many other Tanzanian cities. Dar es Salaam

like any city some incidents of muggers can occur. But,

as its name goes, Dar remains a house of peace in Africa!

AccommodationDar es Salaam has the best accommodation facilities

ranging from ‘starred’ hotels including brand names

as well as restaurants and guest houses suitable for

each visitors pulse and preference. A number water

front’s accommodation is also available for leisure or

honeymooners. Contact you tour operator for prior

bookings and transport from the airport.

What to doThe city now offers a rich and diversifi ed cuisines or eat

outs, ranging from traditional Tanzanian barbecue options

such as Nyama Choma (roasted meat) served with rice

or ugali, (stiff corn or maize fl our porridge) and mishkaki

(shish kebab) usually barbecued and served with salt, hot

peppers, pan cakes as they are known by local name

of chapati, fries, and rice on the side, to oriental or long

established traditional Indian Zanzibari, Chinese, Thai,

Turkish, Italian, to Japanese foods.

Other eat-outs included informal street food vendors

whose prices are cheap compared to prices charged

by fast food joints or traditional restaurants. Samosas

are commonly served by street food operators. Dar es

Salaam has two museums; the National Museum of

Tanzania Consortium namely; the National Museum

and House of Culture and the Village Museum. The

National Museum and House Culture is dedicated to the

history of Tanzania; most notably, it exhibits some of the

bones of early humans; paranthropus boisei among the

fi ndings of Louis Leakey at Olduvai Gorge. The Village

Museum, located in the outskirts of the city along the



Focus on Coast Zone

New Bagamoyo Road, showcases traditional huts from

different Tanzanian ethnic groups. Socio- economic

activities such as house building and organic farming.

In most cases traditional music and live band performance

is provided daily. Close to the National Museum is the

botanical garden, with some species of tropical plants

and trees.

For beach lovers, the Msasani peninsula north of Dar es

Salaam and in Kigamboni to the south are some of the

beaches frequented by city residents and tourists as well

Try them you will not regret.

Trips to nearby islands of Mbudya and Bongoyo under

the Dar es Salaam Marine Reserve popular sites are also

organised by some hotel operators.

A make a daytrip to these little paradise and feel like you

want to escape the world and put your minds at ease.

The Islets are favourite sites for snorkeling, swimming

and sunbathing.

Bongoyo Island, however, can be reached by boat from

the Msasani Slipway while Mbudya can be accessed by

motorised boats which are available for hire from White

Sands Hotel.

Testimonies by visitors

Bongoyo Island“Small piece of paradise, outside the city hustles.. I’ve

been to Bongoyo Island twice, and what I love about

it is, that it’s the kind of place, that you’d only see in

photographs and never really think you’d experience it.

It’s just a small beach with nice blue ocean around it with

an uncivilised forest in the background. I really felt like

I could ‘esc...ape the world’ and put my mind at ease.

Beware however, that if you have a tendency of getting

sunburned, you should put extra sun-protection on,

because the white sand and ocean around it can really

make you sunburned. All in all, it is a nice place, and

worth the 31.000 shillings boat fee.”

Mbudya Island“Beautiful day trip from Dar… Catch a boat from White

Sands Hotel just a half hour North of Dar es Salaam.

Spend the day snorkeling around the island, or lounging

in the beach chairs under the bandas (huts). Order fresh

seafood for lunch. Head back to Dar relaxed and ready

for another week, or more adventures as a tourist. A

great way...to spend a day.” The list is quite endless, but

with the help of your tour operator an itinerary could be

arranged either for a full day or few hours tour downtown

the city and its two marine reserve islands.



I visited Dar es Salaam in the early 90s, but nothing came

to mind that this natural port city had a relative dearth of

exciting attractions; man made, natural or historical, until

my Swahili teacher suggested what I thought could be

weird experience.

“Frommers, you’ll fi nd Dar excitingly rewarding if you

hang-out alone as you try out your Kiswahili,” Yansita, my

Kiswahili teacher told me after I had sought assistance if

she could take me around the City when she felt free. She

politely declined.

As any language teacher, I think she was right. Perhaps I

had pre conceived ideas that Dar could offer little more than

an awful stop-off en route to safari destinations inland or the

beautiful beaches of Zanzibar.

I thought, it was just a terrible place to pass the time before

making fl ight connection to ‘exciting’ destinations or just

for return trip back home in Europe. So, alone, one early

morning, I left my hotel room and hit the street to fi nd out

what Dar can offer if it wasn’t about a feeling of sightseeing

in few intriguing corners to simply watch and imbibe the

local life as well as it colours day-to-day routines.

I stumbled on interesting architectures scattered in and

around the City’s former colonial section, but nothing stood

out as impressive as much of the heritages were slightly in

tattered state.

I spent a couple of hours getting a feel for the City rhythm

by setting off at the crack of dawn to visit the bustling Fish

market, where I saw straight-off-the-boat merchandise

graded, sorted, and displayed in some elaborate way to

catch the eye of prospective buyers; from market mamas or

housewives laden with plastic buckets fi lled with fi nger-size

fi sh, to restaurateurs searching for top-quality tuna fi sh that

might be transformed into your lunchtime sashimi.

I become engrossed in the raucous parlaying that went

on as basket after basket of early morning catch, made its

way up from the boats, or turned my eyes to the water to

witness the action amid colourful tangle of fi shing dhows

and ropes and nets.

I looked out, too, for the ‘marching’ (machingas) kahawa

(coffee) hawkers and fuelled up with a dose of Swahili

‘espresso,’ it’s strong, bitter black coffee best taken with a

bite of the candied nut brittle.

Yasinta had told me: Once out there, don’t be afraid to try

out your Kiswahili, a heartfelt ‘Jambo’ (hello) and ‘habari?’

(how are you?) could draw a smile out of the face even of

the toughest-looking fi sherman, although you’d better be

on guard by making simple explanations such as ‘Sisemi

or sijui Kiswahili vizuri’ (I don’t speak or understand good

Kiswahili) before you confuse a friendly local into assuming

you’re being rude.

Yasinta had also cautioned over taking unsolicited pictures

or photo shoots, so I got positive response when I politely

asked some guys( the colourful Maasai) in the street:

‘Nikupige picha?’ meaning ‘May I take your picture?’) I

didn’t regret making such an effort.

Try your Swahili

hanging out there alone




Focus on Coast Zone

After I had my fi ll of the fi shy stench, I took a stroll along

the Kivukoni Front to experience the City as it comes to life.

From here, I caught a glimpse of the view of the harbour

on one side and the confl uence of modernity and colonial

leftovers on the other. Between it all, the taxi drivers and

shoe-shines, hustlers and hookers, dock workers and

diplomats made for their particular corners of the City.

Pssee. Now. if you wanted a sense of how modern Dar’s

population went about its business, stop by the ultra-

modern Kariakoo Market, where the City’s pulse beats

hardest; its vivid sights and pungent smells and frenzied,

frenetic sounds revealed Dar in its concentrated form

(except perhaps for the mayhem you might witness at any of

the larger bus terminals in other African major cities). Once

a small village, Kariakoo got its present-day name from the

military Carrier Corps which assembled there during the

ensuing world wars. The name was simply corrupted from

the two English words ‘carrier’ meaning one who carries to

karia and ‘corps’ pronounced ‘koo’ which means a military

unit or establishment to form ‘karia-koo!’ At the heart of

Kariakoo is the ‘eastern’ bloc-style of concrete hulk that

comprises the main market building; (I was told people

travel from all over East Africa to shop here,) as some went

on so far as to call it ‘Dubai of Tanzania!’

I stepped inside for a gander at a disparate array of goods;

everything, I mean everything, from fertilizers to electronic

appliances, just name it… and hanging in the air was a

mixture of high-tech gadgetry and the smell of freshly

cracked coconuts, the tang of green peppers, aromatic

spices, as well as sweet scent of citrus juice. Outside the

market, I saw some bizarre events unfolding before my

eyes, illegal vendors or the ‘machingas’ also corrupted

from ‘marching guys’ or hawkers or peddlers, lined the

streets, pushing ‘kitu kidogo’ (petty gifts) into the hands

of potbellied City Askaris who, in return, allowed them to

sell their fresh fruit and vegetables alongside racks fl ogging

beautifully patterned khangas. And amid it all, scores of

people thronged in every direction; women out to shop,



Focus on Coast Zone

traders gathering their wares, pedestrians dodging traffi c,

and heavily loaded carts being dragged through it all by

tough, bedraggled workers.

Now, a word of caution by my Swahili teacher

Dar es Salaam like any metropolitan city, incidents of

muggers couldn’t be ruled out.

You’d do well to leave all valuables at your hotel when

exploring here (or pretty much anywhere in the City,

alone and at odd hours in the evening or at night); in the

afternoon, however, the crowds can be thick, and your

overtly displayed jewelry or purse would have gone missing

long before you noticed.

With fl air of an adventurous, I hopped on the Kigamboni

Ferry, which launches not far from the Fish market and

along with hundreds of fellow passengers I was ferried

across the Magogoni creek to the Kigamboni peninsula,

an eclectic mix of market stalls as colourful as they are

chaotic. I stood there watching fi shermen working on their

boats or visitors picking transport for a trip to the virgin silver

sandy beaches along the south coastline. If you want to get

a feel for Tanzania’s emerging art scene, there’s no beating

Mawazo (at the time of writing this piece, he was looking

for new premises), which hosts exhibitions showcasing the

very best in contemporary art.

If there’s a chance of fi nding collectible, exciting local work,

that was it. (at the time of writing), there’s also a new art

gallery at the National Museum and House of Culture,

where I fawned over the skull of one of our earliest proto-

human ancestors, uncovered by Richard Leakey deep in

the belly of the East African Rift Valley at an archeological

site known as Olivia Gorge. Any word over Ronald Dahl?

Perhaps only few people like me knew that author Ronald

Dahl once lived a life of relative luxury in Dar es Salaam when

he worked for a British oil fi rm; Shell Petroleum Company

in the 1930s.

When World War II broke out, Dahl was conscripted by

the military where he later captained a platoon of askaris

and went on to serve in the Royal Air Force, with missions

across North Africa. Dahl, my sources could confi rm in

confi dentiality, lived in the exclusive enclave of Oyster Bay,

at the southern end of the Msasani Peninsula, which has

apparently remained a hub of expatriate luxury living, replete

with enormous mansions, about 80 embassies or envoys,

and real estate averaging $1 million.

It’s also the setting for the most sociable swimming beach in

the immediate City vicinity namely; Coco Beach frequented

by patrons for either a walk or a dip. A casual beach bar and

restaurant nearby with its plastic chairs, served cold beers,

and straightforward menu.

Finally, one of the favourite daytime pursuits for visitors like

me was a dhow cruise to Bongoyo, a small island marine

reserve close to the Msasani Peninsula. Boats set off on the

half-hour trip every 2 hours from 9:30am, returning an hour

later. I spent half about half my day exploring the island

in a company of friends and some local girls who gave us

company.

The all-inclusive trip cost wasTsh25,000, but I was told it

has been adjusted upwards to around Tsh31,000!

Is Bigona, I mean, Sylvester Bigona still there? Anyway, I

had still an Ace over my sleeve: to skip the City and head to

the virtually untouched beaches along the south coast and

it was then I had to remember the meaning of the word

paradise and escape from the hustle world by discovering

alternatives to the development that has overtaken over-

exploited beaches of Zanzibar.



Tanzania’s Signature Artists

Ubiquitous pretty much all over East Africa, especially where

there’s the chance of a tourist sale, the paintings that have

become synonymous with modern Tanzania tread a thin

line between fi ne art, graphic design, and cartoon. Chief

among them were the naïve, childlike depictions of wide-

eyed animals that comprise the famed Tinga Tinga school.

Few people who head home with a handful of paintings in

their luggage realised the particular art style had its roots

with one man, Eduardo Saidi Tingatinga.

Born in Southern Tanzania in 1937, Tingatinga was the

original artist who inadvertently founded a movement,

having found himself inspired by some Congolese paintings

he had seen.

With no formal training at all, he tried his hand at creating

images of wild animals and village scenes using enamel

liquid paint bought from nearby hardware store. His images

of simplifi ed human fi gures or wild animals painted from

one side with the head turned toward the viewer are two-

dimensional and give the impression of almost childlike

simplicity, with no background, no depth. Yet with the

absence of any pretense at realism, and by cutting the

subject to its bare essence, revealing only what he saw as

the main elements, Tingatinga’s works have been described

as atmospheric and poetic, capturing the fragile spirit of his

subjects.

In Europe his paintings are called ‘ the sort of essential

art’ in which he uses subtle colour, form, and shape to

convey a charming sense of beauty, which some critics

have suggested represents the artist’s reality, albeit in

a straightforward, graphical medium by an adult artist

who managed to preserve the original and unabashed

spontaneity of childhood.

Sadly, Tingatinga, who might have belatedly began painting

in 1967 at the age of 30, was accidentally killed in a police

shootout in 1972. During his brief time as an artist, however,

he trained members of his own family in his style, and his

technique has become Tanzania’s most popular art form;

the Tinga Tinga School.

Other famous images that have come to epitomise the spirit

(literally, in this case) of the Tanzanian art world are the quirky,

cartoonesque shetani (‘spirit’ or ‘devil’) fi gures realised

by George Lilanga during his illustrious career. Widely

considered to be one of the world’s major contemporary

artists, Lilanga was greatly infl uenced by the Pop movement,

and the impact of Keith Haring is particularly evident in his

work. Whereas Tingatinga’s style teeters on the edge of the

banal, Lilanga (1934-2005) explored a realm of magic and

fantasy that spans the space between reality and the spirit

realm.

His paintings are ironic explorations of common themes

in everyday life, and history, too, is transformed through

tongue-in-cheek juxtapositions. His paintings and sculptures

have titles such as There’s a World but I’ve Forgotten It and

Wait a Minute, My Neck Is Itchy, and there’s little chance

of remaining a casual, uninvolved observer when trying to

make sense of the fantastical scenes that he created.

His fi gures twist and writhe on the canvas, and his carvings

are alive with energy. It’s a rhythm said to evoke the traditional

dances of Lilanga’s people, whose mythology and culture are

represented in his art. Using an imaginary, graphical world

populated by fantastical, grotesque characters, Lilanga



Focus on Coast Zone

drew inevitable parallels between universal psychological

demons of the traditional spirit world.

A member of the woodcarving Makonde ethnic tribe, Lilanga

learned to sculpt wood in the traditional way, fi rst using soft

cassava root and then later working with hard black wood.

He continued to carve when he moved to Dar but found his

break when, while working as a security guard at Cultural

Centre, he managed to show his creations to one of the

organisers. In 1978, his work featured in an exhibition in

Washington, D.C., following which he was in great demand

internationally. His worldwide repute made him a living icon

for Swahili art. In and around Dar and Bagamoyo today,

you’ll come across hundreds of artists trying to reenact

Lilanga’s legacy, hoping to make it big. There are countless

artists throughout Africa who are destined to try fl ogging

their canvases and carvings at street side stalls or from

curio markets where original and unique creations are

always a rarity.

You can fi nd knockoff Tinga Tinga and Lilanga paintings

everywhere (imitative works in Lilanga’s style will include a

copy of his signature, or that of his grandson, Henrick John

Lilanga). For the widest selection of canvases (of varying

quality and pretty much indeterminate value) in Dar, visit

the Mwenge Craft Village (well known to taxi drivers, it’s

close to the (Makumbusho)Village Museum), where you can

also browse for khangas, masks (most of them from West

Africa), drums, and some intriguing musical instruments.

You’ll be expected to bargain and will need to endure

some pretty pushy sales talk, but the stall keepers are

ultimately engaging, entertaining, and eager to show you

behind the scenes, where many of the handicrafts are being

manufactured by a hardworking team, most of whom taught

themselves to carve at an early age. There’s an established

group of Tinga Tinga artists at The Slipway either. They’ve

been creating within this niche genre since 1982.

Well. The following day was a weekend, so I had no

business with young Yasinta until classes resumed the

week to follow. I called to ask her if I could get transport to

the bushes of Pugu Hills and enjoy nature that lurked in the

vicinity of the City. She laughed out of her head wondering

why an old mzungu (European) should yearn for a tour to

‘unfenced’ wilderness in Pugu when the City is home to one

or two zoos and botanical garden, where I could see games

and birds in their ‘natural’ habitat. I was fi rm.

I wanted to visit villages or localities where the bush meets the

City and some guys I have met in the streets had suggested

I should try my Kiswahili-tour in Pugu hills reserve view a

few birds, butterfl ies and natural forest before I could retire

and pass by the old school where the Scottish educated

Mwalimu taught. I boarded on of the luxury- coasters at

around 9 o’clock for the one hour drive through undulating

countryside on a mud road until our bus arrived in the

Pugu township at around 10:15 and journey was uneventful

except some few incidents of wild fi res devouring a section

of the forest fi ercely and mercilessly. When I asked a man

on the neighbor seat he attributed the ‘arson’ it to honey

gatherers. I said ‘Kwa Heri,’ to Hamis, the man we shared

the seat all the way from Kariakoo.

I went to see the village chairman, Mzee Mohamed a retired

civil servant and after civilities, I was given a guide and we

set off to one of the hills, where Joseph, my guide said was

endemic to wide range of birds.

In recent years, the rain has been unfavourable. I could

see a terrifi c drought. Many trees have died. The land was

dry and some cracks appeared in the earth. The land was

breaking. The small mammals and some birds have mostly

gone.

A scarab beetle tumbles and rolls through the red oak

grass looking for fresh manure. The few birds I could see

are those or the high plains or those which inhabit open

country perhaps with rocks and buildings. Birds of big air.

Near the house a pair of Red winged Starlings sang back

and forth in the early afternoon. They greeted each other

with excitement, exchanging food with their bills. About

2 o’clock the fi re eyed speckled pigeons(doves) came

in cooing. The blesmols and the aardvarks star to stir. A

darkening cloak of shadow and clouds have broken open

and water is dropping to the lands in ribbons of silver-grey.

Blessed be the hills and plains around them.

Despite, some human encroachment, the hills can still

recover from destruction. Mzee Mohamed came to this hill

in 1958, aged about 20-born in 1938. He said it was a

good area. There was a lot of wind and no mosquitoes and

the people were very few. The grass land was full of small

mammals; the suni antelopes, hartebeest, elands and few

elephants. After the people came, they pushed all the rest

of the animals and birds out there. Now he said, everything

could be ruined. People are doing a lot of farming and

development on the land and you could see the mushroom

of real estates.

There were a lot of grass right up to the top of the hills, but

now there was cloud of dust everywhere; the wind tosses

it up like a bad temper, the former civil servant said. It

was about 5o’clock when I left Mzee Mohamed to the bus

stand, forgetting to pay homage to the house of the former

Edinburgh luminary. But, there is always time in Africa, yeah!

Well. That was the Dar I came to know and love. Let’s share

yours!

(Editor’s note: The Writer could be reached on

http://www.frommers.com)



As an Irish born Tanzanian who has lived in Dar es

Salaam for the past 50 years, the city has moved

from leaps and bounds. I arrived in Dar es Salaam

around December 1961, as a member of a small

delegation of the Presbyterian Church offi cials seconded to

Malawi (Nyasaland) for missionary services. We were booked in a

church house in Magomeni, then a suburb notorious for sporadic

incidents of muggers; an English word which I believe could be

the origin of ‘mugger-men’ subsequently corrupted in Swahili as

‘Magomeni.’ Don’t ask me whether I went to Malawi or I didn’t,

but from then on I fell in love with Dar es Salaam to date. When I

was approached by a member of the HardVenture Magazine, to

give my views on the Dar es Salaam, I know, I thought it wasn’t

easy, but I haven’t lived in Dar for nothing either. But for young

folks and visitors, join my day’s trails of Sounds and Sights in the

City I have known for fi ve decades.

Offi cial House or Old BomaReputed to be the oldest surviving sea-front building downtown

Dar es Salaam, the Offi cial House was built in 1867. It was in

the newly built building where Sultan Seyyid Majid, then the Lord

of Zanzibar and the Shirazi Oman, would entertain hundreds of

guests in the newly emerging city of Dar es Salaam.

On his death, the Old Boma originally referred to as ‘Offi cial

House,’ fell into neglect and disrepair and after its restoration it

provides space for rent by private and public offi ces as you can

see it today.

Dar es Salaam HarbourDar es Salaam, exemplifi es its Arabic or Persian (Iranian) roots,

meaning ‘Haven of Peace,’ after a son of the sultan of Oman

stumbled on it in 1862 it was a natural harbour, and even when

I arrived in Dar half a century ago, it was a port literally, an

emerging fi shermen’s village. A century and half down the line,

the natural al bandar has undergone huge metamorphosis to

become the life line of millions of people resident in landlocked

countries in East and round Central Africa, the Middle and Far

East, Europe, Australia and the Americas. As the country’s capital

from 1891 (for the Germans and in 1919 for the British) and for

the new Government of Tanganyika from 1961 through 1973,

Dar es Salaam has remained a metropolitan city with smooth co-

habitation of its diversifi ed cultures and religions.

State HouseA renovated old German citadel of power is a stone throw from

the entrance to the largest natural harbour in the East African

region. The building is the offi ce and residence of the Head of

State. The Bavarian designed building coupled with a Regas

robust sculpture mounted on a granite plinth at its main western

gate, forms spectacular sight as you approach the harbour

from the Indian Ocean. Hans Meyer, a renowned German

photographer donated the plinth in 1911.

Askari MonumentPitched where previously stood the statute of a German soldier,

Herman von Wissman, the Monument was built in honour of

native soldiers who died during the WW1 and WWII. The former

Wissman statute was built in September 1873.

Sounds and sights



Focus on Coast Zone

Clock TowerAt the detour of Nkrumah, Uhuru, India Streets and Samora

Avenue, the monument was in 1961 to mark the elevation of the

Dar es Salaam municipal Council to a city status.

Uhuru Torch and Republic FountainThe Uhuru Torch Monument stands at the Mnazi Mmoja Grounds

to mark the attainment of the independence of Tanganyika on

December 9, 1961, while the Fountain built in front of the Mnazi

Mmoja Health Centre, commemorates the day Tanganyika

became a Republic on December 9, 1962.

Karimjee HallOne of the historical buildings, was given away to the Municipal

Council of Dar es Salaam by the Karimjee family, descendants of

Karimjee, a wealthy Indian merchant immigrant, it was formerly

used as the fi rst House of Parliament or National Assembly. It is

also known as the Mayor’s Parlour because it is where the offi ces

of His Lordship Mayor are located.

Mwalimu Nyerere HouseThis is the house where Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Founder

President of Tanzania lived during the pre-independence struggle

and is located in Pugu, a short distance from downtown Dar es

Salaam, where he worked as a secondary school teacher.

National MuseumThe Museum was built in 1940 by the British colonial offi cials

and renamed King George V Memorial Museum, in honour of the

former British monarch. In 1963, an extension structure which

forms part of the Museum was added. The Museum keeps

historical texts of Tanzania, marine biology and ethnography. The

skull of early humans; the Australopithecus Boisei found in 1959

in Olduvai Gorge by the late Dr Leakey is also on display in the

Museum.

Another museum, the Makumbusho Village which is part of the

National Museum and House of Culture, showcases traditional

values including culture, dances, and housing and on weekends

there are lots of sounds.

Nyumba ya Sanaa. The centre formerly in city centre to showcase,

traditional art and paintings as well as conducting training in

handcrafts has been temporarily relocated to Msasani to pave

the way for the construction of a new building which will be used

for residential facilities and commercial services.

Karimjee Botanical GardenThe botanical garden was founded in 1893 by a German doctor

Franz Stuhlmann as a test project for a number of tree species.



However, in the evenings and on weekends colonial offi cials used

it as a recreational park. By 1914, about 300 plants had been

planted in the garden. In 1921, the British colonial administration

formerly took over the management of the garden. Later it

apportioned the park’s chunk of land to pave the way for the

construction of the Karimjee Hall as well as the National Museum

and House of Culture buildings. When planting of new seedlings

resumed on the remained piece of land, emphasis was on

ornamental trees.

Mwenge Carving CentreThis is a curio’s centre or an art gallery shop located at the junction

of Sam Nujoma and New Bagamoyo roads. Its ownership is

accredited to a group of Makonde carvers operating from there.

The items on display in the curio shop included sculptures carved

from ebony, a tropical hard tree known in Kiswahili as mpingo as

well as other fi ne artworks such as drawings.

Mbezi River or Crocs’ riverIs found in Temeke district and it is home to crocodiles. Although

the river empties its waters in the sea, but the crocs don’t leave

their natural habitat by venturing into the saline waters of the

Indian Ocean.

Vijibweni PondIt is home to schools of hippos (hippopotami). Like crocodiles,

hippos don’t live in saline water. The Pond, also adjacent to the

Indian Ocean but the amphibians never take a plunge in the saline

sea waters, instead, they just hibernate in their Pond during the

day and come out at night to graze.

Kasa BeachThis is a long stretch of undeveloped beach located on the

shores of the sea front of Kimbiji, Temeke district endemic to

schools of turtles. The beach got its name from its inhabitants; the

turtles better known in Kiswahili as Kasa. Turtles make common

sightings off the Kasa Beach where they converge to lay eggs

(hatchery) and bury them under the sand to allow incubation

to take place. Upon hatching, each reptile leads its litre of tiny

‘tartlets’ back home; into the sea.

Buyuni BeachA beautiful 70 kilometre long unexplored sandy beach along the

Indian Ocean, south of Temeke district.

Amani Gomvu This is another unexplored natural coral cliff which offers itself as

suitable site for sport diving.

Genda HekaLocated in Mjimwema, Genda Heka used to be a slave route

terminal for humans abducted and forced marched from the

hinterland of southern regions of Ruvuma, Lindi, and Mtwara and

beyond.

Unlike the Bagamoyo terminus which had a 24 hour- maximum

security, slaves’ patrons in Genda Heka relied on its remoteness

which could not provide any slight chances to daring slaves to

spring an escape; hence the term Genda Heka, meaning ‘just

go home.’



Focus on Coast Zone

Kisiwa cha Wavuvi or fi shermen’s Islet (Island)It is an islet whose encroaching sea waters are better known

to area residents as home to Kamba Kochi, signifying it was a

hatchery site for lobsters and shrimps.

Ancient Moslem MosqueBuilt in the 15th Century in Geza Ulole village by Omani Arabs,

the mosque was restructured by members of a Muslim club who

built a modern mosque enclosing the old one to complete what

is known as mosque within a mosque. It is formally referred to

as Msikiti wa Mbwa Maji or Mbwa Maji Mosque, in the Temeke

district.

University of Dar es SalaamThe fi rst and oldest institution of higher learning opened its doors

to the fi rst intake of undergraduate students in the country and

beyond around 1963. Its main campus is perched on a hillock,

North-west of Dar es Salaam.

A satellite business centre known as Mlimani City 2000, housing

number businesses such as shopping malls, a Game shop,

restaurants, fi nancial institutions, among others, operate on the

rolling land of the university main campus.

Main National StadiumIs the largest and state to the art national soccer stadium built

in Dar es Salaam between 2005 and 2007. The stadium has

a sitting capacity of 60,000 making one of the ultra-modern

pitches in East and Central Africa.

Radio TanzaniaThe fi rst radio station to broadcast live from a small makeshift

studio along Shaurimoyo Street, in Dar es Salaam in 1957 as the

Tanganyika Broadcasting Corporation (TBC). The broadcaster

dropped the brand name TBC to break away from colonial

linkage to become Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam (RTD) and later

to revert to TBC to acquire an identity of a national broadcaster.

National StadiumThis was the former soccer stadium where the historic landmark

Independence Day celebrations were held by hosting the Black –

Green-Yellow and Blue fl ag of the newly independent Tanganyika

on the 9th of December 1961 replacing the Union Jack to

offi cially put an end to the 42 year rule of the British colonial

administration.

Saint Joseph CathedralPerched along Sokoine Drive formerly City Drive in Dares Salaam

and next to the White Fathers House, St Joseph Cathedral is

the most known Church built during the German colonial rule.

Its Gothic spired exterior makes it stand out amongst the City’s

traditional East African architectures. Once a visitor has done

with admiring the exterior, it is time to head indoors to look at the

stained glass windows behind the altar. Keep an eye out to the

impressive carvings nearby.

The White Fathers House Thought to be one of the most historical of all the buildings in Dar

es Salaam, its story goes that the White Fathers’ Mission House

was originally used as Sultan Majid’s harem.

From the early 1920s, this attraction served as the seat of the

White Fathers Mission, a Catholic society founded in 1868 for

the evangelism of Africa. Apparently the house displays sea art

paintings.

Compiled By Macland Davies, Dar es Salaam



Meaning “haven of peace”, Dar es Salaam is situated on a

large sea inlet and is the only deep sea harbour between

Mombasa in the north and Beira in far off Mozambique.

By coastal standards, Dar es Salaam is a young town,

remaining as a fi shing village called Mzizima until the Sultan

of Zanzibar visited in 1862. So taken with the natural

harbour, he established it as a trading centre and in 1866

built a coral palace called Dar es Salaam.

However it only acquired real signifi cance in the German

period when government was based there and the railway

was built. Once the capital (now Dodoma), it remains the

social and business centre of Tanzania. Being the largest

city in the country, its character comes for the cultural mix of

its people and buildings, and its coastal humidity permeates

every aspect slowing the pace of life. German, British,

Asian and Arab infl uence is evident, but it is fundamentally

a Swahili city. In the last decade many mosques, churches

and old Government buildings have been restored, making

it interesting to visitors as well as business people.

Modern day Dar es Salaam offers access to all parts of

the country. Onward fl ights can be easily arranged to the

northern or southern wildlife parks and reserves, as well as

to the islands of Zanzibar, Mafi a and Pemba.

Meaning “haven of peace”, Dar es Salaam is situated on a

large sea inlet and is the only deep sea harbour between

Mombasa in the north and Beira in far off Mozambique.

By coastal standards, Dar es Salaam is a young town,

remaining as a fi shing village called Mzizima until the Sultan

of Zanzibar visited in 1862. So taken with the natural harbour,

he established it as a trading centre and in 1866 built a coral

palace called Dar es Salaam. However it only acquired real

signifi cance in the German period when government was

based there and the railway was built.

Once the capital (now Dodoma), it remains the social and

business centre of Tanzania. Being the largest city in the

country, its character comes for the cultural mix of its

people and buildings, and its coastal humidity permeates

every aspect slowing the pace of life. German, British,

Asian and Arab infl uence is evident, but it is fundamentally

a Swahili city. In the last decade many mosques, churches

and old Government buildings have been restored, making

it interesting to visitors as well as business people.

Modern day Dar es Salaam offers access to all parts of

the country. Onward fl ights can be easily arranged to the

northern or southern wildlife parks and reserves, as well as

to the islands of Zanzibar, Mafi a and Pemba.

Dar es Salaam in factual blurb



Focus on Coast Zone

Geographical LocationTanga region is situated at the extreme north-east corner

of Tanzania between 4 and 6 degrees below the Equator

and 37 and39:10’degrees East of the Greenwich. The

region occupies land surface area of 27,348 square

kilometres.

Border frontiersTanga shares borders with Kenya to the North, Morogoro

and Coast regions to the South, Kilimanjaro and Arusha

regions to the West. To the East lie the blue waters of the

Indian Ocean. Mligaji River also forms a large part of the

border to the South, separating the region from Pwani or

Coast region.

DistrictsThe region is divided into 6 administrative districts

namely: Lushoto, Korogwe, Muheza, Handeni, Pangani.

EthnicityMajor ethnic groups included Wasambaa, Wazigua,

Wabondei and Wadigo.Minority ethnicities included

Wasegeju, Waduruma, Wambugu and Wapare. Asians

and Europeans were the urbanized minorities. The total

population of the residents of Tanga is slightly over 1.8

million.

Origin of lost cityLike the lost ‘Atlantis’ city, early Greek philosophers

and travellers link Tanga to an old ‘lost’ city known as

Tonique which laid 4 degrees below the Equator existed

over thousands years ago. Whether the Tonique was the

lost ‘Atlantis’ city of the East African coast is everyone’s

guest.

However, historical evidence shows remains and

collections of ruins to approve the existence of the lost

Pangani Port, one of the earliest ports on the East Africa Indian coast

Tanga TANGA

Like lost and found ‘Atlantis’



city of Tonique and precursor of present day Tanga.

Was the city lost and found in another name and

physiography?

ClimateThe dominant climate in Tanga region is warm and wet.

In most cases, there is no big variation of temperature to

coastal areas due to the infl uence of the Indian Ocean.

The hot months were experienced from December

to March with cool months experienced from May to

October. Most areas get the lowest level rainfall of at

least 750 mm annually. The average amount of rainfall is

between 1,100 and 1,400 mm along the coast with the

Usambara Mountains clinching the highest level amount

of about 2,000mm annually.

VegetationThe outstanding feature of the vegetation in the region is

its complexity as coastal areas were bush lands dotted

with palm trees plantations, farm-villages, estates and

shrub thickets punctuated by swampy low-lands while

the Umba plains and Maasai Steppe was open savannah

grassland with scattered trees.

Regional EconomyThe economy of Tanga region like in many other regions

was of subsistence agriculture, livestock keeping and

fi shing.

Food productionLargely, food production was being undertaken by

smallholders, while cash crops production was carried

by both small holders as well as large scale farmers.

Natural resources and tourismTanga region is endowed with vast resources and tourist



Focus on Coast Zone

attraction sites such as mineral deposits, forestry, game

reserves, fi sheries and beekeeping, as well as historical

and natural sites of Amboni Caves, Totten Islands,

Tongoni ruins, Pangani beach and hot spring water

source site in Amboni and the Amani Nature Reserve;

also known as the botanical garden of ‘Eden.’

Road NetworkTanga region has a total of 3,907 kilometre- long-road

network reconnecting the region to the rest of the country

as well as to its underlying districts and villages.

Railways ServicesThe region was linked to 279-kilometre- railway line

network running through 32 stations. Tanga was

connected by a railway to the northern regions of Arusha

and Kilimanjaro and part of neighbouring Kenya was well

as Dar es Salaam to the South.

Air TransportTanga airport handles inland scheduled fl ights as well as

charter air services. There is an aerodrome in Mombo

which caters for light aircraft. Some estate (sisal and tea

plantations) operators own airstrips which also cater for

light planes.

EnergyThe region is relatively well served by electricity supply

sources. There were two hydroelectric power supply

stations on the Pangani River Falls hooked to the National

Grid. It also enjoys reliable fresh water supplies for both

domestic and industrial use.

CommunicationTanga region is hooked to super-highway communication

facilities such as mobile phones and the internet or cyber-

communications.





Focus on Coast Zone

I grew up listening to stories of how a local legend accused

for crime against colonial offi cials, easily beat off police

dragnet by leading a double life in a cavernous village

close to the seaport of Tanga.

Stories of a local legend that easily beat off police dragnets

and managed to lead double life in caves, only a short

distance from the house in which I lived, caused much

anxiety in my life.

I had wanted to travel to Kiomoni, the cavernous village in a

locality known as Amboni, 8 kilometres from the seaport of

Tanga and fi nd out but who dare the secrets of the caves

associated to religion and some spooky tales?

So when an opportunity belatedly came on February 17,

quickly I grabbed it.

Organisers were a tour fi rm based in Tanga and the mission

was a 1-day tour in and around the Amboni Caves.

So, around 9 o’clock, about three journalists based in

Tanga arrived at one of the grottos commonly used for

the cave tours. A young, handsome and charming guide

who introduced himself as Boko was there to receive and

lead us in and around the cave whose length was a bout a

kilometre long ( to be exact 900 metres).

At the reception or the entrance, we were made to sit on

wooden benches as Boko made his brief presentation of

the Old Stone Age cave system; once the offi cial residence

of man who carried Japanese name, but his skin was as

black as ‘soot. ’His name was Osale Otango, our guide

said of a man who colonial offi cials and the police in Mrima

Coast; from the seaports of Tanga, to Pangani,and Pemba

and Mombasa, Kenya claimed gave them sleepless nights.

Boko, however, said nobody could establish who Osale

Otango was. But he wasn’t Japanese, anyway. Some

thought because his name carried an ‘O’ he might have

been a native Luo, or Luo or Luhya from Kenya or even

a Japanese. Others assumed he was Congolese,although

his roots were thought to be in Kigoma, but in Kiomoni

village, he was an ordinary village man who lived and

married one of their beautiful daughters few years to the

run up of the Independence of Tanganyika, the precursor of

present day Tanzania. In Kiomoni sisal plantation village, the

elusive Osale Otango owned a small hut in which he lived

with his young family; a wife and their baby.

During the night Osale Otango relocated into the pitch

dark nearby Amboni caves to evade capture by the colonial

police who accused him for a number of crimes including

‘terrorising’ colonial offi cials downtown Tanga and beyond.

Osale Otango used these caves until one of his friends

betrayed him to the police and the rest is history. “Osale

Otango was gunned down as he sought to be ‘swallowed’

by the labyrinth of underground passages he used to shake-

off the police dragnets for quite some time!” Boko said.

What a bad ending! I hate stories with bad ending, I said to

myself. Anyway, after the briefi ng, we were set for the full

day tour also known as potholing, spelunking, or the caving

sport in and around the Amboni Caves.

At around 10 o’clock Boko led us into a maze of passages

to explore and share myths and realisations about the 150

year old Amboni caves by giving assurance how the caving

How caving became my sport



sport could be excitingly adventurous. The Amboni site has

about 10 caves, but according to our guide, it is only two of

them which are naturally passable, usually on guided tours.

At the cave entrance known to cavers as the dripline, the

guide gave some more briefi ng ahead of the “, potholing,

caving tour or simply spelunking the physical entering into

the pitch dark the natural or historical cave sites.

From the dripline, we entered the fi rst chamber also known

as the entrance to the chamber where some benches had

been laid for visitors to sit on ready for a second dose of

briefi ng.

This inner chamber was connected to an entrance leading

into successive chambers by a short passage, but still we

could see some light at the end of the tunnel and managed to

recognise some silhouetted objects and rock art paintings

on the chamber walls. I looked around the chamber to fi nd

out there was also a hanging rock chamber or shelter above

the roof. Boko said naturally most cave walls or roofs were

not water-tight. During rain seasons water could penetrate

them (walls and roofs) and its drops of water fall on the fl oor

or just make to walls to leak.

Caves whose walls don’t leak or allow water to penetrate

them were known as ‘dead caves’ or like it is to volcano,

‘dormant caves,’ the guide said describing the Amboni

Caves as ‘live’ as limestone caves.

Thereafter we were taken into another maze of caving

jargon namely: labyrinth as underground passages, walk-

throughs as spacious passages through which visitors walk

normally, among others. Then were led to an aven or a

shaft, which the guide described as narrow path which

leading to another passage above the chambers, but not



Focus on Coast Zone

open to the surface of the earth. In some chambers, I could

see attractions associated objects, symbols, historical

events and illustrations of animals whose interpretations

enlivened the existence of the Jurassic natural caves. For

example, in a cave chamber in which the legend Osale

Tango lived, I saw shaft leading to exclusive overhead

bedrock in the chamber upstairs. Hanging on the wall,

inside the tiny chamber used as an alternative shelter by

the former Kiomoni village ‘hero’ was an engraving of a lion,

wall painting in different colours and shapes, and a feature

reminiscent to rock art paintings sites.

Next we entered into a semi-circle wall niche whose curved

shape and its graffi ti were associated to some Islamic

teachings. As we went further deep the caves the more

became pitch dark. In some chambers we found inlets

which served as windows to furnish the underground

enclosures with light and fresh air. These inlets, according

the guide to cavers were known as ‘day-lite holes’.



A limestone formed cave.

Semi-circle wall nicheHowever, in some chambers some openings have been

made to serve as windows to let light and fresh air. Cavers

call such an opening a daylite hole.

An opening in the roof of a caveI also saw stumbled on trooping roots, traversing the

chambers as if to support the walls concrete pillars as it is

in modern day architectural designs.

“These roots are strong enough to support the body weight

of a grown up person,.” The guide said, resisting to demands

to hang on the trooping roots which sometimes are used as

ladders to scale up the cave’s up stair chambers. The roots

are known as ‘rootsicle,’ and they are ‘calsfi ed.’

Block chambersI passed several blocks inside the natural caves of Kiomoni

village in Amboni some had ‘steps’ and the ‘fl oor’ as well as

natural household furniture such as chairs and tables.

In one of the ascending ‘stair case’ I could identify earth

(soil) formations, some of them raised a few feet from the

cave fl oor, then fl attened to look like most beds found in

our bedrooms.

Map of AfricaStories on natural objects whose shapes or appearances

resembled the physiographic map of Africa abound deep in

Tanzania. Somewhere in Lindi when bats leave their hide-

outs for dinner in the evening perform and airborne fl y-past

antics virtually forming a diagram which looks like the map

of Africa.

In an inhabited natural forest in Makambako, a huge rock

engraves which resembled the map of Africa, lay unnoticed

and deep in the bush.

And, while I was on tour of the caves of Amboni, I stumbled

on a rock block whose shape looked like an upside down

pistol, the shape of Africa. According to my guide, one of

the hanging rock roofs collapsed on the chambers fl oor to

form the shape of the African map. Cavers identifi ed such

‘breakdown’ as the ‘fall of bedrock’ either from the roof or

wall purely on its (boulder’s) weight.

Colony of batsIn the middle of the tour, I arrived at a site known as the bats

colony, the more I came closer the more the reek of urine

and droppings fi lled the air in the chamber.

In the pitch darkness I could hear the animals’ high

pitched sounds and fl apping of their wings. There was a

pile of whitish in colour of bats’ droppings which the guide

technically identifi ed them as ‘guano’ and as I moved deeper



Focus on Coast Zone

Semi-circle chamber

Semi-circle wall nicheAn opening in the roof of a cave

the stench of ‘guano’ became extremely offending and I

had to cover my nose and ‘crawled’ on passed the colony.

According to the guide ‘guano’ could be a mixture of

decomposed skeletons of little cave animals, bat’s wastes

and elements of pieces of fragmented rocks.

And the other residentsDuring the tour, I came to realise bats were not loners in

their pitch dark chosen habitats, some creepy crawlers

and critters were among the cavernicoles too (regular cave

residents), some of them for a lifetime!

Walking in pitch darkness is what I came to realise could be

fascinating as much as cave touring visitors could shake-off

inherent fears! Entering and exploring the inside of caves

could be an excitingly adventurous sport!

If another chance of ‘spelunking’ or ‘caving tour’ comes

dangling my way, I will grab it with much gusto and appetite!

Text By Upendo Magere

Photo: Tanapa/ Amboni Caves





Focus on Coast Zone

Thousands of kilometres along the Indian Ocean

coastline its sheltered bays and lagoons, help to

shape Tanga as unique destination where area

residents would do anything possible to convince visitors

to ‘hang out’ in the city because one cannot sample the

‘city of the sails’ in a ‘hurry!’

In Tanga, therefore there is no saying ‘Kwa Heri’ or ‘Good

Bye.’ Just keep staying and staying until your hosts could

said: “enough was enough and please could you pack and

go!” An alien phrase to the nice area residents of one of the

3-member- Mrima Coast.

While there may be nothing as more stunningly exciting to

a visitor as setting out to a destination never before visited,

but there could lots to be said when visitors make return

visits to places they had visited this time around to fi nd them

gone through the metamorphosis of some sort, at least for

the better.

My recent trip downtown Tanga took me back to a place I’d

visited before and area resident became reluctant to release

me when the time to say ‘Kwa Heri’ at the end of my tour

came.

During the return visit, I found a state of relaxation and

prosperity palpable and good to bask in the sunlit narrow

streets of Tanga, with most of the roads had been done to

perfection.

For the fi rst unfolding hour, I briefl y experienced an

exhilarating hike on a stretch of tarmac road that was not

Where ‘today’ does not exist

The ‘myths’ and ‘realisations’ of the Amboni Caves



there during my fi rst visit some few years back. The fi rst

thing to recall was; it’s wise enough to take someone who

knew the way in and around Tanga but in the company

of a seasoned guide such as Laurent Herman, the co-

coordinator of the Tanga Cultural Tourism Initiative, visitors

were fondly much at home.

It could be the time to explore interesting tourist attractions-

whether natural, cultural or historical in the former seaport

described in an early Greek book as the city of Tonique

located 4 degrees South of the Equator ( which is the exact

physiographic location of current Tanga.)

Amboni cavesMy fi rst stop-over was at the Amboni caves, believed the

most extensive limestone caves in East Africa. The historical

caves are located in a sleepy Kiomoni village about 8

kilometres north of the City along Tanga- Mombasa highway.

Nearly a kilometre (900 metres long) stretch the Jurassic

period caves are some of the fascinating historical earth

formation sites along the East African coast.

The Amboni caves site is among the most popular

underground natural attractions that feature vast land

chambers and towering soil (earth) formations believed to

be aged over 150,000 years.

When our tour group descended into the fi rst magnifi cent

‘chamber,’ each of us turned to each other in stark

amazement of the towering soil formations in the

surroundings.

Nearly all the tunnels or chambers of at least two or three

caves out of 10 were accessible by visitors but on guided

tour excursions.

To say the least, it was an awe-inspiring exposure worth a

return visit.

The most over-used cliché I heard from my fellow group

members that day was the caves were exotic, but yet I

remain at a loss for words to describe the beauty of these

stunning caves.

Herman, our guide, described the soil formations in detail

and gave explanations of what the experience must have

been like for individuals whose visit to natural as well as

historical site was the fi rst.

For some, the caves have been long-known as a place for

worship beseeching forgiveness from ancestral spirits for

whatever presumed social demeanors.

So, when we arrived at site that material day of our visit, we

met a large group of area residents who had temporarily

occupied the fi rst chamber formerly used for the offerings

and supplications.

Tabu Mtelekezo, who was the caves curator and conservator

by time of my visitation, could confi rm how the residents

fl ock the caves for ritual prayers.

As we braved through the narrow cave passages we were

also treated to incredible sights of land formations which

need extra stamina by squeezing ourselves through. In

some chambers we had to crawl through or just walk on all

four to make it to the next chamber.

Before we set off for the visit our hosts had recommended

comfortable foot wear and a pocket-size camera in place of

professional cameras with wide-angled lens as they could

be cumbersome during the tight squeezes into the caves

belly.

Visitors are also recommended to put on some tight sports

wear and do away with huge bags or baggage during the

caves-round-tour.

Tongoni ruinsOur next stop over was the Tongoni ruins found in the

village which also got its name from the former ruins once

a thriving Shiraz village from Shiraz in Persia or the current

day Iran.

The ruins are located about 17 kms south of Tanga on the

way to Pangani, which also provide cultural insights and

early lifestyles in the former fi shing village.

Remains of ancient mosques and tombs attributed to the

fi rst Shiraz traders bear elaborate inscriptions as stone

carvings depicted the year of the of the dead buried in the

former cemetery Shiraz cemetery with the least attention

and management.

To get there we drove through a green countryside until we

arrived in the (Tongoni) village to get the feel of insights from

the early Islamic culture destination along the East African

coastline traced back to the early 14th Century.

Job Tengamaso, conservator at the Tongoni ruins, could

reveal that the early fi shing hamlet was inhabited by the

Wabondei and Wazigua ethnic tribes until the arrivals of the

Shirazis.

The curator has the views that, Tongoni might have been the

fi rst sea port before the current day Tanga Port or Pangani.

Vasco Da Gama, the Portuguese early sailor to the East

African coast is believed to have set foot in Tongoni in1498

and abandoned one of ship ‘San Raphael’ at the port after

the vessel crashed beyond economic repairs.



Focus on Coast Zone

Vasco Da Gama is said to have revisited Tongoni a year later

and spent close to two weeks rubbing shoulders with area

resident fi shermen and Arab traders but is excused for not

causing the ruinous status in current day Tongoni.

Another early traveller to dock at East African coast was an

Arab geographer; Al Masudi believed to have arrived at an

early Pangani seaport around AD 920 while penning down

his book titled: The Meadows of the East and Minerals

of Gem which was published in Cairo Ad 943! Al Masudi

got holed up in Pangani for over two weeks and he was

impressed by a democratic type of governance use in

the small states such as villages, clans, communities and

towns. Well, if the fi rst port on the East African coastline was

either Tongoni, Tonique (Tanga) or Pangani, it was not a cup

of tea for the HardVenture, at least for now.

What struck me the most was how connected I felt to

the area residents people we met along the allay ways of

Tongoni. I could also admire their incredible generosity and

hospitality to visitors whatever strange to them the visitor

could be.

I could also recall of coming across a couple of sprawling

touristic spots in Tongoni, Amboni as well as in the streets

of Tanga.

However, every development appears to be at an informative

stage, but there is determination of improvement and

perform better in future.

CultureUnknown to many, tourists are also drawn to Tanga for its

rich culture and traditions: everything from Swahili poetry to

Taarab music to the fi nely fi ligreed body painting tradition

which has appealed to people curious to fi nd some aspects

of unspoiled Swahili culture as a result cultural globalisation.

Finding ‘Taarab’ music band performing live on stage could

be exciting and as such some visitors wouldn’t leave Tanga

without attending few Taarab shows.

What to do

Boat trips and tours to tropical mangrove forests and

birdlife watching.

Fishing along side area resident fi shermen in dug out

canoes or dhows could provide a life time experience.

Dhow trips and viewing dhows as they fl oating over

seas or up in the bays and lagoon are also undertaken

by a number of visitors in Tongoni village.

How to get thereBy overland safaris, air transport or just ‘boat’ for an exciting

fl ow with the current of the Indian Ocean.

AccommodationWide range of hotel facilities was available on the waterfronts

in and around the old seaport and downtown Tanga as well

as in Pangani.

Text/ Photo:Elisha Mayalla

Tongoni Ruins





Focus on Coast Zone

A: Stands Antonie Baeumler, a German nurse who was

killed in Bagamoyo on September 24, 1889 during

fi ghting between German troops and Arab traders

supporting fellow Arab. Bushiri bin Salim against a

Germany Company monopoly of sisal farming along

the Mrima Coast (plantations stretching from as far as

Tanga to the northeast, to Dar es Salaam in the South

via Bagamoyo. The nurse’s grave is among 20 German

nationals (18 soldiers and 2 civilians) buried in the

(Germany) Cemetery in Bagamoyo.

B: Stands for the Botanical Garden founded in Dar es

Salaam in 1893 by a German doctor, Franz Stuhlmann

as test project for a number of tree species. As time

went by, in the evening and weekends colonial offi cials

used the garden as recreational park. Its formal land was

later ‘chopped’ to pave the way for the construction of

the Karimjee Hall as well as the National Museum and

House of Culture.

C: This third letter of the Alphabet stands for Clock Tower, a monumental structure pitched on the 5-way

junctions in Uhuru/Railway/Nkrumah/ India streets and

Samora Avenue to mark the elevation of Dar es Salaam

municipal to its City status in 1962.

D: Represents dripline the offi cial entrance into a cave

or the fi rst chamber of a cave system such as the

limestone Amboni caves.

E: Stands for Emin Pasha, a German trader who ‘fell’

from the fi rst fl oor of the current day area District

Commissioner’s offi ce, Bagamoyo, formerly known as

Liku House.

F: Stands for Ferry boats used to transport City residents

and visitors across the Magogoni Creek between

Kigamboni peninsula and the City of Dar es Salaam

and vice versa, either for leisure tours, holidaying,

merry making or any other social activities such as

works, shopping and visiting friends and relatives.

G: Represents Germany Cemetery in Bagamoyo where

18 Wissman troops killed during fi ghting against

Arabs traders between 1889 and 1894 in and around

Bagamoyo, then the (German) colonial capital.

Letter G also represents the Gothic spired exterior

looks of the St. Joseph Cathedral in Dar es Salaam,

which makes it stand out amongst the City’s traditional

East African architectures. Once a visitor has done with

admiring the Gothic spired exterior, it is time to head

indoors to look at the stained glass windows behind

the altar.

H: Stands for the German Hanging site located on the

rear of a beach hotel in Bagamoyo where 8 Arabs were

executed on Christmas of 1889 by German soldiers

allegedly for supporting Bushiri bin Salim‘s resistance.’

Bin Salim had retreated to Pangani where he was

captured and hanged ten days earlier (December 15,

1889).

I: Represents the Island of Fishermen or Kisiwa cha

Wavuvi in Kiswahili, on the southern beach of Dar es

Salaam whose encroaching waters to the dry-land has

off shore made it become an outstanding hatchery site

for lobsters and shrimps.

J: Stands for Jakaya Kikwete, one of the most celebrated

sons of the Mrima Coast, in fact, from Pwani, to rise

through the ranks of his political party to become the

4th President of Tanzania.

K: Stands for Kiomoni, an old sisal plantation village in

which one of its most ‘feared’ member with a Japanese

name, Osale Tango, lived a double life (in the village

and in the Amboni caves) until he was ‘betrayed’ by

a friend, captured and gunned down by the police

accused of ‘terror’ against British colonial offi cials in

Tanga, Pemba, Pangani, Mkomazi and as far as to

Mombasa.

L: Stands for labyrinth, an underground passage used

by cavers during caving tours of the Amboni limestone

Jurassic caves.

M: Represents Mwanamakuka Cemetery, in which 35

tombs of most ‘revered’ persons are located with the

biggest grave outside the fenced walls. The biggest

(latter) grave is believed to be of Mwanamakuka,

An A-Z shortlist of least known cultural cruise tourist attractions in

the Coast or Mrima Coast Zone



a wealthy Tabora native who had ‘migrated’ to

Bagamoyo and created huge fortune through trade

links with Omani Arab traders.

N: Represents the nesting site for green turtles, where

each November they (turtles) travel from where they

are to either converge at Kasa Beach in Kiswahili or

Turtles Beach in Dar es Salaam or Saadani Beach in

Pwani, for hatchery.

O: Represents an Old Fort built 1856 and fortifi ed by

Arab traders from Shiraz in current day Iran who were

the fi rst to arrive in Bagamoyo. It is believed to be the

oldest house on East African Coast (Mrima Coast).

Ownership of the Old Fort changed so many hands. In

1890, it was bought by Sewa Haji an infl uential trader

of Pakistani origin, four years later; he donated it to

the Germans. Thereafter, it was taken by Sultan Majid,

then Lord of Oman and Zanzibar, who also re-fortifi ed

it to become a garrison for his Baluchi troops. The

British acquired the house (1919), and transformed it

into a DC’s offi ce, Police station and Jailhouse! After

Independence it remained an offi ce the native DC,

Police Station and Prison. Apparently it has been

re-used into a private learning institution known as

Mwambao secondary school.

P: Is identifi ed to potholing which means the actual

entering or going into a cave or chambers of a cave

system by cavers (persons who enter caves as a sport

or on research activities)

R: Stands for Roosevelt’s Sable Antelopes resident

exclusively in the Saadani and Selous National Parks.

The Sable Antelopes were renamed after Kermit

Roosevelt, hunter-son of the 26th US President

Theodore Delano Roosevelt.

S: Represents Sewa Haji, a Pakitani immigrant and

infl uential trader, who in 1890 bought the Old Fort only

some four years later ‘gave it out for free’ to Germans

on condition that the building should be used as a

multi-racial school. Thereafter, students from all races

were enrolled by the ‘model’ school only the school

administration to assign each race its own classrooms.

The S is also identifi ed with spelunking, meaning the

physical entering into pitch dark uninhabited cave as a

‘cave sport.’

But do you remember Shabani Robert the literary

and man of letters from the Mrima Coast, especially

from Tanga his birth place where he was buried? His

name jostles for space under letter S.

T: Presumably, this letter stands for Tonique or Tonikk

an old seaport city which early Greek travellers ( about

4,000 years ago) believed existed where the City of

Tanga stands today, but like the ‘Atlantis,’ got lost

under the sea waters. The fabled Tonique also Tonik

was located exactly 4 degrees south of the Equator,

the same physiographical location of the present day

seaport of Tanga.

U: Represents the Uhuru Torch Monument built at

the Mnazi Mmoja Grounds to mark the historic

day; December 9, 1961 when Tanganyika got its

independence from the colonial British.

V: Stands for Vasco da Gama, an early Portuguese

captain and traveller to arrive and stay in the Tongoni

(ruins) in 1498, then a prospering fi shing village on the

Mrima Coast spice routes. When it was time for Vasco

da Gama’s departure, his ‘virgin’ vessel, San Raphel,

‘refused’ to leave the Tongoni dock, then Vasco da

Gama left without any choice, left the vessel behind

for subsequent metal scavenging, but Vasco da Gama

didn’t ransack the Tongoni and wreck it into ruins in

retaliations. The ruins came later!

W: Stands for William Bamphile, a British DC who died in

1939 and his remains buried in Bagamoyo a few metres

away from the Germany Cemetery. The 23 letter of

the Alphabet also stands for the White Fathers House,

one of the most historical of all the buildings still intact

in Dar es Salaam. Originally used as Sultan Majid’s

harem, from the early 1920s it served as the seat of

the White Fathers Mission, a Catholic society founded

in 1868 for the evangelism of Africa. Apparently the

house displays sea art paintings.

X: The letter stands for the X shaped copper ingots

collected in and around Central Africa and transported

to Far East and Europe through the Old Bagamoyo

seaport as well as for the Xylophones, traditional

music instruments made from wood but better known

in Kiswahili as Marimba, which are still fondly used by

Mrima Coast native musicians.

Y: Stands for the well managed Yacht Club of Tanga

apparently frequented by foreign visitors in love with

good beach under the African hot sun, rafting, yachting

and kayaking as well as snorkeling.

Z: Stands for the undisputed Zanzibar virgin beaches,

but once you have fallen in love with the Unesco’s

World Heritage Site, it connects you to new emerging

beach destinations across the Zanzibar Channel as

well as to the African great games in the Savanna

wilderness.



Focus on Coast Zone

Nyumbani - Home/ Residence

Nyumba - House

Mlango - Door

Dirisha - Window

Ngazi - Steps/Stairs

Karibu ndani/

Ingia tafadhali - Come in Please

Baba - Father

Mama - Mother

Mtoto - Child

Msichana - Girl

Mvulana - Boy

Kijana - Youth

Meza - Table

Kiti/Kochi - Chair

Kikombe - Cup

Glasi - Glass

Kijiko - Spoon

Jikoni - Kitchen

Choo (Chooni) - Toilet

Bafu (Bafuni) - Bathroom

Kuoga - Take a shower /

Bathe

Kunawa Mikono - Wash Hands

Kitanda - Bed

Kulala - Sleep

Amka - Wake UP

Kumekucha - It is Morning/

Sunrise

Chai - Tea

Chakula - Food

Maji ya kunywa - Drinking Water

Njaa - Hunger

Nasikia Njaa - I am hungry

Nimeshiba - I am full

Kaa - Sit (down)

Simama - Stand (up)

Nakwenda - I am Going

Kwa heri - Good Bye

Asante - Thank you

Tutaonana - See you

Safarini - On Journey

Stendi - Stand / Bus

Terminal

Abiria - Passengers/

Travellerrs

Basi - Bus

Dereva - Driver

Kondakta - Conductor

Nauli - Fare

Tiketi - Ticket

Kiti cha abiria - Passenger’s Seat

Kiti Cha dereva - Driver’s Seat

Simama katikati/

Shika Bomba - Stand on Platform

Mzigo (Mizigo) - Luggage

Begi - Bag

Dereva, tafadhali

simama - Please Stop

Endesha

polepole - Please, drive

slowly

Unaendesha

Haraka - You are being

speedy!

Kituo Kifuatacho - Next Stop

Hotelini - In a Hotel

Mhudumu - Waiter/Waitress

also Room

Attendant/ Maid

Meza - Table

Kaunta - Counter

Kiti - Chair

Chai - Tea

Mayai - Eggs

Maji - Water

Chakula - Meal/Food

Kitafunwa - Bite/ Bites

Chumba - Room

Shuka - Bed sheet

Mto - Pillow

Sigara - Cigarette

Bia - Beer

Soda - Soda

Wiski - Whisky

Waini - Wine

Nyama - Beef/ Meat

Samaki - Fish

Mboga - Greens

Nje - Outside

Gadeni - Garden

Kuota Jua - Sunbathe

Dirisha - Window

Pazia - Curtain

Mswaki - Tooth brush

Dawa Ya Meno - Tooth Paste

Sabuni - Soap

Mafuta - Oil / Jelly/Sun oil/

Frost bite oil

Taulo - Towel

Mavazi - Wear

Shati (Mikono

Mifupi/Mirefu) - Short/ Long

sleeve shirt

Tsheti - T-shirt/ Polo shirt

Koti/Jaketi - Jacket

Suruali - (Pair of) Trousers

Bukta - Shorts

Nguo za

Kuogelea - Swimming

costume/

Swimming wear

Viatu - (Pair of ) Shoes

Ndala - Sleepers/Sandals/

Open shoes

Nguo Za Baridi - Cold-wear

Nguo Fupi – Mini - skirt

Kitenge/ Khanga - Quilt

Msuli/Kikoi - Loin clothe

Miwani ya Jua - Eye shade/

Sunglasses

Kofi a - Hat

Mbugani - Wilds

Tembo - Elephant

Meno ya tembo - TusksSimba –Lion

Twiga - Giraffe

Punda Milia - Zebra

Swala - Antelope

(varied species)

Fisi - Hyena

Nyumbu - Wildebeest

Kongoni - Hartebeest

Ndege - Bird

Miti - Trees

Mlima - Mountain / Hill

Majani - Leaves

Nyasi - Grass/Foliage

Miiba - Thornes

Matunda pori - Wild fruits

Asali - Honey

Nyuki - Bees

Kichaka - Bush/Thicket

Msitu - Forest

Faru - Rhino

Kiboko - Hippo

Mamba - Crocodile

Sungura - Rabbit/Hare

Tai - Vulture/Eagle/

Falcon

Mbweha - Jackal/African

spot-dog

Chui - Leopard

Duma - Cheetah

Korongo - Flamingo

Hondohondo - Hammer bird

Maua - Flowers

At the Beach - Pwani

Mchanga Pwani - Sandy beach

Maji ya bahari/

Chumvi - Saline water

Kuogelea - Swim/Dive/

Snorkel

Kuota Jua - Sunbathe

Wavuvi - Fishermen

Mtumbwi - Canoe / Dhow

Samaki - Fish

Nyavu - Fish net

Kokoro - Trawler

Kupiga Kasia - Paddle/Row

Kutwika Tanga - Sail

Kutia nanga - Anchore/ dock

Ufukwe - Shoreline

Mawimbi - Tides/ Waves

Rambiza - Surf

Zama - Drown

Elea - Float

Piga mbizi - Dive /Ogelea

Simple Swahili Words for Visitors / Tourists





Focus on Coast Zone

Tanzania Fact FileTanzania Fact FileAdministrative capital: Dodoma

Commercial capital: Dar es Salaam

Climate: Tanzania’s climate is predominately tropical. Coastal areas are usually hot and humid, but on the beaches a sea breeze cools the air considerably. The average day temperature is 30°C. Tanzania has two rainy seasons – the long rains from late March to June and the short rains from November to January.

The long rains fall in heavy downpours, often accompanied by violent storms, but the short rains tend to be much less severe. The hottest time of the year is from December to March, before the long rains begin.

The coolest months are June, July and August, when the weather is often overcast. In high-altitude areas such as Kilimanjaro and the Ngorongoro Highlands, temperatures can fall below freezing.

Visa Issuing Centres and authorities: A Visa may be obtained at the United Republic of Tanzania Mission abroad or Consulate and also on arrival at all designated entry points.

In case of Referral and Multi Visas, applications should be sent to the offi ce of Principal Commissioner of Immigration Services Dar es Salaam or at the offi ce of the Commissioner of Immigration Services Zanzibar.

Visa Fees: Standard rate for ordinary Visa Fee is USD 50, for Multiple Entry Visa is USD 100 and Transit Visa is USD 30 except for the following Nationals with their specifi c Visa rates in brackets; USA-(USD 100) and Ireland-(USD 100).

Offi cial languages: Kiswahili and English

Currency: The Tanzania shilling (Tsh or TZS), divided into 100 cents, is the national currency.

Banking: Banks and bureau de change are available at airports and in all major towns. Banking hours are from Monday - Friday 8.30 am - 3.00 pm, Saturdays 8.30 am - 1.30 pm.



A few branches in the major towns are open until 4.00 pm. Please note that banks are closed on Sundays. Credit cards and travellers’ cheques: Credit cards (Access, MasterCard, Visa, American-Express, and Eurocard) are accepted only at major lodges, hotels, and travel agents. A surcharge may be added for this service. ATM and 24-hour cash machines are available in branches of major banks. Travellers’ cheques in pounds sterling or US dollars are recommended, though it may be diffi cult to exchange them outside the main cities

Time: Local time is GMT + 3 hours

Electric Current: 220 volts AC50Hz

Communications: International Direct Dial is available. The country code for Tanzania is +255. The outgoing international code is 00 for the United States, or 000 for all other countries. Public call boxes in post offi ces and main towns operate on a card system, available from most small shops. Several cellular phone companies operate in Tanzania and roaming lines work near most major cities and towns. Internet cafes are plentiful in major city centres.

Health: Tanzania has a tropical climate and different bacteria, fl ora, and fauna than most visitors are accustomed to, so it is advisable to take a few health precautions when travelling to make sure that your trip goes as comfortably and smoothly as possible. Malaria is usually top on the list of visitors’ worries, and prevention goes a long way towards keeping you protected. Make sure to visit your doctor to get a prescription for the anti-malarial drugs that best suit you.

The yellow-fever vaccination is no longer offi cially required when entering Tanzania; however this is still a requirement if you wish to visit Zanzibar. Other vaccinations should be considered. For more information, contact your doctor well in advance of your visit.

Security: Tanzania is a safe country to travel in. Tanzanians are warm-hearted and generous people and are eager to help visitors get the most out of their stay. Tanzania is a politically stable, multi-democratic country. As in all countries, a little common sense goes a long way and reasonable precautions should still be taken, such as locking valuables in the hotel safe and not walking alone at night.

Best times to visit

Northern Tanzania : July to MarchSouthern Tanzania : June to MarchZanzibar and the coast : June to MarchWestern Tanzania : May to March

Getting There

By air: Tanzania has three international airports: Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA), formerly known as Dar es Salaam International Airport (handles most international fl ights), Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) and Zanzibar International Airport. Julius Nyerere International Airport, is located 15 km southwest of Dar es Salaam, and it takes approximately 25 minutes drive to reach it by car from downtown. Airport facilities include duty-free shops, car hire, post offi ce, banking and bureaux de change, a bar and restaurant.

Kilimanjaro International Airport: Lies 40 km from Arusha and it takes approximately one hour drive to reach it by car. Facilities include curio shops, a post offi ce, a bar and a restaurant. Shuttle bus services to the airport run regularly from both Arusha and Moshi.

Zanzibar International Airport: Located approximately 7 km from the centre of Stone Town and takes approximately 15 minutes to reach by car. Facilities include a restaurant, bureaux de change and curio shops.

International airlines: Air India, Air Malawi, Air Mozambique, Air Zimbabwe, British Airways, Emirates, Ethiopian Airways, Kenya Airways, KLM, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, South African Airways, Swiss Air, Yemen Air and Air Turkey International.

Domestic airlines: There are also local scheduled fl ights from all three above mentioned international airports to all Lake Zone regions. These include: Precision Air, Air Tanzania, FastJet, and Coastal Aviation, among others. Your tour operator can arrange your travel requirements on request.

By road: From the north, paved roads connect the Kenyan capital of Nairobi with Arusha and cross the border at the Namanga post. A number of shuttle buses, leaving twice daily between the two cities, also follow this route. The trip takes approximately 4 - 6 hours. From the south, the road from Malawi enters Tanzania at Karonga before continuing onwards to Mbeya. There are no viable bus services along this route. It is possible to cross the border from Uganda at the Mutukula border post, but transport options are equally limited. Internal roads connect Arusha and Dar es Salaam to major towns around the country. Roads to major tourist destinations are either already paved or under construction. At the time of writing, paved road extends from Arusha to Tarangire National Park and almost to Karatu, on the way to Ngorongoro Crater. There are a number of reliable bus service operators running throughout Tanzania. For road safety avoid driving at night.



Focus on Coast Zone



NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA AUTHORITY (NCAA)

Welcome to the Eighth Wonder of the World

Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International

Biosphere Reserve. It pioneers multiple land-use in which wildlife conservation, tourism and

pastoral activities of the semi-nomadic Maasais co-exist in a carefully managed harmony.

The area contains the greatest permanent concentration of wildlife in Africa and prolifi c birdlife.

NCA has also a stunning blend of landscapes and spectacular views. It is also home to world-

famous pre-historic sites including Oldupai Gorge where the remains of the earliest known

ancestor, Zinjathropus boisei were discovered.

The Gorge is the only place on Earth which exhibits various stages of human evolution:

Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus boisei, Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Homo

sapiens.

Contact:

The Conservator, Ngorongor Conservation Area Authority,

P.O Box 1, Ngorongoro Crater, Arusha Tanzania • Tel: +255 27 253 7006 and +255 27 253 7019,

Fax: +255 27 253 7007 • E-mail: ncaa _ [email protected], Web: www.ngorongorocrater.org



Focus on Coast Zone

Documents

Hardventure Tourism - Dec 2013