Hardventure Tourism - Dec 2013 by Tanzania Tourism

Issue No. 6

A Abreak tothe new exciting adventurous sights inDecember Tanzania 2013 focus on leastand known tourist attractions of Tanzania

Tourist Attractions in the

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

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Map of Tanzania

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Map of the Coast Zone

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Contents Editorial comment Just go by the flow in Mrima Coast

Focus on the least known tourist attractions in the Coast Zone Pwani: Host to early ivory traders

Day out and seashells

Sable Antelopes

Writer’s tales

Dar es Salaam: As peaceful as the fabled abode

Out there alone except my Swahili

Sounds and sights

Factual blurb

Tanga: Like the lost and found ‘Atlantis’

How caving became my sport

Where ‘today’ doesn’t exist

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Note: All Adverts in this edition are reproduced ex gratia

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Just go by the flow in Mrima Coast 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 flowering 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 Rufiji 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 findings 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 fishermen-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 fishing 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 fine 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 flow-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 fishing excursion, an economic activity for the area fishermen since time immemorial. In Dar es Salaam and Tanga ports, viewpoints of rafts floating 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 multicoloured butterflies 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 flow!

Aloyce K. Nzuki, PhD Managing 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

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Pwani

PWANI

Host to early ivory traders

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

Geographical Location Pwani 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).

Ethnicity Pwani region is multi-ethnicity with major groups included Wakwere, Wazaramo, Warufiji 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.

Border Frontiers Pwani 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.

Etymology The 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.’

Districts The region is administratively divided in six districts namely: Bagamoyo, Kibaha. Rufiji, Kisarawe, Mukuranga and Mafia Island.

Climate Since the region is close to the Equator and the warm Indian Ocean, it experiences tropical climatic conditions, typified by hot and humid weather throughout much of the

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Southern Beach Bagamoyo

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Mafia 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 Rufiji River

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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.

Beach Camping

Agriculture Agriculture 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 Forestry Timber normally harvested from indigenous forest plays important role in the subsistence economy of the region. Bee keeping Honey 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.

Loners of Rufiji River

Tourism Tourism activities are highly pontential in Pwani both in wildlife, historical sites and ruins, particularly in its coast town of Bagamoyo, Rufiji and the Mafia Island. Getting there Due 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.

Bee eater of the Rufiji

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Accommodation Visitors 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 Mafia Island.

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Swollen Wami River snakes through the Saadani

Gym in the Saadani Jungle

Join artisan fishermen for a day

An early morning lone visitor in Saadani

Looking North along Mrima Coast

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Technicolour seashell viewing in the

Saadani “Our guide helped us into a canoe then drifted with the flow along the river…” Sometimes it can be difficult 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 fishermen pulling in their catch of the mouthwatering Saadani prawns could be the first 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’.)

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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 first option, when my wife and I visit the Saadani, the only Park in East Africa where you can also find 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 reflections 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

| towards a small airstrip located deep in the Park. As altitude decreased we began to see the movement of animals below - our first 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

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 flock of flamingos 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 fish 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

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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.

a flash 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 flash 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.

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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.

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

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.

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 flattened brush where an elephant had stomped its way through followed by a very graphic dissection of said elephant’s dung, a Bateleur eagle flying 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 fleeting 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 flock of alarmed guinea fowl desperately flapping their escape,

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.

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

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 scientific 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 fine 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

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Where the bush meets the beach

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 fishing boats

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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. Reflecting on all of this I can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of wellbeing and a strange affiliation 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

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Fact box: Sable Antelopes 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 first 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 prefix Roosevelt’s (Sable Antelopes.) Description Slightly 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 Habitat The 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 Structure Herds 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 fight or flight distance for sable antelope seems to be smaller than for comparable species. Old bulls are believed to be territorial. When fighting, 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 Colours This 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. Trophy Horn 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 flaring out, then it should be a great animal.

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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 Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s East Coast. The traders from the Arab world and South India established huge plantations and the African population provided labour.

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

f 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 districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tourism Officer, 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 official from TTB in Arusha, the organisers of our trip to Bagamoyo and other destinations along the Mrima coast. Mention the name Bagamoyo, and what first comes to mind is the infamous history of the slave trade in East Africa, its significance

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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 townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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 first multi-racial school, Mwambao housed in one of the first building structures in Bagamoyo. The 3-storey building was donated to German colonial officials by an influential 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

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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, fishing is the major economic activity for most local people in Bagamoyo in particular and Pwani region in general. In an open field closer to the beachfront stood a fish market frequented by visitors and area residents. Upon our arrival we found the market busy with hundreds of people swarming it as others fried fish in several chambers of the sprawling market. while others were busy negating for affordable prices. There was a group of fishmongers selling freshly caught fish 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 official residence of the ambassadors of the Sultan of Zanzibar, an office and prison house for Arabs Inspired by the first-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 renamed 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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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How I envy those who live here? I have unfinished business in Bagamoyo, and I will definitely 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

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Mafia Archipelago

Mafia 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. Mafia 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.

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Dar es Salaam

D’Salaam

As peaceful as the fabled abode

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

Geographical Location Dar 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 frontiers As 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.

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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. Districts Dar 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. Ethnicity Like 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.

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

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 Activity Majority 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 fishing as well as large scale fishing. Transport Commuter 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 traffic jams by ferrying people to and from the city centre where much of economic activities are undertaken. Etymology The 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 office in Dar es Salaam and facilitated its growth by

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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.

Climate Because it is close to the equator and the warm Indian Ocean, the city experiences generally tropical climatic conditions, typified 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.

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.

Getting there The 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

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.

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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! Accommodation Dar es Salaam has the best accommodation facilities ranging from â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;starredâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hotels including brand names as well as restaurants and guest houses suitable for each visitors pulse and preference. A number water frontâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accommodation is also available for leisure or honeymooners. Contact you tour operator for prior bookings and transport from the airport. What to do The city now offers a rich and diversified cuisines or eat outs, ranging from traditional Tanzanian barbecue options such as Nyama Choma (roasted meat) served with rice

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or ugali, (stiff corn or maize flour 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 findings of Louis Leakey at Olduvai Gorge. The Village Museum, located in the outskirts of the city along the

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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.

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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.

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Try your Swahili hanging out there alone

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 find 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 flight 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 find 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 filled with finger-size fish, to restaurateurs searching for top-quality tuna fish 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 fishing 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 fisherman, 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.

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After I had my fill of the fishy 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 confluence 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 ultramodern 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

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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 flogging beautifully patterned khangas. And amid it all, scores of people thronged in every direction; women out to shop,

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traders gathering their wares, pedestrians dodging traffic, 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 flair 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 fishermen 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 finding 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 protohuman 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

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he worked for a British oil firm; 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 confirm in confidentiality, 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 overexploited 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 fine art, graphic design, and cartoon. Chief among them were the naïve, childlike depictions of wideeyed 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 simplified human figures or wild animals painted from one side with the head turned toward the viewer are twodimensional 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

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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’) figures realised by George Lilanga during his illustrious career. Widely considered to be one of the world’s major contemporary artists, Lilanga was greatly influenced 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 figures 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

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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, first 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 flogging their canvases and carvings at street side stalls or from curio markets where original and unique creations are always a rarity. You can find 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 firm. 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, butterflies 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

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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 fires devouring a section of the forest fiercely 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 terrific 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 fire 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)

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Sounds and sights

s 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 officials 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 five decades. Official House or Old Boma Reputed to be the oldest surviving sea-front building downtown Dar es Salaam, the Official 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.

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 cohabitation of its diversified cultures and religions. State House A 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 office 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.

On his death, the Old Boma originally referred to as ‘Official House,’ fell into neglect and disrepair and after its restoration it provides space for rent by private and public offices as you can see it today. Dar es Salaam Harbour Dar es Salaam, exemplifies 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 fishermen’s village. A century and half down the line, the natural al bandar has undergone huge metamorphosis to

Askari Monument Pitched 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.

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Clock Tower At 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.

Mwalimu Nyerere House This 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.

Uhuru Torch and Republic Fountain The 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.

National Museum The Museum was built in 1940 by the British colonial officials 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.

Karimjee Hall One 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 first House of Parliament or National Assembly. It is also known as the Mayorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Parlour because it is where the offices of His Lordship Mayor are located.

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 Garden The botanical garden was founded in 1893 by a German doctor Franz Stuhlmann as a test project for a number of tree species.

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However, in the evenings and on weekends colonial officials 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.

Kasa Beach This 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.

Mwenge Carving Centre This 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 fine artworks such as drawings.

Buyuni Beach A beautiful 70 kilometre long unexplored sandy beach along the Indian Ocean, south of Temeke district.

Mbezi River or Crocs’ river Is 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.

Genda Heka Located 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.

Vijibweni Pond It 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.

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.’

Amani Gomvu This is another unexplored natural coral cliff which offers itself as suitable site for sport diving.

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Kisiwa cha Wavuvi or fishermen’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.

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.

Ancient Moslem Mosque Built 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.

National Stadium This was the former soccer stadium where the historic landmark Independence Day celebrations were held by hosting the Black – Green-Yellow and Blue flag of the newly independent Tanganyika on the 9th of December 1961 replacing the Union Jack to officially put an end to the 42 year rule of the British colonial administration.

University of Dar es Salaam The first and oldest institution of higher learning opened its doors to the first 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.

Saint Joseph Cathedral Perched 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.

A satellite business centre known as Mlimani City 2000, housing number businesses such as shopping malls, a Game shop, restaurants, financial institutions, among others, operate on the rolling land of the university main campus. Main National Stadium Is 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 Tanzania The first radio station to broadcast live from a small makeshift studio along Shaurimoyo Street, in Dar es Salaam in 1957 as the

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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

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Dar es Salaam in factual blurb

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 fishing 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 significance in the German period when government was based there and the railway was built.

However it only acquired real significance 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 influence 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 flights can be easily arranged to the northern or southern wildlife parks and reserves, as well as to the islands of Zanzibar, Mafia and Pemba.

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 influence 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 flights can be easily arranged to the northern or southern wildlife parks and reserves, as well as to the islands of Zanzibar, Mafia and Pemba.

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Tanga

TANGA

Like lost and found ‘Atlantis’

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

Geographical Location Tanga 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 frontiers Tanga 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. Districts The region is divided into 6 administrative districts namely: Lushoto, Korogwe, Muheza, Handeni, Pangani.

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Ethnicity Major 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 city Like 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

city of Tonique and precursor of present day Tanga. Was the city lost and found in another name and physiography? Climate The 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 influence 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. Vegetation The outstanding feature of the vegetation in the region is

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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 Economy The economy of Tanga region like in many other regions was of subsistence agriculture, livestock keeping and fishing. Food production Largely, 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 tourism Tanga region is endowed with vast resources and tourist

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attraction sites such as mineral deposits, forestry, game reserves, fisheries 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 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Eden.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Air Transport Tanga airport handles inland scheduled flights 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.

Road Network Tanga 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.

Energy The 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.

Railways Services The 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.

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Communication Tanga region is hooked to super-highway communication facilities such as mobile phones and the internet or cybercommunications.

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How caving became my sport

grew up listening to stories of how a local legend accused for crime against colonial officials, easily beat off police dragnet by leading a double life in a cavernous village close to the seaport of Tanga.

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.

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.

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

I had wanted to travel to Kiomoni, the cavernous village in a locality known as Amboni, 8 kilometres from the seaport of Tanga and find 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 firm 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 official 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 officials 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

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What a bad ending! I hate stories with bad ending, I said to myself. Anyway, after the briefing, 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

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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 briefing 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 first 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 briefing. 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 find 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 floor 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, walkthroughs 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

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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 graffiti 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’.

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Semi-circle wall niche However, 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 cave I 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 ‘calsfied.’ Block chambers I passed several blocks inside the natural caves of Kiomoni village in Amboni some had ‘steps’ and the ‘floor’ 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 floor, then flattened to look like most beds found in our bedrooms. Map of Africa Stories on natural objects whose shapes or appearances resembled the physiographic map of Africa abound deep in Tanzania. Somewhere in Lindi when bats leave their hideouts for dinner in the evening perform and airborne fly-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 floor to form the shape of the African map. Cavers identified such ‘breakdown’ as the ‘fall of bedrock’ either from the roof or wall purely on its (boulder’s) weight. Colony of bats In 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 filled the air in the chamber. In the pitch darkness I could hear the animals’ high pitched sounds and flapping of their wings. There was a pile of whitish in colour of bats’ droppings which the guide technically identified them as ‘guano’ and as I moved deeper

A limestone formed cave.

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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 residents During 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

Semi-circle chamber

An opening in the roof of a cave

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Semi-circle wall niche

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Where ‘today’ does not exist

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

housands 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

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visits to places they had visited this time around to find 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 first unfolding hour, I briefly experienced an exhilarating hike on a stretch of tarmac road that was not

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there during my first visit some few years back. The first 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 cocoordinator of the Tanga Cultural Tourism Initiative, visitors were fondly much at home.

occupied the first chamber formerly used for the offerings and supplications.

It could be the time to explore interesting tourist attractionswhether 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.)

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.

Amboni caves My first 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.

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.

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 first magnificent ‘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.

Tabu Mtelekezo, who was the caves curator and conservator by time of my visitation, could confirm how the residents flock the caves for ritual prayers.

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 ruins Our 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 fishing village.

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

Remains of ancient mosques and tombs attributed to the first 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.

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.

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.

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 first.

Job Tengamaso, conservator at the Tongoni ruins, could reveal that the early fishing hamlet was inhabited by the Wabondei and Wazigua ethnic tribes until the arrivals of the Shirazis.

For some, the caves have been long-known as a place for worship beseeching forgiveness from ancestral spirits for whatever presumed social demeanors.

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

So, when we arrived at site that material day of our visit, we met a large group of area residents who had temporarily

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Tongoni Ruins

Vasco Da Gama is said to have revisited Tongoni a year later and spent close to two weeks rubbing shoulders with area resident fishermen 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 first 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.

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Culture Unknown to many, tourists are also drawn to Tanga for its rich culture and traditions: everything from Swahili poetry to Taarab music to the finely filigreed body painting tradition which has appealed to people curious to find 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 fishermen in dug out canoes or dhows could provide a life time experience. Dhow trips and viewing dhows as they floating over seas or up in the bays and lagoon are also undertaken by a number of visitors in Tongoni village. How to get there By overland safaris, air transport or just ‘boat’ for an exciting flow with the current of the Indian Ocean. Accommodation Wide 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

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An A-Z shortlist of least known cultural cruise tourist attractions in the Coast or Mrima Coast Zone A:

Stands Antonie Baeumler, a German nurse who was killed in Bagamoyo on September 24, 1889 during fighting 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. 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 officials 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. 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. Represents dripline the official entrance into a cave or the first chamber of a cave system such as the limestone Amboni caves.

Stands for Emin Pasha, a German trader who ‘fell’ from the first floor of the current day area District Commissioner’s office, Bagamoyo, formerly known as Liku House.

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.

Represents Germany Cemetery in Bagamoyo where 18 Wissman troops killed during fighting against Arabs traders between 1889 and 1894 in and around

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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).

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.

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.

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 officials in Tanga, Pemba, Pangani, Mkomazi and as far as to Mombasa.

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,

| a wealthy Tabora native who had ‘migrated’ to Bagamoyo and created huge fortune through trade links with Omani Arab traders. N:

Is identified 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)

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.

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.

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.

Stands for Vasco da Gama, an early Portuguese captain and traveller to arrive and stay in the Tongoni (ruins) in 1498, then a prospering fishing 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!

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 fortified by Arab traders from Shiraz in current day Iran who were the first 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 influential 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-fortified it to become a garrison for his Baluchi troops. The British acquired the house (1919), and transformed it into a DC’s office, Police station and Jailhouse! After Independence it remained an office the native DC, Police Station and Prison. Apparently it has been re-used into a private learning institution known as Mwambao secondary school.

Represents Sewa Haji, a Pakitani immigrant and influential 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.

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.

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.

The S is also identified 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.

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Simple Swahili Words for Visitors / Tourists Nyumbani Nyumba Mlango Dirisha Ngazi Karibu ndani/ Ingia tafadhali Baba Mama Mtoto Msichana Mvulana Kijana Meza Kiti/Kochi Kikombe Glasi Kijiko Jikoni Choo (Chooni) Bafu (Bafuni) Kuoga

Home/ Residence House Door Window Steps/Stairs

Kunawa Mikono Kitanda Kulala Amka Kumekucha

Chai Chakula Maji ya kunywa Njaa Nasikia Njaa Nimeshiba Kaa Simama Nakwenda Kwa heri Asante Tutaonana Safarini Stendi

Abiria

Basi Dereva Kondakta Nauli Tiketi Kiti cha abiria Kiti Cha dereva Simama katikati/ Shika Bomba Mzigo (Mizigo) Begi Dereva, tafadhali simama

Come in Please Father Mother Child Girl Boy Youth Table Chair Cup Glass Spoon Kitchen Toilet Bathroom Take a shower / Bathe Wash Hands Bed Sleep Wake UP It is Morning/ Sunrise Tea Food Drinking Water Hunger I am hungry I am full Sit (down) Stand (up) I am Going Good Bye Thank you See you On Journey Stand / Bus Terminal Passengers/ Travellerrs Bus Driver Conductor Fare Ticket Passenger’s Seat Driver’s Seat

- Stand on Platform - Luggage - Bag - Please Stop

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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 Shati (Mikono Mifupi/Mirefu) Tsheti Koti/Jaketi Suruali Bukta Nguo za Kuogelea

- Wear - Short/ Long sleeve shirt - T-shirt/ Polo shirt - Jacket - (Pair of) Trousers - Shorts

- 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 Miwani ya Jua

- Loin clothe - Eye shade/ Sunglasses Kofia - 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

Least known tourist attractions

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Least known tourist attractions

Tanzania Fact File Administrative capital: Dodoma Commercial capital: Dar es Salaam

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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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 specific Visa rates in brackets; USA-(USD 100) and Ireland-(USD 100). Oﬃcial 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 difficult to exchange them outside the main cities

Least known tourist attractions

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 flights), 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 office, banking and bureaux de change, a bar and restaurant.

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 offices 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, flora, 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 officially 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 Southern Tanzania Zanzibar and the coast Western Tanzania

: : : :

July to March June to March June to March May to March

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 office, 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 flights 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.

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Least known tourist attractions

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 proliﬁc birdlife. NCA has also a stunning blend of landscapes and spectacular views. It is also home to worldfamous 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 _ faru@cybernet.co.tz, Web: www.ngorongorocrater.org

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Least known tourist attractions