So on Sunday, the 7^th of October, having spent a day and a half in Dar, we took a daladala (or rather, two), to Bagamoyo, an erstwhile-bustling port town about 75 kms north of Dar, now consisting of little more than huts and shanty-towns and a rich history. The rich history relates mainly to three eras. The first being the 1500s, one of the remnants of which time are the famous Kaole ruins close to Bagamoyo, about which there’s more below. The second era of bustle in Bagamoyo’s history came when the German colonists chose it as their first capital of Tanganyika, before they found that the harbour in Dar was more suitable for the large ships they needed to have access to the capital. Finally, and perhaps best recorded, is Bagamoyo’s dubious importance as the last mainland stop for the slave caravans before the slaves were taken to the bazaars of Zanzibar to be sold to plantations in Europe and southern Africa. In fact one theory of the genesis of the name ‘Bagamoyo’ (literal Kiswahili translation – ‘lay down’ or ‘crush’ my heart) is that it related to the captured slaves’ giving up hope of escape as they left the African mainland forever.

We found a hotel (gesti, in Swahili), and leaving our bags, set out to explore the town. There is only one asphalted road, parallel to the beachfront along one end of the town. For the rest, the place and the neighbouring villages in which Bagamoyo seems to melt seamlessly, are interspersed by red coloured dust roads. In the so called ‘city centre’ there are simple stone buildings while outside the inner core of Bagamoyo, most of the huts are erected in the traditional manner. This involves a structure of thin branches and stems of eucalyptus and other trees, filled in and padded with a mixture of clay and straw, with roofs made of reed or coconut mats. The only 2-story building we saw during our stay was the police station – the rest is one-story only! From the moment we set our foot out of the daladala, we had a good feeling about the town. It seemed more authentic, genuine, more Tanzania. A couple of hours of walking and we’d probably seen most of the town, so we headed to the local restaurant for which we’d received the most recommendations since being in Bagamoyo, for a dinner of ugali (maize flour cooked to a solid consistency, to eaten by rolling into balls in the palm of your hand and dipped in the sauce) and samaki (fish). Yummy.) And then the real adventure began.