Overview
What makes this journey special
A full day on the old Swahili coast north of Dar es Salaam – the Kaole ruins, the German Boma, the Catholic Mission museum and the beach where Bagamoyo’s dhows land their catch.
Bagamoyo – “lay down your heart” in Kiswahili – lies about 75 km north of Dar es Salaam. In the late 19th century it was the most important trading port on the central East African coast: the end of the caravan route from Lake Tanganyika and the starting point for European explorers heading inland.
Arab, Indian and German influences are still visible in its coral-stone buildings, and the town is on Tanzania’s tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage status. It makes an easy, rewarding day out from Dar es Salaam.
Your Wild Gaze guide brings the history together: the 13th-century Kaole ruins and their pillar tombs, the Caravan Serai where porters rested, the Old German Boma of 1897 and the Holy Ghost Mission, where Livingstone’s body was kept before it was shipped to Zanzibar.
