On Boxing Day, Roanna, Cristiano, Wies, and I traveled to Bagomoyo, this old coastal town which has a rich history and interesting German architecture. My friend and colleague Sarah Louw provides a brilliant, concise description of Bagomoyo on her blog (http://hb2pencil.blogspot.com) which I will quote directly here:
Bagomoyo on the other hand is a small seaside town an hour or two outside of Dar (take a dalladalla from Mwenge to Bagomoyo for Tsh 1800). Bagomoyo used to be one of the most important dhow posts along the East African coast and it was the terminus of the trade caravan route (and the slave trade). It has passed through the hands of the Arabs, Germans and British. Today, the town is quiet and somewhat run down. The buildings erected by the Germans at the turn of the last century are still standing, but most are in bad repair.
After eating lunch at one of the Bagomoyo resorts, we walked through the abandoned town, heard the drumming of a local perched on a store doorstep, meandered through the cobblestone pathways, enjoyed a Fanta, and walked along the beach – not necessarily in that order. The beach was by no means similar to the pristine beaches of Zanzibar - but was covered instead by some ship wreckage and tons of dead fish on the seashore.
Both on the way to Bagomoyo and on the way home to Dar, we stopped at the local gas station where we purchased ice cream bars/cones! It felt like stopping at a gas station while on a road trip in Canada. Thanks so much Wies for taking us to Bagomoyo in your jeep and joining us for the day! We had such a blast!
