Bagamoyo and Relentless Rains

This weekend, our UF group went to Bagamoyo, a small town north of Dar es Salaam. It’s a pretty cool little town that was once the capital of German East Africa. It reminded me a little of Stone Town in Zanzibar, and apparently it is in the running to be a World Heritage Site. Bagamoyo was a big trading hub during colonial days and before, and there are ruins of an old mosque and tombs from Arab traders in the 13^th century. Now the town is known for its art and is home to a famous arts college.

Alas, that’s about all I caught of the history of the place. We were with a group of about 50 or so Tanzanian students of Swahili literature, and all of our tours were in Swahili. It’s hard enough for me to have a face-to-face conversation with someone about the weather in Swahili, much less listen to a lecture. Oh well, I did get to look at pretty things like the biggest baobab tree I’ve ever seen in my life.

Well, the rainy season has started. It started over Easter. Literally, one day it started raining, and it has rained every day since then. Sometimes it rains part of the day and is sunny for the rest. I like those days because when the rain stops, the air is nice and cool. Other days it rains nonstop, and those days make me realize why everyone in Tanzania hates the rain. Most of the walkways by the dorms are dirt, and the stairs around campus are surrounded by dusty hills. There’s not much grass on those hills, so all the dirt and silt floods the walking paths. Most buildings and houses have little moats around the outside to collect the rain and mud before it flows into their living room. If it weren’t for the wonderful maintenance staff constantly shoveling the mud, I’m convinced this place would be underground within a year.

Mwenge is especially bad. One day last week was one of those rain-all-day days, and the whole place was flooded. The area behind the shops where all the woodcarvers do their work was one giant muddy lake. To get to our class, you have to walk through an alley, and we were wading through ankle deep water to get there. I don’t know how those guys handle that kind of wetness.

Here are some pics from the weekend trip:

Kaole Ruins. The buildings are from around the 13th century,
and the stones are made from coral.


Biggest baobab tree ever! This thing had branches that were 3-4 feet thick. Definitely one of the top three coolest trees I've ever seen.




This church in Bagamoyo is where Dr. Livingstone's body was laid out before being sent to Zanzibar. When we were here, there was a wedding going on inside, and they were singing some of the most beautiful church music I've ever heard.