Bagamoyo & Bongoyo Island

Another fun weekend has come and gone! Saturday we took a trip to Bagamoyo with a few Italian Clown Therapists, who we met that are also staying at CEFA. There were a group of 7 of them, and only 2 spoke English. They are in Tanzania visiting missionaries and villages to perform "clown therapy" for children with illnesses and disabilities. I wish I could say we got to see them in action, but unfortunately that didn't happen!  Before heading to Bagamoyo, we stopped at a Missionary of Charity in Dar es Salaam. The missionaries of charity are a Roman Catholic congregation that was founded by Mother Theresa. Overall, there are missionaries in over 100 countries. There are 4 located in Tanzania, this one was located in the mburhati area of Dar, which is a very poor region. Their mission is to care for the homeless and disabled. This particular mission had a section for men, women, children, and the disabled. We got to meet many of the people that lived here.

After touring the missionary, we headed 1 1/2 hours north of Dar to the town of Bagamoyo. Bagamoyo was the original capital of East Africa in the 18th century and was one of the most important trading ports along the coast. Fish was the main item that was used for trading.  In the first half of the 19th century, Bagamoyo became a trading port for the slave trade. They were kept imprisoned here and were transported by ship to slave-markets in Zanzibar at night. Now all that stands are the ruins of the slave prison.

Fish Market.

Bagamoyo Ruins, where the slaves were imprisoned before being shipped to Zanzibar

Bagamoyo is well known for having a lot of dhow sailboats. In this particular picture it is low tide so the boat isn't in the water.

We walked around the beach for a while and then stopped at some local artist shops, afterwards we ate a wonderful seafood lunch on the coast at New Bagamoyo Beach Resort.

Local artist shop and art school. Some of the paintings they do are incredible!

Calamari, prawns, shrimp, crab, and some different types of fish. I'm becoming quite the seafood eater.

We then visited the Bagamoyo Catholic Museum. The first Catholic mission in East Africa was founded in Bagamoyo. The first church was eventually torn down, but the tower still stands and was renamed the "Livingston Tower."

Livingston Tower

We capped off our nice little day trip by stopping at a food cart on the side of the road on the way home to drink fresh coconut milk and eat coconut! Definitely a first for me. 

Not my favorite thing, but it was definitely a fun experience.

Later on Saturday night Krista and I ate dinner at Mediterraneo, a nice little Italian/Mediterranean restaurant that has a beautiful view on the ocean. Definitely some yummy food! 

Sunday we took a trip to Bongoyo Island. This little paradise sits about 7 kilometers off of the coast of Dar, and took about 30 minutes by ferry to get there. The day started off with thunder and some rain, but that stopped as soon as we got to the island and it was hot and sunny the rest of the day. It is quite a luxury to be able to go to the beach on the weekends and get away from the stresses of clinic and work.

The teal blue water and white beaches definitely never get old.

Taking a nap in the shade. The African sun is definitely too intense later in the day, we were either in the water or trying to find some shade!

Another eventful weekend has left me sunburnt, but loving living in Tanzania more and more! Can't believe we have been here for 8 weeks already!!!




- K