Mombasa

Mombasa, say it out loud. Doesn't it sound foreign and exciting? Let your mind conjure up images of a place inhabited for centuries by the Swahili. First trading with the ancient Persians, Chinese and Indians and then being ruled by the Omani's, Portuguese, Omani's again and finally the British. It is an ancient trading city, that even today is the most important and largest port in Kenya and plays a vital role in the movement of goods from a large swath of Central Africa to the world, as it always has.

Mombasa has over one million residents and sprawls onto the mainland from it's island location. As important as the port is to Kenya, Mombasa is also a gateway city to Kenya's numerous tourist attractions and most people use it mainly as an entry and exit point. It is close to magnificent beaches replete with five star resorts and all the accouterments that go with them. Kenya's spectacular game reserves, are a few hours away by car and even closer by bush plane. Yet it has it's own gritty charm and surprising attractions.

The Elephant Tusks on the main thoroughfare of the city were built to honor the visit of Princess Margaret back in the '60's and have become a favorite of all visiting Mombasa.

The other must see in the town is Fort Jesus, built by the Portuguese in 1593. The Omani's captured it and Mombasa in 1698 and ruled until 1729 when the Omani's retook it. The taking and retaking goes on until the British arrive in the 1800's. The town has been captured and recaptured so many times it would take an entire post to do justice to the comings and goings of conquering peoples including a cannibalistic tribe. The Fort is actually pretty cool and as you can imagine offers commanding views of the entrance to the Old Port.

Outside the Fort is an area called Old Town containing some of the oldest buildings in the City including it's oldest Mosque. The Port is actually still in use today although mainly for the smaller dhow's still plying the coastal waters of Africa. It's a pretty compact area featuring some curio shops and small restaurants. This symbol of Arab hospitality is erected at the entrance to the area: a replica of the coffee pots runners used to take to merchants and shops in early times.

Mombasa is also home to many Hindus and we stopped at a Hindu Temple. Always fascinating for the depiction of their various deities, this one had some pretty graphic warnings about eating meat, drinking alcohol, theft and other transgressions. And we thought going to confession and doing penance was tough!

We also stopped at a fabulous craft market called the Akamba Cooperative. The Kamba people are a tribe of carvers and they banded together to form this cooperative to sell their wares. It employs over ten thousand people. It is primitive work being done just as their fathers and grandfathers did often with the same primitive tools. The work they produce is fantastic. The rhino was carved out of one mango tree trunk.

One of the cool things about traveling around is the profusion of different advertising signs you see. The good Doctor Aziz seems to be a man of many talents.

As always the street scenes in a city tell of the comings and goings of the people. How they work, get around, live and interact.  Mombasa provided some great shots.

Mombasa was our last East Africa city to visit. It did not disappoint, Our journey will now take us to some exotic island paradise's on the way to our disembarkation in Singapore. Of all the sights we saw, things we experienced and lessons we've learned up to this point, the curiosity and friendliness of the people will not easily be forgotten.

Dar Es Salaam

Zanzibar is a city with a past, some of it repugent, some of it magnificent. It has a place in history. Dar Es Salaam, founded in 1866, has scant history, lost it's designation as Captial of Tanzania, yet far outstrips Zanzibar in every measure. It is by far Tanzania's largest city, home to over 2.5 million, and it's largest port, as well as it's cultural, intellectual, administrative and business center

As you enter the port you are greeted by a raucous scene. A thriving fishing area, fish market, transit point, and gathering spot with bars, restaurants and crowds, that can clearly be heard and seen as the ship passes by. It was quite a welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then you see the skyline of a modern city spread out before you engulfing it's older landmarks and think, this is going to be really something.

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately as soon as you leave the port you get ensnarled in major traffic and inch your way along to your first landmark, which is a clock tower milepost in an unkept park in the middle of a traffic circle, complete with advertising. Are we in New Jersey?

 

This spot measures the official distance to all points in Tanzania and unlike the beautiful, well-kept, tidy little milepost that marks the half-way point between Cape Town and Cairo, located in Arusha, this well, was underwhelming. It seems Tanzanian's like mileposts, but now we were wondering "what's next".

Next was a ride to and through the University, which is quite prestigious in Africa, but not very photogenic.

Even far from the City Center, traffic was unrelenting, but it did afford the opportunity to get some candids of street life.

 

 

 

 

 

Then we went for lunch at a swank hotel, which was good for a mass feeding of a few hundred tourists in a cavernous ballroom.

After lunch, we headed for the Tinga Tinga art gallery, which is a very large, open air craft workshop, shopping area and was made famous by the creator of the Tinga Tinga style, Edward Tingatinga at that very location in Dar Es Salaam. The style has spread all over Tanzania and Kenya. It's reminiscent of Haitian Folk Art. Lot's of stuff you wouldn't want on your walls, but some is spectacular and all of it is fun.

Unfortunately, we took no photos of the paintings as we dove in trying to find a specific style of Tinga Tinga. There were literally thousands of paintings and we managed to find the only two in the style we wanted, but we bought them and were very happ, especially Kathy, who loves to and excels at bargaining. You'll have to come over to see them.

That folks was "exotic" Dar Es Salaam. What would Mombassa bring we wondered as we crawled our way back through snarled traffic wondering if we really weren't in the Port of Jersey City.

Sometimes places work out fabulously, but our trip to Dar Es Salaam was disappointing. You are are at the mercy of the tour company and guide, but we had our paintings. It was a good day.

 

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Zanzibar and Dar Es Salaam-The Exotics Begin

Zanzibar and Dar Es Salaam… don’t those names conjure up exotic images?

We were eagerly looking forward to visiting both of these cities because of their history and distinctly different settings and cultures compared to the interior of Tanzania, which we had visited on safari in September. There would be no Masaai warriors here, no mud huts and no wild animals.

This was a world unto itself long before Vasco Da Gama found it in the late 1400's.  The Swahili
had set up numerous fishing villages along the coast and had traded with Persians, Indians and Arabs offering spices, wood and fish. Intermarriage was not uncommon and a thriving multi-racial culture had developed by the time the Portuguese arrived.

The Portuguese ruled for two hundred years, but in the late 1600's the Sultan of Oman took over and established a thriving Arab culture in Zanzibar. Unfortunately slaves were the major export with as many as 50,000 a year being sold through Zanzibar. The British finally ended the practice in the late 1800's and the area became a British Protectorate.

On the sight of the slave market the British built a church, but you can still see the vestiges of where salves were held and sold.

The slaves were kept on the raised portion in chains. There was little ventilation or light. Food and water were minimal. Hundreds were packed in these rooms. It was hot with just our group of 16 in it. We were there for minutes, the slaves for days.

Our guide demonstrated how the chains were used. Each square held a slave.














Outside the dungeons in the courtyard of the Church was a memorial dedicated to the slaves.

We started our tour of Zanzibar with a quick trip to the Central Market. This one was fascinating. Dark, wet, raw, smelly, chock full of interesting things and people, but our guide was intent on leading a sprint through it and although we tried to hold back, it was tough to get pictures. We were not happy, but that's what can happen when one is not on a private tour.

                                  

We then zipped over to the far less interesting Sultan's Palace and the National Museum. The Sultan's family actual lived in it until the 1960's before leaving for London. What passed for opulence here really can't compare to other places we've seen. On the other hand, it beats a mud hut and they did have nice views from a vary expansive terrace. The National Museum was originally called the House of Wonders as it had the first electricity and elevator in Zanzibar.

We next went to Stone Town, the oldest part of Zanzibar and really the most interesting with narrow twisting streets, shops galore and the famous Zanzibar doors. We broke off from the tour when they stopped at a sponsored tourist trap in order to try to a find a specific painter whose work we saw at a lodge we stayed at inland. I hired a young man and he took us on a whirlwind trip to all of the art stores he knew, but to no avail. We did manage to get a few shots of Stone Town and the doors. By the way, do you why there are spikes on the doors? 

                      

                       

             

Oh, the spikes...to keep the elephants from breaking down the doors.

Our time in Zanzibar was coming to an end. It was very hot and humid and the air conditioning on the ship was calling to us. As we prepared to leave the port a variety of boats passed just as they probably had been doing for centuries. Single fisherman setting out for their catch, boats carrying goods and boats carrying people to known and unknown destinations. It was a brief stop in a timeless place and we left enriched by it.

Next Dar Es Salaam