Bagamoyo is East Africa’s treasure that is crumbling

What you need to know:

Old forts, old customs house, Mwanamakuka tombs that speak volumes about the occupation of powerful African chiefs and Kaole ruins that existed earlier than 13th century are evidences that Bagamoyo should be accorded more attention.

Many tourists have loudly wondered why the authorities have let Bagamoyo be run-down to what it is today – a decrepit hole where nothing seems to happen.

Old forts, old customs house, Mwanamakuka tombs that speak volumes about the occupation of powerful African chiefs and Kaole ruins that existed earlier than 13th century are evidences that Bagamoyo should be accorded more attention.

A two-hour drive from Dar es Salaam you find a rather an ordinary town that if you take away its long history as a slave stop-over and market, a German fort, a British administrative post and a lot of other uses, you certainly cannot ignore.

Fishing hand-made dhows lie haphazardly on the white beaches. The town’s potential notwithstanding, there seems to be an air of neglect. Many different cultures have met, collided, mixed and left their ‘footprints’ in Bagamoyo.

Bagamoyo also happens to be a gateway of Christianity and Islam into the hinterland. The town has little to offer but an evidence of dilapidated buildings speak more of neglect than the place being the epicentre of various historical sites that must be kept alive.

Narrow alleyways, crumbling ruins and decrepit human habitations, are more likely to get you bored unless your mission is to learn history.

The town is lax and the people seem to be in no hurry.

Despite Bagamoyo’s stone town having been classified as a world heritage but so far, nothing has been done – only feeble attempts have been done to bring them to the original position. Ideally, the structures are supposed to be kept in their original coral stones and mangroves.

The old fort, the various ruins, the oldest catholic mission, the tiny church where the body of Dr David Livingstone was temporarily rested from Zambia before being ferried to Zanzibar and finally to UK for burial are interesting to history scholars.

Lack of funds is attributed to the sorry state of the heritage. According to a tour guide Cuthbert Mapile, it requires a lot of funding to restore the architecture to its original state.

One is able to learn the entire slave trade, influence of the Sultanate of Oman on the East African coast and powerful German, British, Arab and African hegemonies of that spread tentacles on the hinterland.

From Caravan Serai we set off on a 20 minute bajaji ride from Bagamoyo town to the beautiful Kaole ruins. Kaole Ruins are remains of a small 13th Century Shirazi (Persian) settlement.

Most of these structures are very imposing and with some restoration they could be great. I would be unfair to rate the old customs building low but with many tourists interested in the history and structure, it would be beneficial for the government to spend some money on it and invest.