Bagamoyo - Kaole Ruins

For the many people out there from reading my blog that think my trip has turned more vacation as opposed to research, these next few posts are for you.

(And a sidenote about Mt. Kilimanjaro and Black identity: In Rastafarianism, I have been told here in Tanzania, it is believed that Mt. Kilimanjaro is Mount Zion - the Holy Land.  In a religious context, a pilgrimage to the top of Kilimanjaro is the equivalent to visiting Mecca or Jerusalem.  I have encountered far more Dreads and Rastas in Arusha than I have anywhere else in Tanzania.  And as a Dread, who is always mistakenly referred to as Rasta, I find there is a lot respect paid to the religion and its people.)

The whole reason for making the week long trip was to see the historical and cultural value of Bagamoyo and learn about the Indian Ocean Slave Trade.  And as is true about all research, when you look for one thing, you always come across something new - The Kaole Ruins.

A 13th century mosque

13th century graves

Hottest day for me in Tanzania and I'm wearing a black t-shirt and dark jeans and smiling like I'm not cooking.

Lovers' grave.  The story is that a husband and wife died at sea and were found holding one another.

Kaole Ruins

Hot day in Bagamoyo

They say the tree is about 5,000 years old

I know I lost a lot of weight, but you can really tell the scale of the tree from this photo