We have done some traveling over the last few weeks and have been blessed to visit some interesting parts of Tanzania.
About an hour north of Dar es Salaam, is a small city—Bagamoyo. It sits right on the coast and offers an amazing glimpse at some of the history of this area.
On our first day there, we visited this spot. Obviously, they are doing some work here at the moment. But this cross sits on the coast and commemorates the missionaries that “redeemed” the slaves from the slave markets in Zanzibar in 1868. From Zanzibar, the slaves were brought back here to a settlement.
From there, we visited a museum that displayed through old photographs, maps, articles and artifacts, the history of slave trade in the area.
Also on the grounds of the museum is a Catholic church and a large cemetery.
There is also this tower, where David Livingstone’s body brought before it was returned to England. Livingstone played a huge role in attempting to abolish the slave trade that was happening throughout eastern Africa. Over 500 slaves that he had “redeemed” carried him here as a tribute.
The next day, we visited an old fort that at one time served as the place to house the slaves before they were chained and put on ships and sent to other countries to be sold. The conditions there were unbelievable as our tour guide described that 25 people were put into one small room for days at a time. There was only a small window for light and air. This was after they had been captured and walked for miles and months carrying heavy loads. It is amazing to me that anyone survived long enough to even make it on the ships to be sold.
At one point the building also served as a prison and you could almost feel the sadness of the place.
We stayed at a small inn, the Traveller’s Lodge, which was also right on the beach. The grounds were green and lush and so peaceful! It was a wonderful retreat. It also had a great play structure for the kids.
We definitely had a great trip! Wish you were here!
