Paradise Found

I never thought a vacation from Arusha would be necessary until I took one. I figured since my goal was to return to Arusha through whatever means possible that I would not have a desire to leave. But, stepping back from it I realize that life can be hectic and overwhelming even in here. And also, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect getaway

We began in Kigamboni, a suburb of Dar es Salaam. We were under the impression hat we would be staying in the city center and when we all of a sudden started driving onto a ferry there was definitely an air of disappointment on our trusty mini-bus. After hours of traffic on both ends of the ferry we were ready to settle into somewhere comfortable and not as sketchy as the surrounding bush. And we found it. We stayed at Kipepo Villas or something to that effect and it was absolutely wonderful. We had cute little stilted bungalows and the most perfect beach I have ever seen. The sand was white and the water was the most amazing arrays of blues and greens you can imagine.

Our only full day there was devoted to the water. We took a dhow (a rickety little boat) from our beach to an island that had an even more picturesque beach. Seeing the boat was a little nerve-wracking but we’ve conceded to just saying “TIT” (“This is Tanzania”) and accepting it. The water was absolutely clear, there was not a cloud in the sky, and we got to just explore and lounge around all day on this perfect tropical island. And get fried by the equatorial sun, surprise surprise. Actually, in my defense, I was one of the least burned of everyone, despite being without a doubt the fairest. We started calling ourselves “nyama choma” which is the Swahili name basically for BBQ or roasted meat.

Basically, our excursion to “Dar” was not at all representative of the city but it could not have been more perfect. We were expecting a crappy hotel in the middle of a city of three million people but instead we got quaint villas on a private beach. I’m okay with the fact that I still haven’t really seen Dar.

After two nights at Kipepeo we traveled to Bagamoyo, a small city about an hour north along the Indian Ocean coast. We went essentially from bustle to absolutely nothing – there wasn’t even power in the city when we were there. But it is a very nice small town on the coast that is full of history – basically ideal. We stayed at a hostel at the Catholic Mission in town – the first Catholic Church in German East Africa. More on that in a bit.

Apart from its historical legacy of its role in the slave trade, Bagamoyo is known across Tanzania for its College of Arts that was holding a festival while we were there. It is the only college of its kind in the region and produces a lot of artists that sell their work in Bagamoyo. There were performances all day during the festival and artists selling their crafts outside. It reminded me of a very mini Minnesota State Fair – performances inside a bandstand, vendors, and a lot of greasy food that you wouldn’t otherwise eat. I didn’t think it would be possible to draw a parallel between the state fair and Bagamoyo but there you have it.

Wednesday was devoted to seeing historical sites – awesome. And for those of you who don’t know, that ‘awesome’ was not at all sarcastic – I love historical sites so so much. We began with ruins from about the 8^th century. The settlement began in the 4^th century and Islam arrived around 400 years later with the Persians. There most obvious structures remaining are the mosque and its cemetery. There was a combination of Persian and Chinese influence during the settlement’s life span, but its citizens remained African throughout. There are three theories as to why the city was deserted and its citizens moved up the coast to present-day Bagamoyo: one is war with the Portuguese; two is a typhoon that blocked their port; and three is cannibalism (I dunno that one seems to me like some Western ‘historian’ from the 19^th century trying to work barbarianism into the fabric of Africa’s history).

The remainder of Bagamoyo’s history revolves around the slave trade from the 16^th-20^th centuries. Our tour guide freely acknowledged that Europeans, Indians, Arabs and Africans all played integral roles in the slave trade in East Africa and that none of them can escape blame. He also talked about the long-term effects of slavery on the culture on the coast. He pointed out that almost every home has a veranda. Why? People sit under their verandas during the day because if you work too much you look like a slave. Agriculture in the area is almost non-existent; the economy consists of fishing because that was not as much of a slave job. Also, there is a heavy stigma about descendants of slaves (even though most of the slaves in the East African trade were castrated before they were shipped).

The mission where we stayed had a “Freedom Village” for ransomed slaves during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Some of the other sites that we saw were German colonial sites because Bagamoyo was the capital of the German East Africa colony. We visited a German fort, administrative building, cemetery and hanging place that were all pretty interesting. The final day that we were in Bagamoyo we also visited a salt farm that has been in use since the 4^th century – talk about a long history in that town. For such a tiny town Bagamoyo is packed with historical information and sites, on top of cool cultural things and great, cheap souvenirs.

Arusha is not a bad or stressful city but in comparison to Kipepeo and Bagamoyo it definitely seems that way. I realized when I was gone just how much I have nested in Arusha because I feel very at home here and feel like I have found a good pattern to life. Vacation was great and I cannot complain about a single thing, but it does feel good to be ‘home’ again.