After a tour of Kaole Ruins, I booked a bodaboda ride and headed to Old Town. If you are reading this from the Dominican Republic, motorcycle taxis are popularly referred to as bodabodas in this part of the world.
My next stops included the Old Fort, the German cemetery, the slave port, and the mansion that served as the official residence of the German colonial governor. As I walked from one attraction to the other, I stumbled upon more ancient structures, including a post office, administrative buildings, and a 19th-century mosque. Unlike the ruins of the mosques I had seen at Kaole earlier, this one has been renovated several times and remains operational.
My tour of Old Town covered the two topics I hate most: slave trade and colonialism. Slave traders and colonial masters left their marks all over this part of Bagamoyo. Furthermore, I gathered all the information I needed about the Abushiri Revolt that took place in the late 1880s.
This was a bittersweet experience. Walking on the pain-etched ground and touching the atrocity-ridden walls, I heard the whispers of untold stories and the echoes of lost identities. Yet, amid the fusion of anger and sorrow, I answered the call to turn these historic sites into spaces of reflection, resilience, and healing.
Bagamoyo was the point of departure for slaves captured from the interior of East Africa and beyond. The name Bagamoyo is derived from the Swahili phrase Bwaga moyo, which means lay down your heart or give up hope. It reflects the despair and resignation felt by the victims of this illegitimate trade.
After a tour of Old Town, I dropped by Traveller's Lodge for lunch. This lunch break rekindled memories of my 2001 weekend getaway at the blissful waterfront facility. Although I spent about an hour relaxing at Traveller's, I wasn't done with the exploration of Bagamoyo yet. The Catholic Museum was next. What transpired while dissecting the exhibits displayed in the said museum will be shared in my next post.