5 Days – Bagamoyo African Art Tour

At 8:30 am, or in the early afternoon if you prefer, you are collected from your hotel in Dar es Salaam for a half-day city tour. You visit the Mwenge craft market to see wood carvings, batik cloth paintings, Tinga Tinga paintings and many other works by local artists, and you can buy them if you wish. The tour continues to the National Museum, where you see a skull of Zinjanthropus, discovered at Olduvai Gorge near Ngorongoro. You spend the night in Dar es Salaam on a half-board basis (breakfast and dinner).

After breakfast you travel about 20 km south of Dar es Salaam to Geza Ulole, at Mboamaji, the original village on the coast. The village has a four-century-old mosque, a site from which enslaved people were once transported, and old Muslim graves. You watch local fishermen at work with their dhows, bringing in seafood. In the afternoon you walk through the village to learn about the lifestyle and culture of the Zaramo people, who originated there. You have dinner and an overnight stay at Kali Mata, a women’s project funded by Dutch initiatives.

After breakfast you travel through Dar es Salaam to Bagamoyo, a village town about 75 km north of the city. The historic tour includes the old church, the coral museum, the Kaole mosque, the old ferry at the Great Wami River and other sites dating from the 13th century. You also visit the African art college in Bagamoyo. Bagamoyo was a starting point for European explorers, with Stanley and Burton among them, and it was the port where enslaved people were brought from the interior. You then have dinner and an overnight stay in Bagamoyo.

This day is at leisure by the pool and on the soft white sand beach of the coastal resort. Sport can be arranged for those who want it. You have dinner and an overnight stay in Bagamoyo.

Things not to miss in Bagamoyo: The small museum at the Catholic Mission on the edge of town is worth a visit. The Old Church nearby is where Livingstone’s body was kept before it was shipped to Zanzibar on its way to Westminster Abbey, where he was buried. Near the port, boatbuilding takes place, so you can watch workers build a local boat. Almost every afternoon there is an auction at the local fish market, which is an experience to remember. The Chuo cha Sanaa, a well-known arts college, sometimes arranges traditional dance and drumming performances.

After breakfast you check out and drive back to Dar es Salaam for your onward travel.