I had a day off and I wanted to find a witch doctor so I decided to take a dala dala the 70km to Bagamoyo. The dala dala are bigger and less cramped than ‘taxis’ in Uganda and Matatu in Kenya. I had a seat and a window so I was happy.
I took a bijaj towards the beach and then wandered in what I guessed was the right direction for the town centre. I have a famously bad sense of direction but soon I arrived at crowds gathered near fishing boats and knew I must be near.
Fishermen were emerging from the sea with boxes of fish on their heads. Crowds were gathered around buckets overflowing with tiny fish. Like all market, putting buyers and sellers together creates noise and excitement. In the background bobbing in the shallows were the fishing boats.
These are larger than those I have seen in Dar, with big masts and much bigger hulls. I had the chance to see masts close up because several of them were lying on the sand – made of a several long logs tied together.
There were no other white people around as I left the beach and walked into town to find somewhere to have a drink and some lunch.
All through the town are decaying German colonial buildings, boarded up, shuttered and looking thoroughly unloved. Bagamoyo was an important port where ivory and slaves were loaded onto ships for Zanzibar and then across the world. Looking at the people on the beach and walking around the town, it’s sad to think that several hundred years ago, their fate might have been very different.
I was keen to see the witch doctor so I didn’t hang around the town very long. There was no cafe or eatery in easy reach and it was hot. I hopped in a bijaj and headed south.
Bagamoyo on first look is a very pretty place, full of life and definitely deserves more time than I afforded it. I will be back and I will find that cafe and spend more time exploring the old German buildings. What a great place it is.
