Kilwa is famous for its ruins and it’s nice for a change to take in something other than lions or a beach. So when my Turkish friend suggested joining them and their friends in Kilwa for a few days I was happy to go along.
You have to have a guide to get to the ruins and I paid about £40 for a day trip to two island, one called Songo Mnara and to Kilwa Kisiwani. The buildings are surprisingly intact. In the 8th century it was an important centre for trade between the Arabian peninsular, India and China.
The journey to Songo Manara involves a pleasant one-hour boat ride. I chose to sit up front to catch some rays and got badly burnt (will I never learn!). Then it’s a short walk in bare feet through a mangrove swamp. Looking left and right it’s easy to see why these swamps are the most difficult terrain to navigate.
In 2004 it was put on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Danger. Parts had been obviously renovated to stop the structure falling down and I could see plaques showing that the Americans had provided funding for repairs and even St Andrews University in Edinburgh had been there to research the site.
The Worlds Monument Fund has the ruins on their watch list of most endangered sites and I guess this is why it has received international funding. It’s a remote place, difficult to get to but beautiful. It is hard to imagine that up to 10,000 people lived on these two islands.
It is hard to count the number of mosques, some personal for the Sultan and others larger building for the public. The domes of these were reasonably intact, a testament to the strength of the dome as a strong design structure.
Kilwa Kisiwani for me was the most beautiful village as locals still love in and around the ruins, their houses were of traditional mud wattle and daub and grass roof design. The villagers were probably tired of seeing tourists walk around their island but they were still very friendly and welcoming – maybe buying a dozen oranges from a fruit stall helped! It was a hot day and we all needed refreshment.
Children followed us, laughing and smiling. Ladies sat together in their colourful dressed on the steps of a concrete building under the shade of an awning.
If you have only enough time for one island, there are enough ruins and life on Kilwa Kisiwani without taking a long boat ride to Songo Mnara.